Public expenditure minister urges resolution of pay dispute before strike

Public expenditure minister Jack Chambers said it is in the “national interest” for the Government and trade unions to resolve the public sector pay dispute before further strike action scheduled for next week.

Chambers told RTÉ’s Six One that €1.2 bn allocated for pay talks is the “starting point” and that there is a “pathway” forward after positive soundings with union leaders. He said the Government wants to deliver a “meaningful, credible, and fair deal for workers” and hopes a deal can be reached “in the national interest”.

The minister indicated intensive work is ongoing behind the scenes and that details on a possible mediator will be set out “in the next day or so”. He added that any mediation would involve a collective approach with the ICTU’s Public Services Committee.

Union leaders met at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, where Fórsa secretary general Kevin Callinan said there is a “pathway to talks” but stressed the need to restore trust in the industrial relations process. Callinan called for an independent mediator and said the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, should intervene directly.

Martin replied that relations with the unions are in a “better space” than earlier in the week and welcomed the unions’ openness to engagement.

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Artem Kulinych / Pexels.