Intensive talks between Government officials and public sector unions about pay cuts are to get under way on Monday, the chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), Kieran Mulvey, said today.
Speaking following a meeting between the groups at the LRC in Dublin, Mr Mulvey said both parties appeared committed to doing business and that he hoped the talks would result in a successful outcome.
He said there was a “unanimous view to sit down over the next fortnight for a period of intensive negotiations to attempt to reach a conclusion on the outstanding issues between the unions and management representing the Government”.
"People have decided to get down to work through a series of intensive meetings over the next fortnight, and hopefully we can be in a position to assist in those meetings and facilitating, in so far as possible, a resolution to the outstanding issues which are quite complex and quite detailed and quite emotive at this stage."
Mr Mulvey and director of conciliation Kevin Foley will facilitate the negotiations, which are likely to get under way on Monday afternoon.
He said the continuation of industrial action by the unions was “a matter for the parties” involved in the talks, but that the LRC had not requested they put the action on hold.
Liam Doran of the Irish Nurses' Organisation, Peter McLoone of Impact, Blair Horan of the CPSU and a number of other union officials declined to comment as they left the discussions.
On the way into the talks, Mr McLoone said any negotiated settlement had to address the issue of public sector pay. He said the current industrial action by unions would remain in place. The planned escalation of the stoppages, involving schools and hospitals, would be discussed today.
Earlier David Begg, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said failure to reach an agreement would be “catastrophic” for the country.
Mr Begg said a breakdown in talks would result in “very real consequences” in terms of the relationship between the Government and its employees and externally the perception would be “very, very bad”. Conversely, he said, any agreement would give the country “quite a considerable boost”.
The new talks follow a meeting last night between Taoiseach Brian Cowen and senior officers of Ictu.
The intervention comes as unions were prepared to step up their campaign and stage a series of work stoppages in the weeks ahead that would hit schools, hospitals and public services.
Union leaders have maintained up to now that the current phase of industrial action will not be suspended to allow for any talks with the Government.
The Government has consistently said it wanted to talk to the unions about a transformation for the public service, similar to the deal that was on the table during failed talks before Christmas.
Speaking today on RTÉ's Morning Ireland Mr Begg said: "We in a space now where it's more or less a mirror image of that [before Christmas].
“At that time the position of the Government was they really wanted tangible evidence that these savings can be achieved and they didn’t agree to that particular formulation of it.
“Now we are in a situation where the Government has taken this money so logically if we can get to the space where the savings can be achieved over a period of time, then equally there can be some calibration of this thing that at some point in the future the money can come back.
“If this pay can be realigned with its original position over a period of time and in circumstances where savings can be achieved in other ways well then that surely in anybody’s point of view is a logical thing to do.”
In relation to the possible effects a perceived row-back on pay cuts would have on international markets and the cost of borrowing for the country Mr Begg said they only needed to see a credible fiscal plan for Ireland.
He said if the markets could see Ireland resolving its difficulties “by comparison to some other countries in Europe at the moment” then “surely it’s a positive commentary on the countries ability to actually deal with its issues”.
Mr Begg said the issues of pay, pensions, outsourcing of employment and concern over budget 2011 were the main issues facing the unions ahead of the talks.
“Pay is very high of course, but outsourcing of course is another real immediate issue I think because the security of employment of quite a lot of people is tied up with that, its difficult to apportion a value.”
Speaking on the way into the talks, Mr McLoone said he could not see a negotiated solution being reached in new talks with the Government that did not address the issue of pay.
Arriving at the Labour Relations Commission in Dublin, he said the process would be “difficult and challenging”.
However Mr McLoone said that based on the outcome of a meeting with Taoiseach Brian Cowen last night “both sides were serious about the engagement”.
“They know what we need and we know what they need so let’s see what happens in the talks,” he said.
Mr McLoone said the current industrial action in place would continue pending the outcome of the new negotiations. He said the issue of planned escalation of the dispute, including work stoppages, that could affect schools and hospitals would be discussed today, and that there could be an announcement later on.
Mr McLoone said that no deadline had been set for the new process, however, he said the groundwork that had been carried out to-date, Easter would be a realistic target date.
The talks are expected to continue over the next number of weeks.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny welcomed the resumption of the talks and called for a number of gestures on both sides to restore good faith.
Mr Kenny called on the Government to give a commitment not to further cut core public sector pay and for the trade unions to call off existing industrial action and service disruptions.