Union boss in bid to stem Croke Park deal criticism

THE head of one of the country’s most powerful trade unions has written to all TDs in a bid to stem criticism of the extent of savings made under the Croke Park Agreement.

Shay Cody, general secretary of IMPACT, has blamed negative media coverage for the poor impression which has enveloped the Agreement.

He said staff numbers in the public sector have fallen and annual savings of €900m have been achieved.

This figure, he said, would rise substantially as the effect of a lower-paid workforce kicks in.

Mr Cody promised the deal can and would deliver more without the need for re-negotiation.

“Crucially, the Croke Park Agreement includes agreements for the reorganisation of services and staff redeployments, some on a very large scale, which are now occurring in different parts of the public service to ensure staff reductions have a minimal impact on services,” he said.

The Government continues to face pressure to scrap the Croke Park Agreement and make deeper cuts in this area to achieve the targets laid down under the joint IMF/EU bailout deal.

Meanwhile, an independent trawl of Ireland’s bank debts hopes to untangle the web of secrecy surrounding how much and to whom money is owed from Irish institutions.

Trade union and NGO leaders yesterday announced plans to scrutinise figures on bondholders from the Central Bank and stockbrokers.

The fact-finding audit will initially report back in June and hopes to identify when debts were incurred and when they must be paid out.

Outlining the project, peace group Afri said it also wanted whistle-blowers to come forward and reveal details on senior, guaranteed and subordinated debt.

Afri chairperson Andy Storey said: “We hope to sift through the fog of innuendo to get the facts.”

Afri, trade union Unite and the Debt and Development Coalition have asked University of Limerick department head and senior accounting and finance lecturer Dr Sheila Killian to lead the research. The audit follows similar processes being planned in Greece and other indebted countries.

Unite’s regional secretary Jimmy Kelly said people wanted to know who was behind Ireland’s huge debt.