A move to give civil servants a pay rise was this week passed in the Senate.

Negotiations on a pay rise began under the One Bermuda Alliance and were passed through by the ruling Progressive Labour Party.

Attorney General Kathy Simmons said that civil servants had been “discredited and abused and discouraged” in the exercise of their functions over the years.

Ms Simmons added: “The dedication that a lot of people don’t see behind the scenes is worthy of mentioning and worthy of applause.

“I applaud my government’s efforts to regularise this situation that has become untenable and it was interesting to see that as the cost of living continued to go up, the Civil Service stayed in one place.”