Key public service unions were indicating last night that their members might be prepared to accept an average 12 per cent recommendation from the benchmarking body on public sector pay, subject to certain conditions.
The report of the benchmarking body, which is to be presented to the Minister of Finance, Mr McCreevy, on Monday, is widely expected to recommend increases of between 10 and 15 per cent, averaging out at about 12 per cent.
"We're approaching this with a positive attitude," Mr Peter McLoone, general secretary of IMPACT, the largest of the public service unions said. "We have indicated unequivocally we could live with 12 per cent, even if the teachers, say, get 15 to 17 per cent."
What IMPACT could not accept, however, Mr McLoone said, was a situation where another group such as the teachers rejected a recommendation from the benchmarking body well in excess of 12 per cent and held out for a higher increase. "If somebody gets more and they're not happy, then we're not going to give any group space to pursue their claim without following suit," the IMPACT leader warned.
The report is expected to have immediate implications for the tens of thousands of IMPACT members in the Civil Service and local authorities.
It will also fundamentally influence the union's views on future public service pay determination as well as any decision on whether to negotiate a further national wage agreement, once the current Programme for Prosperity and Fairness expires later this year.
The union's diversity of membership, Mr McLoone said, presented a particular challenge. IMPACT made 15 submissions to the benchmarking body "on behalf of our many public service grades".
At its annual delegate conference in May, the union considered the "unique institutional position" of the benchmarking body and saw this as a potential complication.
Mr McLoone told the conference: "The body is a creature of the PPF and will cease to exist once it has issued its report. It will not be possible to negotiate with the body on the basis of its findings." For this reason the reaction of the union to the report's publication is considered crucial.
Mr McLoone said IMPACT would base its assessment of the report on a number of key elements: the scale and the range of pay awards; its treatment of each IMPACT grade, group and category, comparisons with private sector pay and the new Government's attitude towards implementation.
Mr Liam Doran, general secretary of the Irish Nurses Union, said last night's "media speculation" that nurses were seeking an increase of about 30 per cent was wide of the mark. The nurses were seeking parity with therapeutic grades such as chiropodists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists, he confirmed.
"What we are actually seeking is a basic claim of 11 per cent at the maximum of the scale in terms of pay plus a four-hour reduction in the nurse's working week, from 39 to 35 hours."
The key issue in relation to the benchmarking body, Mr Doran said, was where it left the nurses in relation to the parity claim and how far its recommendations went towards eliminating the gap. A notional recommendation of about 12 per cent along with the four-hour reduction would be acceptable, he indicated. The INO is also negotiating for nine different grades, from staff nurse to nurse manager, various clinical specialties and community nurses.
The benchmarking report is to be fully considered at a special delegate conference of the INO in September.