Poor pay rates could be responsible for the Government having issues finding staff to clean the offices of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, a trade union has claimed. It attributed the problem to pay rates for cleaners in the public service, which were no longer competitive compared to those available in the private sector. Fórsa national secretary Andy Pike said the union wanted the Public Service Pay Commission to look at the rates for cleaners as part of its examination of issues affecting recruitment and retention among various groups and grades. He said that cleaner was an established grade in the Civil Service and was part of a family of service-level positions. The pay rates for cleaning staff in the Civil Service had to be adjusted each time the minimum wage was increased as the hourly rate of pay was calculated using the 43.25 working week, the union added.

Source: The Irish Times February 13, 2018 00:56 UTC