Pandemic bonus across public sector could exceed 1 billion Minister warns

The cost of extra pay or leave across the public sector as a reward for service during the pandemic could top €1 billion, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath has warned.

He said there was a “very significant cost” associated with the claim lodged at the Labour Court by the INMO and the other health worker unions for 10 days leave across the health services.

Mr McGrath said on Thursday that would be a minimum cost of €377 million.

Sources in the Department of Finance and Department of Public Expenditure believe that, if met in full, the requests for special payments or leave could take up a huge proportion of the cash available on budget day.

Mr McGrath told the Dáil: â€œGiven that you would almost certainly have to involve a level of overtime and agency staff to provide the necessary cover the costs would almost certainly exceed €500 million.

“And if you were to provide the same 10 days leave across the full public service the cost would exceed €1 billion”, he said during Dáil question time on Thursday.

Mr McGrath told Independent TD Michael Collins, Solidarity TD Mick Barry and Fianna Fail TD John Lahart that what the Government does to address the issue of a pandemic bonus “has to be done in fair and inclusive way”.

He said the emphasis had been placed on healthcare workers which was justifiable but “there are many others across the public service who did great work over this time - the prison service, members of the gardaí, the Defence Forces, the Department of Social Protection, the Revenue Commissioners all of whom continued to work along with many other in the public sector.”

He said that in the private sector shop workers kept the show on the road during the darkest days of Covid-19, our cleaners - the people who collected our refuse during this period.

The Minister pledged to bring the issue to a conclusion “in the coming weeks” but he would not commit to a specific deadline.

“I’m not committing to a particular date. I’m saying in the coming weeks and we need to get it right.”

Mr McGrath said “we don’t want to allow this to drag on . We have a clear recommendation from the Labour Court which we intend to abide by”.

He added that “we need to engage with the private sector because there are many people across the private who really kept the show on the road and looked after us when that was needed”.

“We need to take all of that into account. There are always financial constraints but the Government will bring forward proposals to provide for the special recognition that we think is richly deserved.”

He added that “We are examining the approach in other countries.

We need to be fair balance and as inclusive as we possibly can be to recognise the efforts that so many made.”

A Labour Court recommendation on Wednesday said the Health Service Executive had estimated that a claim for 10 days’ additional leave by unions for healthcare workers could cost at least €377 million.

There are concerns among Government officials that other groups of State employees including some civil servants and gardaí may also look for similar benefits.

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