Bertie warns against pay free-for-all

THE Government will seek a national pay deal confined to the nation's 300,000 public service workers if the current talks fail, the Taoiseach said yesterday.

However, Mr Ahern, while conceding that he feared for the success of stalled talks on an all-embracing national deal, also warned that a pay free-for-all would cost workers and bosses very dearly in the medium- to longer-term.

In a wide-ranging new year interview, Mr Ahern also made it clear that he had not abandoned the idea of a national sports stadium. He also said he hoped the FAI and IRFU would come in behind the project which would be privately developed but also with government support.