Low-paid civil servants now represented a significant percentage of those on family income supplements, the Labour Party spokesman on finance warned yesterday.

It was unreasonable for civil servants on entry grades to be paid "little more than what fast-food restaurants pay", Mr Derek McDowell (Dublin North-Central) said. He asked the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, whether he accepted there was a problem with low pay in the Civil Service.

Mr McCreevy said in his opinion the starting salary of £12,267 for a clerical officer or £15,536 for an executive officer "with an established career structure in place for them" was very competitive if somebody wanted to make a career in the public service. "The rates we are paying are very competitive."

Earlier, during Question Time, the Minister told the House that the inflation figure of 6.2 per cent for September might be exceeded "in the near term", due to the recent increases in oil prices and interest rates.

"Whether such a rise takes place, and its extent, will depend on a number of factors which cannot be predicted in advance, such as future changes in oil prices and in the value of the euro."

There was "unbelievable interest" in the public service decentralisation programme, the Minister said, in response to an appeal from Fine Gael's spokesman on finance, Mr Michael Noonan (Limerick East) "to lay down objective criteria" for the programme.

"I do not want it to become a political football whereby it will be stated that deputies want parts of the Civil Service to be transferred to their constituencies," said Mr McCreevy.

He would not be publishing any criteria, however, he emphasised.