Government willing to improve public sector pay offer as industrial action looms

The Government is prepared to improve its €1.2bn pay offer at talks on a review of the public-sector wage agreement it has been confirmed, as SIPTU prepares to ballot its members on industrial action.

Speaking on Tuesday's Morning Ireland on RTé, Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath, pictured, said the Government will not chase inflation and “we will need the unions to meet us as well”.

Minister McGrath said the Government is prepared to be as flexible “as we possibly can”.

“And there is a willingness on the part of Government to improve the offer that is there,” he said.

His comments come after SIPTU said its members across the public service will commence a consultation exercise in advance of ballots for industrial action over the failure of the Government to conclude an acceptable review of the pay provisions of the ‘Building Momentum’ Public Service Agreement.

The consultation will involve union members and activists in the health service, local government, education and the State sectors in the coming weeks.

SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, John King, said that by refusing to re-engage with the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to deal with escalation in the cost of living, the Government is in breach of the terms of the current Agreement.

“The Public Services Committee of Congress invoked the provisions of the review clause on the 11th March 2022 when inflation was at 5.6% and when it was clear that the modest terms of the Agreement, concluded in January 2021, were being completely eroded by the dramatic increase in the cost of living for workers. With inflation now running at 9.1%, the Government’s failure to re-engage at the WRC is no longer tenable,” Mr King said

“Talks at the WRC were deferred on 17th June when the Government side claimed it needed time to reflect. With the Dáil now in recess until early to mid-September, it is clear that it is not prepared to engage in meaningful discussions on the cost of living crisis. In these circumstances, we are now left with no alternative other than to ballot our members in order to protect their standard of living,” Mr King said.