Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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7. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the progress his Department has made on the report on pay equalisation as specified in the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017; the scope of the report; the timeframe involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2339/18]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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We proposed an amendment to the Public Service Pay and Pensions Bill on pay equalisation and I want to ensure that this is working its way through the system.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 provided that an examination of remaining salary scale issues in respect of post-January 2011 recruits at entry levels would be undertaken within 12 months of the commencement of the agreement. Additionally, as the Deputy is aware, he proposed, and this Government accepted, an amendment to section 11 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 which provides for the implementation of the terms of the agreement. This amendment provided that I will, within three months of the passing of the Act, prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a report on the cost of and a plan in dealing with pay equalisation for new entrants to the public service. This is a significant piece of work and the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service has been assigned to collect, collate and examine the data and provide detailed point in time costs associated with the measure.

With regard to working on and dealing with the substantive issue, work has commenced and engagement is under way on the matter of data availability. It is taking place with the HSE, the Department of Education and Skills, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the Department of Defence. Further meetings are being scheduled with the remaining 12 sectors and we will meet the timeline to which I committed with the Deputy in the amendment I accepted from him in December in the debate on and the passage of the legislation.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the clarification. It is also welcome that the Minister has the work under way through the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service. Will the service be consulting purely on figures or will it also engage with the unions involved before the March deadline? Is it just to give us the information to allow us to cost the measures and then proceed with the work of the Public Service Pay Commission?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I will not be engaging directly with the unions on the matter. It is the work of my Department and the industrial relations sections of other Departments to deal with them and they will continue to do so. The work of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service will be, as the Deputy said, to respond and provide the information on the cost and consequences of the measure and to place the issue in the broader context of what is happening within the economy and current wage trends. As I said, the commitment I gave to the Deputy in December will be honoured and the report will be delivered to the House.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister.