Proposed pay increases to gardaí will not cost the taxpayer extra and will be paid for from within existing budgets, according to the Tánaiste and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

Frances Fitzgerald (pictured) and Paschal Donohoe have issued a statement welcoming the fact that the Gardaí called off their strike, and said the Labour Court’s pay offer was made within the framework of the Lansdowne Road agreement.

In the statement they restated their support for the Lansdowne Road Agreement “as the centrepiece of public pay policy noting that the Labour Court’s recommendation was explicitly made within that framework.

“The cost of the proposed settlement will be met within existing budgetary allocations.”

At least five unions have expressed their desire for follow-on pay claims after the Gardaí were offered a higher pay deal.

Tom Geraghty of the Public Service Executives Union says his members won’t wait for pay restoration, adding: “There is the capacity available to government to accelerate the pace of restoration over the next couple of years.

“That capability was there in advance of this budget, but the Government chose not to exercise it. What is being advocated in effect now is that public servants should wait until we resolve all of the other issues. That’s not going to wash.”