'Boom envy': 3pc pay rise on way next year - for someDr Ahearne, one of the first economists to predict Ireland's property crash in 2007, believes a 3pc hourly wage increase could be reached in the next 12 months as the labour market tightens and employers start a bidding war to attract and retain staff. A 3pc increase in the average industrial wage of €36,500 would amount to a pay increase of just over €1,000 a year. Despite near record employment and pay rises in some sectors, many people feel they are being excluded from the benefits of the economic recovery - the phenomenon of ''boom envy''. The public sector will also see a wage increase as ''FEMPI'', the financial emergency legislation which allowed the State to reduce the pay of public servants, is unwound. The BPFI has also noticed a significant rise in the incomes of those taking out mortgages now.

Source: Irish Independent December 02, 2018 15:05 UTC