A Review of the Civil Service Grading and Pay System
The Irish civil service has a common pay and grading system. This means that all departments and offices have the same approach to grading with pay levels in respect of each grade determined centrally. The traditional rationale of these arrangements is to promote and preserve an independent and impartial civil service. However, a fundamental question for HR policy is the extent to which they are still relevant and desirable. The issue was noted in Towards 2016 (2006) the national social partnership agreement, which states (para. 29.6) that ‘the parties agree to engage in discussions to identify and explore the full range of issues involved in rationalising grade structures’.