Unions give Govt six weeks to resolve pay cut dispute

The Government has been given a six-week deadline by unions leaders to resolve the dispute over public sector pay cuts.

Otherwise the unions have threatened to intensify their campaign of industrial action.

The HSE this week will see services hit by industrial action as 30,000 staff join the dispute.

The developments came as the Government prepared to kick-start December's Budget measures to cut €1.5bn in spending across all State departments.

The reform of the public sector is likely to save around €500m.

Thousands of public workers have refused to answer phones across Government departments, the courts and passpost offices.

This evening, the results of a ballot of 13,000 members of the Civil and Public service union is expected on whether they should take full strike action.