Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure IE-2021-1/1851 â Updated â measures in Ireland
Country | Ireland , applies nationwide |
Time period | Temporary, 01 January 2021 â 31 December 2023 |
Context | COVID-19, Digital Transformation |
Type | Bipartite collective agreements |
Category |
Ensuring business continuity and support for essential services
â Remuneration and rewards for workers in essential services |
Author | Roisin Farelly (IRN Publishing) and Eurofound |
Measure added | 12 April 2021 (updated 07 July 2023) |
A new public service agreement was agreed between public service unions and management in December 2020. It was ratified in February 2021 by a majority of trade unions on the public service committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, following ballots of their members.
The "Building Momentum" Agreement follows on from a number of public services agreements concluded in the last decade and is an extension of the framework of public service agreements. The previous agreement, the Public Service Stability Agreement (2018 - 2020) which is due to expired on December 31st 2020.
The negotiation of this agreement "took place against a difficult economic and fiscal backdrop, in a landscape dominated by the twin challenges of Brexit and the COVID-19 public health emergency". It acknowledges the considerable economic fallout from COVID-19 and the unprecedented investment in health and other public services, social protection measures and business supports.
The objectives of the Agreement are:
The following pay increases will apply over the period of the Agreement:
The Agreement reflects a commitment by the parties to harness the momentum for change to meet the immediate challenges that present in the lifetime of the Agreement, and to prepare for future challenges.
This includes:
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
23 June 2023 |
A review of the Agreement extended it until 31 December 2023 and added the following pay terms:
|
The agreement covers all workers in the public service.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Workers in essential services
|
Does not apply to businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
Social partners jointly Trade unions |
National funds
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative | Informed |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
Public service unions negotiated the agreement which was then balloted on by members of individual unions.
The team of four ICTU negotiators said that Building Momentum: A New Public Sector Agreement represented a positive short-term package, negotiated against a difficult background, to build on the momentum of recent pay restoration and public service flexibility and service quality.
They said the package, which would run from 1st January 2021 until 31st December 2022 if ratified, was substantially weighted towards lower-income civil and public servants, and had achieved solid progress on the three priorities set by the PSC at the outset of the talks. These were (1) a mechanism to address issues outstanding from the Haddington Road agreement, (2) a separate mechanism to address sectoral issues, and (3) a realistic and acceptable approach to pay.
Citation
Eurofound (2021), New public service agreement concluded against background of pandemic, measure IE-2021-1/1851 (measures in Ireland), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/IE-2021-1_1851.html
Share
30 January 2023
Governments across the EU continue to implement policies to support citizens and businesses in the face of rising food and energy prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis and intensified by the war in Ukraine. This article summarises the policy responses as reported in Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch database from January to September 2022.
Article12 September 2022
Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Article12 September 2022
This article summarises the first policy responses that governments across the EU have started to implement to support companies affected by the rising prices, and those with commercial ties to Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.
Article5 July 2022
This article summarises the first policy responses of EU Member States, including those of the social partners and other civil society actors, enabling refugees to exercise their rights under the Temporary Protection Directive.
ArticleDisclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.