SIPTU leader looking for an end to decentralisation dispute

SIPTU has warned it will not support any new national pay deal unless the decentralisation dispute at state agencies is resolved.

Partnership talks are due to resume on Sunday but the indications are they could collapse without agreement.

Meanwhile, the decentralisation row at FAS is spreading to other agencies like Enterprise Ireland and Combat Poverty.

Two hundred workers from several agencies have demonstrated outside the office of Tom Parlon - the minister overseeing the process.

SIPTU leader Jack O'Connor says even if a pay deal can be reached, the decentralisation dispute needs to be resolved before he could ask his members to support it.

“I wouldn't be able to see us put up a proposal with a recommendation for acceptance while people found themselves in a very invidious position that they find themselves,” he said today.

He added: "I would see in the event that a proposal for a national agreement can be concluded, a necessity to address that and other issues that are pertinent to the particular time."