Public sector earnings up 3.2%

Average weekly earnings in the public sector rose by 3.2 per cent from €942.81 to €973

Average weekly earnings in the public sector rose by 3.2 per cent from €942.81 to €973.09 in the year to the end of June, according to new CSO figures.

However, the data also reveals that the number of people employed in the public sector fell by 2,700 during the same period to 370,400.

According to the new figures, which exclude health workers pay, average weekly earnings in the public sector rose by 16.1 per cent from June 2005 to June 2009. In June 2005, the public sector employees were paid on average €838.35 per week.

For the year ending June 30th, weekly earnings for civil service staff rose by 4.7 per cent from €889.82 to €931.46 and for the defence sector by 4.3 per cent from €799.65 to €834.06.

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During the same period average weekly earnings for members of the gardaí, inclusive of overtime, fell by 3.1 per cent from €1,247.74 to €1,208.50. However, their weekly earnings excluding overtime rose by 0.6 per cent from €1,093.16 to €1,099.25.

Over the four-year period to the end of June 2009, average weekly earnings for staff employed in regional bodies rose by 19.2 per cent from €720.92 to €859.70. Public sector staff working for semi-state organisations saw their earnings rise by 17.8 per cent over the same period from €898.01 to €1,058.26 per week.

The earnings members of the gardaí, inclusive of overtime, rose by 11.6 per cent over the four-years while the rise in average weekly earnings for staff employed in the third level sector rose by 22 per cent from €918.27 to €1,127.68 per week.

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor is a former Irish Times business journalist