Donohoe blames stalled pay talks on unions 'raising new items'

Talks have been under way between the unions and the Department of Public Expenditure at the Workplace Relations Commission since late November. Picture: Colin Keegan/ Collins 

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has blamed stalled public sector pay talks on “a number of new items” being raised by unions late in the process.

Talks have been under way between the unions and the Department of Public Expenditure at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) since late November. However, union figures had become frustrated at the slow pace of the negotiations in recent days.

After talks stalled late on Tuesday evening, Mr Donohoe noted he had already made a “significant concession”  several weeks ago, and had hoped that would give the negotiation “the momentum it needed”.

That concession relates to Mr Donohoe's willingness to consider the future repealing of austerity-era Fempi legislation, which curbed public sector salaries across the board.

“I understood that progress had been made on a number of issues, but that a number of new items have been raised at a relatively late stage of the process, and this has presented challenges bringing these discussions to a conclusion,” Mr Donohoe said.

While refusing to be drawn on what these "new" issues were, the minister said they relate to “public services across Government”.

He said the Government would bring forward proposals on public sector pay “when satisfied that a credible and comprehensive framework is in place to underpin any multi-year agreement that can withstand any challenges we may face”.

Earlier, public sector unions said they would draw up ballots for industrial action in January if the Government failed to reach an agreement for a new public service wage structure by the end of the year.

Affiliates from the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions met on Wednesday morning to decide on a position after talks stalled on Tuesday evening, just days before the current Building Momentum pay deal is due to expire.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said the WRC had decided an agreement could not be reached as the talks currently stand.

"It's now unlikely talks will resume before Christmas, although we did express our willingness to meet over the next few days in order to conclude a deal,” Mr Callinan said.

However, it remained clear last night that the Government can't or won't conclude a deal in that time, and has indicated it would prefer to resume negotiations in the new year.

Mr Donohoe acknowledged talks were not likely to begin anew before the end of December, saying “it is more important that we get the proposal right”.

Mr Callinan, meanwhile, said he was of the opinion that while there had been no discussion of pay at the talks thus far, nevertheless, had there been a “genuine push” this week it would have been possible to “close out” other issues and move onto the pay segment.

He described the lack of progress as “very disappointing” and indicative of “a tangible lack of enthusiasm” on the Government’s part to agree a new deal.

There have been 11 meetings between unions and Government since November 27 in this current session of pay talks, with early progress giving way to stasis over the past 10 days.