A trade union leader has said that the deal on reducing the public sector pay bill could be reached if the government was prepared to extend the time period to a four- to five-year period.
Arriving for talks at Government Buildings, this afternoon, Blair Horan of the CPSU said that if the Government wanted to take €1.3 billion from the public sector pay bill next year then there would not be an agreement.
Mr Horan again called for increased taxation to be party of the solution for tackling the problem with the public finances.
Meanwhile the general secretary of the PSEU, Tom Geraghty, said that the parties were beginning to look at “possibilities”.
“The only thing I can confirm is that information will be given to us today, as a result of which we hope to begin to look at some of the ideas that have emerged from brainstorming sessions,” he said.
The Government has already signalled its willingness to explore a three- to five-year restructuring of the public service involving reducing numbers, new reforms and productivity measures as an alternative to pay cuts.
It indicated, however, that “bridging mechanisms” would be needed next year to cover the gap before the savings would take effect.
The possibility of such a two-stage alternative to pay cuts emerged at talks yesterday between Department of Finance officials and trade unions on the Government’s plans to cut the public sector pay bill by €1.3 billion next year.
Unions are seeking an alternative to cuts in pay for the 300,000-plus staff on the State payroll.
The possibilities of public service restructuring over a three- to five-year period involving reductions in employment levels and productivity reforms are quite similar to the proposals put forward by the general secretary of Impact, Peter McLoone, as an alternative to pay cuts.
