As the Cabinet prepares to consider the fallout from the €40 million proposals to settle the Garda pay dispute, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has ruled out similar awards across the public service.
The Cabinet is expected to accept the recommendation drawn up by the Labour Court last week to avert a threatened strike by gardaí. However, there have been divisions among Ministers on how the deal should be funded.
It is expected most of the €40 million will have to come from the budget allocated to the Department of Justice for next year.
Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald is understood to be resisting any suggestion that all the money should come from her coffers and instead is insisting on an "all-Government" response.
Minister for Education Richard Bruton said yesterday the money would have to come from within the existing Department of Justice budget.
Last night, the Garda Representative Association said three days of strikes planned for the coming weeks had been suspended. Rank-and-file gardaí were scheduled to stage work stoppages, but these have now been deferred pending a ballot of members.
‘Not affordable’
In Brussels yesterday, Mr Noonan said it was “simply not affordable” to provide the same level of pay increases to all public service staff as those recommended for gardaí.
Mr Noonan said the Garda pay proposals fell within the parameters of the Lansdowne Road agreement.
However, public service union leaders yesterday told Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe the Garda pay recommendation was outside the terms of the accord.
Separately, today the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland embarks on a day of strike action over pay rates for new entrants.
While just over 400 secondary schools closed indefinitely due to the union’s withdrawal of supervision duties, a further 100 schools will close today. More than 250,000 students will be affected.
