Plan to maximise Croke Park savings

Trade union leaders and state agency managers will be presented with further proposals to squeeze the maximum savings from the Croke Park deal tomorrow.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has agreed to convene the Croke Park implementation body, where unions and managers will be presented with further plans to reduce the public sector pay bill.

Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin and Mr Kenny have met ministers with their latest department plans in recent weeks.

It follows a demand from Mr Kenny for further savings last month when Mr Howlin was only able to abolish one allowance for all public sector workers out of 1,100 such allowances.

A spokesman for Mr Kenny confirmed tomorrow’s meeting and said that the department proposals would be brought before the body.

Meanwhile, Siptu has accused Aer Lingus of “provocation and deliberate scaremongering” over the state of the staff pension scheme amid warnings that disruptive industrial action over the scheme is now not just possible but “probable”.

In a note to the stock market this week, Aer Lingus said that if the ailing Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme were wound up, it would yield just 4% of the expected pension entitlements for workers.

Siptu sector organiser Dermot O’Loughlin said Aer Lingus was relying on flawed financial data to frighten its employees.

“The company is silent on the fact that it has cash reserves in the region of €900m and has historically been one of the lowest contributors to its employees’ pension schemes.

“At the recent Labour Relations Commission hearing, the company made a derisory offer to deal with the deficit in the scheme which allows it to de-risk and walk away from its responsibilities to its employees. The management of Aer Lingus would bebetter served if it embraced meaningful negotiations rather than continue with its provocation and deliberate scaremongering.”

Last week, when Siptu claimed Aer Lingus was only prepared to stump up €9m to €15m, the airline accused the union of releasing “wildly inaccurate” information. Sources later indicated the amount being set aside by the company to address the problem was in the region of €100m.

The sides were due to meet before the Labour Relations Commission today, though it is understood union representatives might not be able to attend.

One union source told the Irish Examiner that with management and staff as far from a resolution as ever, disruptive industrial action over the October bank holiday is now looking more “probable than possible”.