Public pay talks are expected to resume next week after the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) issued an invitation to unions and Government officials. Talks between the two sides broke down in June.
A Government offer of a combined 5 per cent pay increase over two years on top of the 2 per cent in the existing deal was rejected by unions at the time as “not credible”.
In recent weeks, senior Coalition figures including Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath have signalled a willingness to make a new offer.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ (Ictu) Public Services Committee (PSC) has now confirmed that the WRC has invited unions and senior Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) officials to resume pay talks on Monday.
Kevin Callinan, who chairs the PSC, said unions would engage positively in the process and were prepared to be flexible.
He restated the unions’ position that a “significantly improved pay offer” from the Government side was needed.
Unions representing most of Ireland’s public sector workers are preparing industrial action ballots as part of a co-ordinated campaign aimed at putting pressure on the Government to increase pay amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Mr Callinan said unions would prefer “a negotiated outcome that could credibly be put to ballots of public servants” but added that this “would not be feasible in the absence of a significantly improved Government position”.
A DPER spokeswoman has previously said that Mr McGrath has indicated that when the talks recommence, the Government will be tabling “a revised offer”.
She said it would “reflect the importance of delivering an agreement that is fair to public sector employees and reflects the overall budgetary constraints in which the State must operate”.
