Public pay body will not speed up its work

The work of the Public Service Pay Commission will not be brought forward, despite growing calls for a new public sector deal early in the new year.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe has refused to ask the newly formed commission to speed up its work.

The commission, which has been charged with looking into how the unwinding of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act (FEMPI) should proceed, is due to report back by the middle of next year. The mid-year deadline had given Government time to consider suggestions by the group before going into a new round of public sector talks in the third quarter of 2017.