Croke Park II - Hard to see how €1bn will be saved

It is difficult to see how the measures unions still involved in the Croke Park II talks have agreed to recommend to their members will save the necessary €300m in the next nine months — or €1bn before 2016.

Despite that caveat, and when deals involving public servants talking to public servants about pay and conditions are being considered there will always be some, it is far better that the process continues rather than collapse into the kind of industrial relations mayhem we can ill afford.

Pay cuts of 5.5% on income above €65,000, increasing in stages, to a 10% cut on income over €185,000, a reduction in Sunday payments from double time to 1.75 times normal pay and the deferral of some increments hardly seem radical impositions, even if considered in the light of earlier reductions — especially so if guarantees regarding no further pay cuts or redundancies are extended until 2016. Of course there are other measures under review, including the length of the working week, but first impressions suggest the fact that the deal runs out in what should be an election year has influenced if not softened the outcome. The option of surrendering time rather than cash for people who have reached the top of their incremental scale adds to that suspicion.