MINISTER FOR Finance Brian Lenihan has said that the Government is not turning a blind eye to the industrial action that has been underway in the public service for the last five weeks in protest at pay cuts.
However, the Minister said yesterday that the Government wanted to get into a space where it could engage with the public sector unions. He said that the Government did not have the money to increase pay but that there was a need to talk about public service transformation.
The Minister’s comments came after public service unions said that their proposals for reform “could be back on the table if the Government was prepared to negotiate on the basis that the pay cuts can be reversed if equivalent, or larger savings, are made through public service transformation”.
About 250,000 civil and public service workers have been taking part in various forms of industrial action over recent weeks.
The unions’ statement was issued in advance of a mass rally in Galway tonight.
The unions said they rejected the Government’s view that there was ‘‘no alternative’’ to the pay cuts. They said they had put forward an alternative approach last year, which would have delivered the payroll savings required in 2010, while ensuring that vital services were protected. These proposals which were conditional on pay cuts not being introduced were rejected by the Government.
Speaking on the Breakfast programme on Newstalk yesterday Mr Lenihan said the Government had to hold the line on public sector pay.
‘‘We’ve made that very clear to the union interests. That’s why we’re seeing this, some level of industrial difficulty, in some public services, not all . . . And our strategy clearly is to engage with the representative interests involved,’’ he said.
Asked whether the Government was turning a blind eye to the industrial action on the basis that it did not want to rock the boat, the Minister said: ‘‘No it’s not a matter of rocking the boat. It’s a matter of ensuring that we get into a space where discussions can take place, between the Government and the unions. . . ’’