Public Sector Pay
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-11
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Jack Chambers (FF), Dublin West

Such an exercise constitutes a complex and substantial analytical undertaking requiring access to detailed, contemporaneous micro-level data on the pay structures and pensions of both current and former employees in order to accurately assess the full costs. It also involves a range of assumptions in relation to the pay and pensions policy implications. My Department does not have access to the required level of detailed data relating to the remuneration and pension arrangements of public servants in Northern Ireland to set out that context. I have some macro data here. We know that the total size of the public service of Northern Ireland, inclusive of civil service, health, education, police and local government employees, is estimated to indicate approximately 227,500 in October 2025. The annual pay bill is estimated to be approximately 14.4 billion for core civil service and departmental staff. I have been told that this increases to approximately £18 billion when the wider public services are included. Total public expenditure for the Northern Ireland Executive is estimated at €32 billion in 2025. I have set out some high-level data from the team who assessed the Deputy's question. It would require a lot more specific and micro-level data to answer it, however.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-11