Varadkar: Hard to justify public sector pay increments
The Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has said public sector pay increments should be deferred, despite the fact that they are protected under the Croke Park Agreement.
Mr Varadkar said it would be difficult to justify any increments when public services are being cut and he claimed that deferring them for a year would save up to €200m.
He made the comments after the Health Minister James Reilly raised the prospect of changes to the Croke Park deal by cutting overtime rates in the health service.
Minister Varadkar said the issue of increments is a grey area.
Mr Varadkar said: "It's very hard to justify giving anyone any kind of pay increase in the year ahead while we are cutting services and I think that is one that is particularly difficult.
"Croke Park says that core pay won't be touched but also that there will be no pay increases, so it's a kind of a grey area in that sense."
