PUBLIC SERVICE unions and Government representatives are to hold talks today in the first potential breakthrough in the six-week dispute over pay cuts.
The new talks, which are to be facilitated by senior officials of the Labour Relations Commission, follow a meeting last night between Taoiseach Brian Cowen and top officers of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
The intervention comes as unions were prepared to step up their campaign and stage a series of work stoppages in the weeks ahead which would have 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. However, the action may not escalate further.
Highly-placed sources said the new talks were likely to deal with public service reform and pay determination.
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.
However, unions have maintained that pay, pensions and job security, as well as a timeframe for recovering money lost due to the recent pay cuts, would have to be on the agenda. The formula for the new talks would appear to be sufficiently vague to allow all sides to enter the process.
However, the chairman of the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Peter McLoone, said: “Both sides were satisfied that their ambitions could be dealt with in the talks.”
The Government said Mr Cowen, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and the leader of the Green Party, John Gormley, had met Ictu officers at the invitation of Mr Cowen.
“The purpose of the meeting was to explore the potential and appropriate conditions for a renewed engagement between public service unions and management on the development of a comprehensive agenda for the transformation of public services and on a framework for public service pay determination.
“It has been agreed that both sides would invite Kieran Mulvey and Kevin Foley of the Labour Relations Commission as facilitators to undertake initial discussions with public service management and unions.
“While appointed in a personal capacity, the facilitators will draw on the resources of the Labour Relations Commission to support their work,” it said.
The statement said it was agreed between the parties at the meeting that the facilitators “should keep the Government and the Ictu appraised of progress in the conduct of the discussions with the parties, with the objective of concluding this facilitation process at the earliest possible date”.
Industrial action has been under way in various forms since late January. For most of the period that action has been at a relatively low level, including bans on answering phones, closure of public counters and boycotts of answers to parliamentary questions.