Top civil and public servants are demanding "real increases in wages" to take account of inflation.

A ‘productivity award’ independent and in addition to the ‘wage award’ in public sector pay talks could offer a means of resolving the current row, writes Anthony Leddin.

Nursing unions are claiming that agencies are paying nurses and midwives 20% above the public sector rate for the same work.

After a prolonged campaign, the country’s 13,000 Section 39 workers are to see their pay restored just as it has been reinstated for their counterparts in the HSE.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is set to finalise plans in the coming days to give almost €200m worth of pay rises to 60,000 teachers, nurses, gardaí, and other public sector workers in a bid to end recession-era pay rates.

A group organising a major march on the Dáil to highlight poor pay and conditions in the Defence Forces is about to launch a lobbying campaign aimed at local and national public representatives.

Union leaders are optimistic they can reverse pay gaps for public service workers that could potentially benefit up to 60,000 employees.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe says new talks need to be opened with the trade union movement to address future challenges facing the economy, such as Brexit.

The union representing higher public servants has decided not to make a recommendation to members on the public sector pay deal.

The Minister for Expenditure and Reform says the new Lansdowne Road Extension is a good deal that makes sense for the whole country.

Public sector workers who reject the new €880m Lansdowne Road pay agreement will miss out on pay increases contained in the deal, unions leaders are being warned.

Economists such as John Fitzgerald have correctly questioned the merit of returning to pre-crash pay levels in the first place, the political system here seems intent on capitulation on that point, writes Daniel McConnell.

The new public pay deal will buy the Government another three years of industrial peace. But the pacification of around 300,000 workers in the public sector has come at a cost, and a rather hefty one at that, says Elaine Loughlin.

The thorny issues of pension contributions and restoration of pre-financial crisis hours formed the basis of the latest installment of talks between the Government and unions on a new public service pay deal.

The union representing low-paid civil servants has rejected the Government’s efficiencies “wishlist” outlined in the ongoing pay talks and warns there can be no further productivity deals.

When the negotiators enter talks on a new public service pay deal on Monday, the unions and management will clearly have very different aspirations for what the outcome will be a fortnight later, writes Stephen Rogers.

Doctors, nurses, and midwives have accused the Government of taking an “ostrich approach” to the staffing crisis in hospitals, community and mental health services.

Hyperbole is the order of the day for many but we have a moral duty to restore public sector pay to levels of 2007, says Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin

The Government has indicated there will be no special pay deals to recruit people to fill positions in the public service where there are shortages.

Almost 270,000 public sector staff face a hike in pension contributions to fund their ‘gold-plated’ schemes as the Government emphasises the economy is still recovering.

A key portion of talks on a new public service pay deal will see the Government and unions debate who should contribute more for their pensions; how much they should be expected to concede; and at what pay rates contributions should kick in.

Some public-sector unions say their members are earning up to 60% less than they would in a similar role in the private sector.

After years of debate as to the perceived public-private sector pay differential, the Public Service Pay Commission has concluded the two sets of workers are relatively on a par.

Public service unions want talks on pay recovery in the sector to start as soon as possible after the Public Service Pay Commission “provided a good summary of the sacrifices public servants made in the years following the economic crash”.

A long-awaited Public Sector Pay Commission report recommending continued restoration of pay is to be brought to Cabinet today.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has delivered a stark warning over the Government’s ability to meet public sector pay demands in the forthcoming budget, saying talks with trade unions will be “very difficult”.

Government has come under sustained pressure to explain the €120m black hole which will have to be filled to deliver public sector wage increases.

Public-sector workers are to receive an extra one-off payment this year, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has confirmed.

Pay rises due to thousands of public servants could come through months earlier than expected.

The executive of the Garda Representative Association will meet today to decide steps towards implementing a €50m pay deal, after members voted to back it yesterday.

The Government is being warned that any new increases in expenditure - such as funding higher public sector pay - would have to be offset by lower spending elsewhere, or changes in taxation.

Proposed pay increases to gardaí will not cost the taxpayer extra and will be paid for from within existing budgets, according to the Tánaiste and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

The Dáil has heard claims that scrapping the legislation to impose pay cuts on public-sector workers would "jeopardise" Government finances.

Fianna Fáil have denied there are holes in their election spending promises after claims by Finance Minister Michael Noonan that the party has left out costings for a new public-sector pay deal.

Primary teachers have voted to accept the Lansdowne Road Agreement on public sector pay.

The Taoiseach has brushed off remarks from the IMF, which has warned Ireland about plans to restore public pay.

Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin says that he believes most public-sector unions will sign up to the new pay deal.

Union bosses say they are hopeful of reaching a deal on public sector pay today.

The Impact trade union has said talks on pay in the public sector have not yet addressed pay restoration.