Burton urges pay commission to begin work ‘immediately’

Former Labour Party leader Joan Burton has called for the Public Service Pay Commission to 'get to work' immediately.

She said as the Lansdowne Road Agreement is coming to an end, a new agreement should be established to take its place as happened between the Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road agreements.

"I told Enda Kenny you have to have all the parties around the table. We don't need a return to the cycle of boom and boost. There need to be talks to say 'how do we manage this?" the former tánaiste said.

“The Government actually has to be fair. We need to look at public sector pay in terms of fairness,” she told Newstalk Breakfast.

When asked where the money would come from to fund public sector pay restoration, Ms Burton said that by having an economy that functions fairly there would be economic expansion.

“It’s important that people get their fair share and that it isn’t like during the Celtic boom era where some took more than their fair share.

“If someone is working hard and taking home a wage from which they can’t pay their mortgage or rent, then there’s something wrong.”