State ‘should honour pay deal’

The Government should honour the Croke Park agreement in full, according to the president of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (CPA), Niall Byrne.

He said the Government had stuck to honouring its agreements throughout the economic crisis.

“Whatever we might think of the merits of the Croke Park agreement, we should not allow ourselves to forget that it is an agreement voluntarily entered into by the Irish Government, and the unions representing its members. To unilaterally repudiate such an agreement now could do untold damage to the country’s reputation.”

He said the recovery of the country’s international reputation was as a direct result of the Government honouring its obligations to pay bondholders and cover the banks’ debts.

“We have not walked away from any agreements. Even when there was a clamour for the country to burn bondholders and default on bank debts, the Government has rightly maintained a consistent line that any relief on our debt burden must be the result of agreements freely entered into with our partners in Europe and elsewhere.”

However, Mr Byrne did signal the need for talks to begin now for a successor to the Croke Park deal that will bring the costs of the public sector under control.