Public pay back on the agenda as time runs out to agree a new deal

Good morning,

Tomorrow, public sector unions will meet to discuss an invitation from the Government to negotiate a new pay deal for the public service. It comes after Cabinet approval of the invite this week, and while the issue of a new deal to underpin €20 billion in public salaries annually has not bubbled to the top of the news agenda, the pressure is on to get it done fast.

The current deal - Building Momentum - expires at the end of the year, and last year a first round of talks began as early as June (those initial talks later collapsed, but had started again by August). The earliest talks at the Workplace Relations Commission will begin is next week - starting November 20th, leaving a tight window to negotiate a new deal if it is to be struck before 2024 - and then it must be voted on by unions. There had been a view that something might get achieved before the budget, and then that it would be picked back up quickly afterwards - but neither happened. There has been engagement at official level, but word is that the core issue of pay increases hasn’t been broached.

Negotiations have come late before - notably during Covid - but union leaders have been watery in their pronouncements this week, saying they are uncertain as to whether the basis for agreement exists. As the political system rounds the corner of the Christmas season, pressure will be on to get certainty before the new year - and the end of the current deal - looms into view.

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Work Correspondent Emmet Malone has more here.

Elsewhere, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has flown to Israel overnight, where he will have meetings with Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen and president Isaac Herzog. He will visit Kibbutzim at Be’eri and Sderot before travelling on to Beitunia and Ramallah in the West Bank, where he will have meetings with Palestinian Authority prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki.

Our lead today is the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis, and the safe passage of Irish citizens from the besieged enclave. Read more of our coverage - home and abroad - here.

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Playbook

Micheál Martin travels to Israel and the West Bank - details above. Arthur Beesley is travelling with the Tánaiste, so watch The Irish Times online for updates through the day.

The Taoiseach is out at 11am to address the annual conference of the Private Hospitals Association.

The last day of parliamentary action this week kicks off with Oral Questions for Eamon Ryan at 10.30am, followed by Leader’s Questions at midday and Questions on Policy or Legislation before lunch. In the afternoon, Government business includes statements on Science Week and legislation enabling the establishment of an employment law review group. Topical issues are at 6pm, followed by private members time, given over to Peadar Tóibín’s Bill designed to protect children from viewing pornographic material online.

The full Dáil schedule is here.

At 10.30am, the Seanad Public Consultation Committee meets to explore the future of local democracy.

The full Seanad schedule is here.

The Belfast Agreement Oireachtas committee meets to discuss the impact of the UK’s illegal immigration Act on the agreement. That’s at 9.30am, while at the same time, the Public Accounts Committee meets with officials from the Department of Public Expenditure. At 10am, the justice committee launches two reports, on the operation of the coroner’s service and the pre-legislative scrutiny of the sale of alcohol Bill. At 11am, Minister of State Ossian Smyth is in front of the environment committee on supplementary estimates in its ambit. The housing committee considers the legislation enabling the direct election of a mayor of Limerick at 2pm, while the tourism committee also launches a report on developing rural tourism at the same time.

Here’s the full schedule.

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