Public service pay deal: Building Momentum - Feb 2022 pay rise

I have a query about a possible PS pay rise in Feb 2022.

The Building Momentum Agreement is an extension of previous public service agreements, including the Public

Service Stability Agreement, 2018-2020. This Chapter sets out the agreed approach to public

service pay for the period 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2022.

https://assets.gov.ie/101537/d2abf15f-d504-4c8b-92a9-aa47ef1bd9ce.pdf

3.1.3 The following pay adjustments will apply over the period of this Agreement:

 A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 1% or €500,

whichever is greater, on 1 October 2021.

 The equivalent of a 1% increase in annualised basic salaries to be used as a Sectoral Bargaining

Fund, in accordance with Chapter 2 of this Agreement, on 1 February 2022.

 A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 1% or €500,

whichever is greater, on 1 October 2022.

I haven't heard anything about the possible Feb 2022 increase, which is explained below. I haven't heard of any PS sector receiving this award?

What is the ‘sectoral bargaining fund’?

If ratified, the agreement would see the establishment of a ‘sectoral bargaining fund,’ initially worth 1% of basic pensionable pay during the lifetime of the agreement. It’s not possible to increase the allocation by proposing productivity measures. Neither can the process “give rise to unintended cost increasing outcomes.”

This can be used to deal with outstanding adjudications, recommendations, awards and claims that are relevant to specific grades, groups or categories of workers within the various sectors of the public service.

Alternatively, groups could opt to use the available allocation, or part of it, as a sectoral pay round.

The bargaining units (ie, the different grades, groups and categories) are to be agreed between unions and employer representatives by the end of February 2021. Unions and management will then decide how the fund will apply in each bargaining unit no later than the end of March 2021. Management and unions would then agree proposals, which must be submitted to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DEPR) for verification by the end of June 2021. Payment would fall due on 1st February 2022.

It will not be possible to discuss issues that are standard across grades, groups and categories (eg, overtime rates, weekly hours of attendance, leave entitlements, pension arrangements).

If the issue(s) identified for a grade, group or category can’t be fully addressed within the 1% allocation, the parties will have to agree which elements can be implemented within this agreement. Outstanding elements “will fall to be addressed in a future sectoral bargaining fund as part of the next agreement.”

No sectoral or grade-based claims will be allowed outside this process during the lifetime of the agreement.