Talks collapse between Govt and public sector unions

There are media reports that talks between the Government and the public sector unions have collapsed.

Union leaders earlier said they had put a pre-Budget pay deal on the table involving 12 days of unpaid leave.

It is believed that the talks collapsed on this issue.

Blair Horan, general secretary of the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU), confirmed that talks have broken down this afternoon.

Under the unpaid leave plan put forward by unions, public sector workers would have agree to take 12 days of unpaid leave next year and would then later come up with a separate proposal to cover 2011.

According to estimates. the unpaid leave deal would have meant public service staff earning €50,000 having 4.6% of their income deducted next year.

For workers earning more than this amount the cut would ahve been equivalent of up to 7% of income.