Senior trade unionists and the Government have rejected a report on RTE news last night that serious differences exist over the interpretation of tax elements in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness.
The general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Mr Peter Cassells, said: "The PPF is quite clear that, between a combination of pay and tax improvements, living standards for workers will increase by 25 per cent over the next three years. ICTU is confident that this 25 per cent or more will be achieved by all workers if the agreement is accepted in ballots now going on."
It is understood that Mr Cassells spoke to senior civil servants to clarify the situation before issuing his statement last night.
The wording of the PPF is ambiguous. It states: "Over the period of this programme, up to and including Budget 2003, there will be increases in net take-home pay, including pay increases, of up to 25 per cent or more."
At the final session of talks on the PPF in Government Buildings, Mr Cassells was given assurances that tax cuts of at least 10 per cent would be made during the life of the PPF, which is due to come into effect in April.
IMPACT's general secretary, Mr Peter McLoone, last night said: "The tax commitments set out in the new national agreement will be in addition to tax cuts already announced in Budget 2000."
Mr McLoone, chairman of the ICTU's public services committee, added that the unions which negotiated the deal were satisfied that it was worth "at least 25.75 per cent in pay increases and tax cuts". Of the 10 per cent tax cut, he said: "Every union involved in the talks was present when ICTU sought confirmation of that specific point. We received that assurance from the Government and it was accepted by every union that was party to the talks. To pretend otherwise would be dishonest to working people, including the low-paid, who stand to gain most from that tax package."
The Government Press Secretary, Mr Joe Lennon, later confirmed that Mr McLoone's interpretation of the agreement was the correct one.
The secretary of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union, Mr Michael O'Reilly, who is a long-standing opponent of national agreements, said that clarification was needed "on what exactly is contained in the PPF". He claimed that "widespread confusion" now existed over what had been agreed. The ATGWU, in conjunction with the Building and Allied Trades Union, has already called on the ICTU to seek a new pay review clause in the PPF in case inflation rises sharply.
Earlier, the human resources director of the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation, Mr Turlough O'Sullivan, ruled out any renegotiation of the PPF on the part of the employers. He was speaking after a series of regional meetings at which member-firms expressed concern at the pay rises which had been conceded.
