Public sector employees were paid on average 19.1 per cent more than private sector employees, according to Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures released today.
The statistics, taken from the CSO's National Employment Survey 2007, noted there was a public sector wage premium of 14.8 per cent for men and 22.9 per cent for women.
The differential in public and private sector pay was found to be greatest at the lower end of the earnings distribution and generally fell as earnings increased.
This CSO noted its report factored in different components that account for the public-private pay differential in weekly earnings, and that the estimated premium in pay is sensitive to methodology and model used.
Among those variables examined in exploring the pay difference were the attributes of the employees - educational attainment, experience, hours worked - and the characteristics of their employment - such as the size of the organisation.
The CSO analysis does not attempt to compare similar jobs between the public and private sectors.
The figures also reveal employees in the private sector worked on average a longer week than those in the public sector: The average number of hours worked per week in the public sector was 32.7 compared with 35 hours in the private sector.
There was also a disparity in time spent with current employer. Employees in the public sector spent on average 11.6 years with their current employer, while their private counterparts had an average of 8.2 years.
However, Impact said the CSO statistics could not be taken seriously. The trade union said the figures were "entirely flawed because the CSO itself has confirmed that
it has not compared real jobs in the public or private sector".
Deputy general secretary Shay Cody said it was impossible to take CSO and ESRI claims of a
pay gap seriously when the two organisations had published four separate figures since July
2009.
“These four completely different figures, ranging between 19 per cent and 47 per cent, all come
from the same data set. It’s impossible to take them seriously. Obviously they can’t all be right, but the fact is that none of them are right because none of them are based on a comparison of jobs in the public and private sector.”
Impact is balloting members for strike action if Government imposes another cut in public service pay, while Siptu has served a 3.5 per cent pay claim on the Health Service Executive on behalf of 34,000 health workers. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has planned a national day of action on November 6th against possible budget, pay, pension and service cuts.
“Most public servants work hard for modest incomes. Every one of them has suffered a pay cut averaging 7.5 per cent just six months ago and they are not going to accept another pay cut,” said Mr Cody.
The CSO's National Employment Survey October 2007, published in July 2009, reported that, on average, public sector hourly earnings were 47.6 per cent higher than the private sector (€26.67 in the public sector, compared with €18.07 in the private sector) and that the public sector weekly earnings were 32.6 per cent higher than the private sector.
However, these figures did not take into account the differences in characteristics of employees in both sectors.
An Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) published last month found that public sector workers were earning up to 25 per cent more than their counterparts in the private sector in 2006.
The ESRI research found the overall pay premium for State employees rose from 9.7 per cent in 2003 to almost 22 per cent in 2006.
However, when the value of pensions is included in with the figures, the overall pay gap between public sector and private sector employees was almost 25 per cent.
