The public sector strike planned for Thursday has been called off in the early hours after the Government and trade unions agreed a €5.2 billion deal that will deliver pay increases of at least 10.75 per cent to more than 400,000 workers by the end of March 2029.
The new national pay agreement, concluded during talks at the Workplace Relations Commission at about 3.30am, will be considered by national executives of the 19 unions representing public sector workers over the coming days, with many of them due to meet on Wednesday.
Each are then expected to ballot their members on whether to accept the agreement.
An overall result of the ballots is expected during the second week of December.
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The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) has recommended that all unions suspend Thursday’s national strike and other industrial action, including ongoing work-to-rules, pending the ballot results.
In the event the agreement is endorsed by a majority of the total membership, as would be expected, the first increases would likely start being paid in January, with the backdating of the first increase to September providing modest lump sum payments for staff in the post-Christmas period.
The Government said the total cost of the deal, which runs for 33 months, will be €5.2 billion.
Overall, the 9.75 per cent in general pay increases under the agreement will be implemented in eight individual instalments, with a 1 per cent for local bargaining to be paid separately.
Five of the increases have a specified minimum amount to be paid, meaning those earning less than €60,000 a year at the time will receive a greater increase to their pay in percentage terms.
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The increases to be paid are:
2026
- September 1st – 2 per cent or €1,200, whichever is the greater.
2027
- April 1st – 1 per cent.
- August 1st – 1 per cent or €600, whichever is the greater.
- November 1st – 1.5 per cent or €900, whichever is the greater.
2028
- March 1st – 1 per cent.
- June 1st – 1 per cent or €600, whichever is the greater.
- October 1st – 1 per cent
2029
- March 1st – 1 per cent in “local bargaining”.
- March 2nd – 1.25 per cent or €750, whichever is the greater.
- The agreement (published on the Government website here) ends on March 31st, 2029.
The first instalment consists of 2 per cent of pay for anyone earning €60,000 or more and an increase of €1,200 a year for anyone earning below that amount. For a clerical officer or other employee in any part of the public or Civil Service earning €35,000 annually, the increase involved would be about 3.4 per cent. In total, the deal would be worth about 16 per cent to a worker on that level of pay.
The local bargaining element is a mechanism for addressing outstanding issues in individual sectors that can often involve the money not being used to benefit all of the staff equally.
In addition, union officials said the deal contains strengthened provisions on outsourcing, consultation, new protocols around decision-making on hybrid working, guarantees against compulsory redundancy, provisions on procurement and career development opportunities in education.
There are a number of elements intended to benefit the employer side, including co-operation with the integration of AI and changed work practices. The detail of these provisions will be clearer when the draft document is published over the next day or so.
Asked about the pay element of the deal, Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan, who led the union side negotiating team, said: “I think, based on what we know about inflation, it is ahead of the projections over the period, so we’re pleased about that.
“We’ve made some progress, but we are in uncertain times. And one of the important things in the agreement is that there is a review clause in the event that inflation was to spike again.
“This has been a really difficult process. What we have managed to achieve with the better rates for those earning below €60,000 is, I think, an important win for young workers.
“It is an agreement that has good parts to it, but also, I think, opens a way for Government and unions to work together on the challenges facing the delivery of public services, and indeed the challenges facing the recipients of public services.”
The other union negotiators were Phil Ní Sheaghdha of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, John Boyle of the Irish National Teachers Organisation and Adrian Kane of Siptu.
Kane echoed Callinan’s views on the potential benefits to younger workers, saying “the deal we shaped through negotiations is skewed and very much weighted for lower and moderately paid people, which are younger people by and large.
“So I think that’s a good day’s work. But the thing about being in a union, you have a say, and we’ll bring this back to our people, and they will decide whether it’s good enough at the end of the day.”
Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Jack Chambers welcomed the proposed agreement, which, he said, “underlines the value of collective bargaining and constructive engagement in resolving complex issues and delivering balanced outcomes for public servants, public services and taxpayers.
“The Government has consistently sought to reach an agreement with public service unions and associations that achieves the correct balance between continued investment in the delivery of our public services and an approach to public service pay that is fair and affordable,” Chambers said.
“The proposed agreement is fiscally sustainable and consistent with the Government’s medium-term fiscal and expenditure plan, providing certainty for public servants as well as the Government and public service users over the period covered by the agreement.”
