‘Nuclear winter’ if Croke Park deal axed

One of the ministers charged with overseeing the reform of the public service has warned of a “nuclear winter” of industrial action if the Croke Park deal is abandoned.

The 2010 agreement has been subjected to increased criticism recently, but Brian Hayes, minister of state at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, sung its praises in a speech to the Seanad. He also criticised detractors of the agreement for their lack of a clear alternative. “Those calling for a re-negotiation are very vague about what this means,” said Mr Hayes.

“They need to be explicit about the alternative strategy they put forward and be upfront about what that would mean for our teachers, gardaí, nurses and other ordinary public servants in terms of further cuts in pay and compulsory rather than voluntary redundancies.

“They also must consider the potential wider impacts in terms of the inevitable severe disruption which would be caused by widespread industrial action across the public service.

“Those who argue for some alternative yet to be defined are effectively arguing for some kind of nuclear winter which this country would face by throwing the situation into crisis mode.”

He said he was recently asked at Germany’s Bundestag how Ireland was managing to “knock out” between 12% and 14% of the public service while meeting ongoing demands.

“They wondered why more protests are not happening on our streets. We have managed this change without street protests, at a time of substantial difficulty, because the Croke Park agreement is in place.”

He said clear evidence had been provided that productivity had increased under the deal. “Public service staff numbers have fallen by more than 20,000 since 2008 and will fall further in the coming weeks as the Feb 29 deadline [for public service early retirements] approaches,” he said.

Despite this decline, services have by and large been maintained and, in some cases, improved. This is against the backdrop of increasing demands for services provided by the State.”

While defending the savings to date, Mr Hayes did warn public servants they must continue to deliver the savings if they want to retain the protection of their core pay. He said each sector has been asked by the Croke Park implementation body to revise its action plans under the agreement to reflect new Government targets on public service numbers and payroll reductions.

“The Government expects hard won management agendas to be pursued by sectoral management, even where that means some difficult negotiations,” he said.

“I must warn the House that some of the challenges facing both sides will push that forbearance to its limits. It may be that we will see a greater level of resistance than before. If that is case, those advocating it will be playing into the hands of those from various quarters calling for a renegotiated Croke Park agreement.”