Public service pay talks will not open an ‘ATM’, says Kelly

Public service pay restoration talks are not a way of opening an ATM machine for State employees, the Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly has said.

Addressing the local government divisional conference of the Impact trade union in Galway he said that any pay restoration, which he maintained will happen -- will have to be provided in a gradual or incremental manner.

He said the current talks represented a way of achieving a realistic agreement between Government and trade unions within the parameters of where the country was fiscally.

“From my side of the Government we will go as far as we can to support workers.”

He said the financial emergency legislation which underpinned cuts to pay and pensions over recent years would be gotten rid of but that it would have to be achieved in a responsible way.

Speaking to reporters after his speech Mr Kelly said that in the current talks the Government would go as far as was practicable but unions had to be realistic.

He said the Government wanted to assist in particular as a priority those on the lowest spectrum of pay.

However he said expectations had to be managed.

The Minister told the conference that the local government sector had been “one of the best” in terms of reform and work practice flexibility.

He said local authorities had generated savings of about €800 million in pay and pension payments over the last six years.

Mr Kelly said the numbers employed in local authorities had fallen by 28 per cent while in some cases services had been enhanced because of staff co-operation.

He said he expected to see an increase in the numbers employed in the local authority sector in the future.

Mr Kelly said he believed that policies adopted over recent years in relation to social housing were “wrong” and had left a big void to be filled.

He said was one of the reasons he wanted the job of Minister for the Environment.

He said the privatisation of social housing over recent years had contributed to the problems that now existed.

“Local authorities over the last 15 years simply should have been building houses as they always did.”

In a briefing to members on the pay talks, Impact national secretary Peter Nolan said the strategy was to put more money into people’s pockets and the best way to achieve that aim was by starting to dismantle the public service pension levy .

He said this had the advantage of boosting the earnings of staff directly without giving people opposed to public service workers the excuse of criticising that they were getting a pay rise.

Mr Nolan said the public service pension levy and flat rate increases were “part of the jigsaw”.

He suggested to delegates that the union wanted “the simplest and smallest agreement” with the Government in the current process.

He said the best position for the union was a deal with the least amount of text but one that stated “it is time to give us our money back”.

Mr Nolan said a fear was that sectoral employers such as local authority managers or senior HSE chiefs would come into the talks with a list of demands.

However, he said that hopefully the current process could be completed one side or another of the June bank holiday weekend.