21,000 security personnel are being denied pay increases due to a lack of government action. The security Employment Regulation Order (ERO) which has been negotiated and agreed on for nearly three years, has not yet been implemented due to an injunction preventing it being signed into law. The Irish Security Industry Association (ISIA), who have been repeatedly calling on the Government for action on this matter, were advised last year that the government has been granted liberty to apply to the Court to have the injunction lifted but several months later this still has not occurred.
As we face a cost-of-living crisis and ongoing recruitment, and retention challenges our members are no longer willing to tolerate inaction. The employers and employees of the private security industry cannot wait any longer. We require the Government to immediately apply to have this injunction lifted allowing for the swift implementation of improved rates of pay for security staff. In the interim we also ask that the Government ensure the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) ensure that the pay rates in the ERO are immediately awarded to the men and women employed through government contracts protecting our public services. Many in the private sector have recognised the value provided by security by awarding increased rates of pay, but many will not implement increases in pay until there is a legislative requirement, this is particularly true of the public sector.
Our members require immediate action by the Government. We are asking that the Government to make an application to have the injunction lifted which is preventing the Security ERO from being implemented. In the interim we ask that the Government do everything to ensure the OGP grant the increase in pay that our security officers should have been receiving for the past three years.
For Further Information contact:
Sarah O’Donnell
Communications Director
Telephone: 01-4847206
Mobile: 087-2229127
Email: sarahodonnell@isia.ie