The leader of the Labour Party Mr Eamon Gilmore has claimed the collapse of the Government's talks with the public service unions was a 'political decion' and that if elected to Government, his party would attempt to reverse some of the measures introduced in this week’s Budget.
Speaking this morning on RTÉ's
Morning Ireland, Mr Gilmore questioned the nature of the cuts and said the collapse of last week's talks with the public sector unions was a political decision taken by the Government to achieve "some kind of public popularity."
Acknowledging the need for public sector reform, Mr Gilmore said it would have been better to have reduced the public service pay bill by reaching a negotiated settlement rather than "the across-the-board cuts that were imposed in the Budget."
He said that, next week, the Labour Party would propose a reduction in the public pay bill which would be achieved by reforms, which he said would "achieve savings that would endure in the long-term."
"Last week the Government had an agreement within their grasp and they reneged on it," he said.
Mr Gilmore said the negotiators had signed off on seven agreements that would have achieved 'good' reforms in the public service before the talks collapsed.
"They collapsed those talks for political reasons precisely because they thought they would get a bang from commentators in editorials and ultimately in some kind of public popularity by appearing to be acting tough."
Mr Gilmore said that the Labour Party would undertake to reverse some of the cuts announced in this week's Budget.
"I think in particular that taking of money from the blind, I just can't understand that, I certainly would reverse it."
"I think the taking of money from carers, from widows I think that those are measures that could be reversed", he said.
"And, that is one of the reasons incidentally that we don't want the Social Welfare Bill rammed through the Dáil by 6.30 this evening without an adequate opportunity for TDs to proposed amendments to that Bill which might involve the reversal of some of those measures."
He said that he would reverse pay cuts "at the lower end".
"I think it is unfair to cut the pay of someone who is on €600 a week and to take nothing of somebody who is on €6,000 a week".