The cabinet is to consider the implications of the benchmarking report on public sector pay at its meeting on Tuesday.
Details of awards to groups of public sector workers were revealed today although the report will not be formally published by the Department of Finance until midday on Monday.
A government spokesperson said that after the cabinet discussion on the report, the next step would be consultation with the public sector regarding implementation of the awards.
TUI General Secretary Jim Dorney has said the Benchmarking Pay Review Body's recommendation of an increase of 13% for teachers vindicated the union's view that teachers pay had fallen significantly behind and this was an attempt to put it right.
The Benchmarking Pay Review Body’s recommendations are reported in a number of newspapers today. The report has not yet been published.
Speaking on RTE Radio One, Mr Dorney said the Union’s executive would meet next Wednesday to discuss the report and would consider not only the size of the award but the length of time over which it is to be implemented.
General Secretary of Impact Peter McClune has said there is no way of confirming the accuracy of the figures published in today’s papers but pointed out that the Report would deal with the position of 40 different grades of staff in the public sector. Today's figures, he said, covered only a small proportion of what the Benchmarking report will address.
According to reports in today's papers the state's 280,000 public servants are in line for an average pay rise of 9%. The increases could cost the exchequer about €1 billion a year.
School teachers are expected to receive an increase of up to 13%. Lecturers in the Institutes of Technology will get 11%, while university lecturers will only get a 3% increase.
The General Secretary of the National Teachers Organisation John Carr has given a cautious welcome to the reports on the pay increases to teachers. Mr Carr told RTE News the possibility of a settlement now existed.
The ASTI General Secretary Charlie Lennon said that it would be foolish to comment on reports relating to the benchmarking body’s recommendations until the union had seen the report in full.
Among the issues that would have to be clarified would be the level of increase applying to school principals - and whether they would apply only to secondary school principals.
The ASTI has refused to participate in the benchmarking process unlike the other two teachers' unions, the INTO and the TUI. The Standing Committee of the ASTI is to meet on Thursday to consider the report.
The Irish Nurses Organisation has declined to comment on today's report that nurses stand to get a pay increase of just 8% under the benchmarking pay review process.
General Secretary Liam Doran said the INO had noted the speculation about possible increases but said that they would not be commenting until they read the full report on Monday.
The Nursing Alliance made up of the INO, SIPTU, IMPACT and the Psychiatric Nurses Association will be holding a meeting on Monday afternoon to consider the recommendations.
Among the other issues on the nurses pay agenda were parity with paramedics like occupational therapists and a shorter working week.
A number of other public sectors will be affected by the body’s pay recommendations. Principal officers and assistant principal officers in the civil service also get increases at the higher end of the scale, but clerical and administrative staff get an increase of 9%. Gardaí will get an increase of 5%. Prison officers and members of the defence forces will get a 4% increase.
