Staff at Forfas have been awarded substantial pay rises as the result of a new grading structure, writes Padraig Yeates, Industry and Employment Correspondent.

Acceptance of the deal has been welcomed by the senior SIPTU negotiator, Ms Patricia King.

More than 300 of the 700 SIPTU members involved will receive their increases within the next two years, but employees with short service may have to wait up to 10 years for its full implementation, as will be paid according to a new salary structure that will leave them on salaries about £3,000 to £2,500 a year below the levels agreed for existing staff.

The agreement followed a week of industrial action by Forfas staff, including an electronic "black out" at IDA Ireland, earlier this year.

The dispute arose over the large anomalies in pay that emerged when various State agencies were brought together under the auspices of Forfas. In some cases there were disparities of £7,000 a year between staff doing identical work. At the top of the new scale, Level F, will be department heads. The new maximum pay level is £53,206 a year, which means increases for many managerial staff of £3,400, spread over a two-year period. The new Level E grade will have a maximum of £42,131, which will mean increases of up to £4,000 for many personnel from January 2000. Level D, the equivalent of executive officer grades in the civil service, will be able to progress to salary scales with maximums of between £35,530 and £28,929 a year. Those on the lower figure will be able to earn extra through overtime. For many staff, this will represent a pay rise of between £3,000 and £3,800 a year.

Despite the size of the increase, about 38 per cent of SIPTU members voted to reject it.