Negotiations between trade unions and Government representatives on pay restoration for about 300,000 staff in the public service will begin in earnest this week.
The talks,which formally commenced last week with opening statements from both sides and a briefing provided by the Department of Public Expenditureand Reform on the “fiscal space” available for a deal, will resume this afternoon.
The strand of the talks which gets underway on Tuesday will deal with the wording ofany new deal which would, if agreed, effectively be an extension to the existing Haddington Road accord on public service pay and productivity.
Some sources close to the process had hoped to have this area of the text dealt with within a few days before moving on to the highly controversial issue of money next week.
However this timetable could be complicated if some unions seek to bring onto the table non-pay issues considered to be importance to them.
The country's largest trade union, Siptu, has signalled, that it will be raising issues such as out-sourcing and privatisation of State services in the talks.
The Labour Relations Commission, which played a pivotal role in brokering the Haddington Road agreement, will be involved in the next phases of the talks.
While the Government is prepared to reverse some elements ofthe cuts to earnings imposed over recent years under financial emergency legislation, it is likely to seek to maintain and enhance existing productivity measures.
The Government side is also expected to look for unions to re-affirm their commitment to the provisions for binding dispute resolution mechanisms set out in the Croke Parkand Haddington Road deals. The government side believes that there has been some “slippage” in this area inrecent times.
The Government is also expected to oppose any move by trade unions to seek to reverse some controversial productivity concessions agreed in previous agreements such as the provision of a longer working week for no extra pay.
The Irish Times reported earlier this month that the Government was expected to allocate about €250 million - €300 million for public service pay restoration. Such a sum could boost the earnings of staff in the public service on average by more than €800.
Any deal is likely to involve providing a flat rate increase in earnings by means of changes to the application of the public service pension levy which averaged about 7.5per cent.
The Irish Times also reported earlier this month, citing informed sources, that if the first €27,000 of income was exempted from the public-service pension levy, this would generate a rise in earnings for staff of about €800 per year.
There could also be some pay rises for staff who earned less than €27,000 so as to allow them to benefit equally from any such measure.
The new process is also likely to result in some restoration in earnings for retired public servants who experienced a reduction in pension during the economic crisis.
