Public sector pay deal agreed to political relief

Good morning.

For the second evening in a row, all eyes in Government were on the pay talks between the public sector trade unions and officials from the Department of Public Expenditure last night.

But the anxiety of the previous evening – and of recent weeks – had dissipated: the decisive breakthrough had been made the previous night, and the talks yesterday and last night were about finalising the details.

Irish Times reporters worked to winkle out the details yesterday: pay increases of 10.75 per cent over two years and nine months under new proposals being considered by trade unions; this includes a 2 per cent rise this year backdated to September. There would also be a one per cent local bargaining payment which would be linked to ongoing change, a number of sources familiar with the discussions said on Tuesday. The remaining 7.75 per cent will be paid in stages over a further period of two years and three months. The overall pay deal would run until March 2029, and there will be higher pay rises for the lowest-paid workers.

Here’s some more detail.

Of course, things can go wrong at the last minute: brides- and husbands-to-be do sometimes get left at the altar. But across Government and trade unions there was agreement that they have got a deal each side can live with at last. And after 3am this morning, after another long night, came the news that the deal had been concluded.

Emmet Malone was first with the news.

The public sector strike planned for Thursday has been called off, he reports, after the Government and trade unions agreed a 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.

The new national pay agreement, concluded during talks at the Workplace Relations Commission, will now be considered by national executives of the 19 public services unions over the coming days, with many of them due to meet today.

Each is then expected to ballot their members on whether or not to accept the agreement while almost certainly suspending all industrial action.

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

EU presidency meetings and disruptions

The cancellation of the strike will be a relief to those parts of the Government involved in hosting two major summits in Dublin on Thursday and Friday, both at the National Convention Centre on the north quays of the river Liffey.

Almost 50 heads of state or government will attend the Thursday meeting of the European Political Community, including British prime minister Andy Burnham and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The EU 27 will hang around for Friday’s EU summit at the same venue.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said yesterday the security operation for the summits was the largest ever undertaken by the force, and there were certainly plenty of the boys in blue (and, er, luminous yellow) around Dublin city yesterday. Kelly said that the gardaí would facilitate lawful protest but would deal “robustly” with anyone acting the maggot.

Disruption, planned or otherwise, is inevitable. Not every security threat is credible, though: a threat against a Ryanair flight at Dublin Airport on Tuesday morning was assessed before the plane continued its planned journey to Bulgaria without interruption. A bomb threat against a school in Cork on Monday has been linked to a child, it is understood.

Conor Lally has the lowdown.

And here’s that list of road closures again.

Legal aid row resolved

The long-running row between Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and solicitors over legal aid fees has also been resolved. The settlement of the dispute over a new criminal legal aid payment model for the District Courts has cleared the way for a full resumption of work from Wednesday by criminal defence solicitors. Mary Carolan has the details.

Joe Biden surprise visit to Trinity met by protesters

Joe Biden dropped by yesterday. Jack Horgan Jones was there in the Exam Hall at Trinity College Dublin to watch the presentation of an award to his son Hunter Biden, which was bestowed for “outstanding contribution to public discourse”.

Word of the former president’s presence soon spread, and a group of pro-Palestinian protesters appeared, along with about 500 gardaí. There were a couple of arrests.

One year of President Connolly

Today marks a year since Catherine Connolly took office as President of Ireland. Then she spoke about how the people “have given their President a powerful mandate to articulate their vision for a new Republic”. So how is the vision for a new Republic getting on? Some supporters quietly wonder if the President has been ... too quiet? Others robustly defend her.

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Social Protection Minister Dara Calleary distances himself from Harris remarks.

Irish Defence Forces to continue training Ukrainian troops.

Election fallout continues in the US with poor Pete Hegseth trying to hang on to his job.

Playbook

The Social Democrats have a private members’ motion on reversing increases to public transport fares this morning, followed by Leaders’ Questions at noon. Debate on the Social Welfare Bill continues in the afternoon before the Government pushes through both the committee and the final stages of the Short-Term Letting Bill – a bit of sharp practice which will surely be (volubly) opposed by Independent Ireland among others. Weekly divisions are followed by adjournment at the civilised hour of 8.45pm.

Over in the Seanad, there are two pieces of Government legislation – the Gas Safety and Miscellaneous Amendments Bill and the Industrial Development (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, if you must know – followed by a Labour Bill to ensure the safety of workers during extreme weather.

At the committees, the participation of disabled people in social life, HIV, life on the offshore islands, child safeguarding in the FAI, preparations for extreme weather, pregnancy loss, the EU budget, infrastructure, funding for horse and greyhound racing and the committee stage of the Finance Bill are among the matters to be discussed. All human – and some animal – life is there.

Full schedule here.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to have a bilateral meeting with the Taoiseach later, with a press conference likely afterwards.