Unions should ‘hang their heads in shame’

Unions who recommend the new Croke Park deal to members should “hang their heads in shame”, Sinn Féin has warned.

The party’s deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald accused the Government of “bottling it” by forcing the low paid to take the bulk of the pain.

“We are asking people now who are already struggling to take another hit, I think that is nothing short of disgraceful.

“The Government has bottled it once again. And any trade union that would recommend that once again takes a very gentle approach with the small minority that are overpaid and asks other people to take pain should hang its head in shame.

“Why are we always asking people earning €25,000 to €35,000 to take the pain?” Ms McDonald asked.

The Sinn Féin Dublin TD said the proposals only “tinkered at the margins” over the issue of the tranche of high earners in the public sector.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore says he will “stand back” from the new Croke Park deal while unions ballot their members and urged other political parties to do the same.

“I think all of us should now respect the fact that trade unions have to consider the outcome of these negotiations and the members of trade unions will have to reflect and make their decisions in the course of ballots.

“I have always believed that it is best if political parties stand back from that process and give to the people who work in our public services the respect and space in order to make a decision,” he said.

Fianna Fáil urged frontline services to be ring-fenced under any deal.

The party’s jobs spokesperson Sean Fleming criticised Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin for allowing unions such as the nurses to walk away from the talks because he had not been more hands-on during the negotiations.

“So often with this Government, the first priority is the headline, with the substance of the announcement frequently failing to live up to the PR. Minister Howlin must resist the urge to follow the same path in the case of these negotiations.

“The minister needs to explain why he did not intervene directly to try to prevent the departure of a number of unions from the talks process.

“He is arguing now that the proposals he has agreed are fair — where was he when that case should have been made to gardaí and nurses?

“The original Croke Park Agreement was about public sector pay, but it was also about reform and protecting the future of public services. It is striking that in all of the material released to date, there is no mention of the effect of the proposals on frontline and public services.

“Fianna Fáil supports the need to find extra savings from the public sector, but the test that we have insisted on throughout the process is, ‘is it fair?’.

“We will carefully examine the documents that have been published and will be coming forward with a series of detailed questions on the implications of what is being proposed over the coming days,” Mr Fleming said.