Members of the trade union Siptu who work in the public service have voted to support the new Lansdowne Road agreement on on pay for State employees.

The measure was overwhelmingly supported with 78.5 per cent in favour and 21.5 per cent against.

The decision by Siptu , coming in addition to the move by trade union Impact and primary school teachers in recent weeks to support the proposed accord, means that it is almost certain that the deal will now be ratified by the overall public service committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) in September .

Siptu vice president, Gene Mealy, said: “The result is comprehensive and the clear feedback that was received from meetings to discuss the ballot across the country was that members see this agreement as progress.

“However, it is also clear that there is still a long way to go in terms of the restoration and improvement of pay and conditions in the public service.”

Under the proposed deal, most public service personnel will receive an increase in earnings of about €2,000 in three phases between January 2016 and September 2017.

The deal has been rejected by members of the Irish Medical Organisation, however it has signalled that it will be bound by the overall decision ofthe public services committee of Ictu.

This decision will be based on the outcome of votes of affiliated unions with greater weight being given to those with larger membership. As a number of large unions have now backed the accord,it seems certain that there will be sufficient support for it to be ratified by the public services committee in the autumn.

Last month, the 23-member standing committee of the secondary school teachers’ union ASTI urged the organisation’s overall executive to recommend rejection of the proposed new public service pay deal.

The central executive of the ASTI will consider the issue at a meeting in late August or early September. A ballot of ASTI members will be held in the autumn.

The executive of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has also urged its members to reject the proposed new pay deal in a forthcoming ballot.

The TUI has said that if its members vote to reject the proposed Lansdowne Road deal, it will not be bound by any aggregate vote of unions affiliated to the public service committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has urged its members to back the proposed agreement.