Brendan Howlin: Cabinet ‘naive’ in pay talks

Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin has slammed his ex-cabinet colleague Paschal Donohoe and Fine Gael for “naivety and inexperience” in dealing with the mounting public sector pay crisis.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr Howlin claimed he did a “remarkable job” of securing two pay agreements and maintaining industrial peace during the troika programme while the country was gripped by austerity cuts.

“What I did was remarkable in five years,” said Mr Howlin. “In the worst of times, compare us to any other programme countries, we maintained industrial peace across the public service. We didn’t lose any days in strike and, yet, I negotiated two agreements that were voted and accepted by the members.”