The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, T.D., yesterday (Tuesday) announced the appointment of six members of the Public Service Pay Commission.

They are:
• Ms Marian Corcoran
• Mr Ultan Courtney
• Ms Ruth Curran
• Mr Noel Dowling
• Dr Seán Lyons
• Mr Peter McLoone

Last week Minister Donohoe requested Government to note proposals for the establishment of a Public Service Pay Commission on a non–statutory basis and announced the appointment of Mr Kevin Duffy, former Chairman of the Labour Court, as Chairperson of the Commission.

The Public Service Pay Commission will be advisory in nature and will provide an initial report in the second quarter of 2017. The Minister stressed that the Government will retain the ability to negotiate directly with its employees in respect of pay. The Commission will not duplicate the work of the State’s existing industrial relations bodies: the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court. Its role will be to provide evidence-based objective analysis on pay matters to assist Department of Public Expenditure and Reform officials in discharging their negotiation function on behalf of Government.

For its initial report, the Minister said that the Commission will be asked to provide input on how the unwinding of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest legislation should proceed. This will inform any future engagement with staff representatives in relation to pay.

The Terms of Reference for the Commission are available here.