Lower-paid civil servants have warned that their protest action against the Government's new pension levy may escalate in the weeks ahead.
About 13,000 members of the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) staged one-hour protests outside Government offices around the country at lunchtime today.
The dispute affected all Government departments and related agencies such as Social Welfare, Revenue, Agriculture, Transport, Enterprise Trade & Employment, Justice, Courts, Garda stations, Foreign Affairs, passport offices and the Department of Environment.
The general secretary of the CPSU Blair Horan said this afternoon that members remained very angry at the levy and wanted to send out a message to the Government that the 6 per cent reduction of pay through the levy as well as the refusal to pay a futher 6 per cent increase due under the National Wage Agreement, were not acceptable.
Mr Horan warned that the protests against the levy would continue and could escalate in the weeks ahead.
"If it turns out that the level of protest does not succeed in bringing about a change in circumstances then the CPSU executive may have to consider more serious action," he said.
Last week around 6,000 CPSU members in Dublin and the northeast held a one-hour protest in which they refused to answer telephones.