Public pay deal is ‘affordable, fair and value for taxpayers’, Chambers says

The public sector pay agreement reached early this morning by the Government and trade unions has been broadly welcomed by both sides.

The public sector strike planned for Thursday was called off early this morning after the sides agreed a €5.2 billion deal that will deliver pay increases of at least 10.75 per cent to more than 400,000 workers by the end of March 2029.

Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers described the agreement as “balanced, fair and credible”.

“I want to welcome the outcome of this extensive engagement over the last number of weeks. It’s a balanced, fair and credible deal for workers and it prioritises the lower paid who I know are feeling the impact of the cost of living.

“It’s also a deal that’s sustainable, affordable and provides value to the taxpayers of our country and that’s been central to our wider consideration ... and I want to thank trade union leadership led by Kevin Callinan and indeed everyone involved for their constructive engagement over the period.

“And I think we now have a deal that provides certainty and stability for the country over the next number of years in the context of wider uncertainties globally and within the broader economy as well.”

Chambers denied a suggestion that he had “made a hames” of the talks by opening discussions with a derisory offer. There had been early “intensive” engagement with trade unions, he said.

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“Yes there were different starting points and offers made which is part of any negotiating process. And ultimately for me what I’ve been absolutely clear about from the start on this, I want to ensure ... the backbone of our societies, of our communities across our country, are public sector workers,” he told RTÉ Radio’s Today with David McCullagh show.

Siptu deputy general secretary Adrian Kane said “one of the positives” of the agreement was that it was “unashamedly weighted towards the lower and the middle paid”.

Kane said “good agreements” had been made in areas such as artificial intelligence, and there were “sensible arrangements” with regard to hybrid working. Siptu and all the public sector unions would fight “very strongly” to prevent outsourcing of work, he added.

“We got a very progressive clause around public procurement, which had been absent from previous agreements. And they’re important things, and I think they’re value-for-money issues as well, because you can see most of the scandals around waste of Government money has been around the issue of public procurement.”

When asked what would happen if inflation runs higher than the agreed increases, Kane, who spoke on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland and Newstalk Breakfast with Anton Savage, said: “another very strong part of the agreement is that there is a strong review clause, which allows either side to invoke a review if inflation gets to unexpected levels or [there are] other economic factors”.

With regard to strikes planned for Thursday, Kane said: “I can say with confidence every union who was at that meeting was agreed with the position that the strike would be suspended.”

In response to a question about his happiness with the agreement, Kane replied: “Well, it really doesn’t matter whether I’m happy with it. It’ll be determined by our members whether they’re happy with it. That’s the difference between a unionised workforce and a non-unionised workforce. You get to have your say.”

The new national pay agreement, concluded during talks at the Workplace Relations Commission at about 3.30am, will be considered by national executives of the 19 unions representing public sector workers over the coming days, with many of them due to meet on Wednesday.

Each are then expected to ballot their members on whether to accept the agreement.

An overall result of the ballots is expected during the second week of December.