The Taoiseach has said any change in public sector pay determination mechanisms would take "some time" to negotiate.
"Underpinning the Government's deliberate approach is an acceptance that existing mechanisms need to be reviewed in the light of all of the pressures arising," said Mr Ahern.
"A fundamental part of that is our acknowledgment that the nature, demands and expectations of workers in the public service have changed and, in some cases, quite dramatically, over recent years."
Writing in the December issue of IMPACT News, the journal of the IMPACT trade union, Mr Ahern stressed the Government was totally convinced that only a uniform bargaining process was capable of delivering the overall economic and social goals of Government, on the one hand, and the diversity of concerns and aspirations of public sector workers on the other.
"In short, there is no basis for any separate or free-standing pay mechanisms for any one section of the Public Service."
He said that the process did not involve changes to the terms of Partnership 2000. "Those terms have been agreed and they will be implemented in full. Discussions on the application of the local bargaining provisions have already commenced in most areas of the Public Service and will, I am sure, be brought to a successful conclusion in the specified time."
Mr Ahern said that the organisation of work and the demands on staff were changing rapidly right across the Public Service. Increasingly, staff and their representative bodies expected the pay determination system to reflect this in ways which encouraged direct participation and rewarded performance.