The controversial requirement for public service staff to work additional unpaid hours will be retained, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe has signalled.
On Friday morning the Minister said productivity gains which the Government secured in the various deals with public service unions over recent years cumulatively delivered about 15 million additional hours per year to the country’s public services.
“Across the duration of the next agreement I want to see those productivity gains retained, alongside having discussions in relation to pay”.
Mr Donohoe said once the Public Service Pay Commission had reported, the Government would outline its broad agenda in relation to productivity.
Various public service unions have, over recent weeks, demanded an end to the requirement on their members to work additional unpaid hours.
The Pay Commission report is expected to the finalised within the coming days.
The Minster said he expected to receive it by the middle of May and he would then seek Cabinet approval for his negotiating strategy and then invite public service unions to talks on a successor to the existing Lansdowne Road agreement.
Mr Donohoe said the forthcoming talks with trade unions would be “very, very difficult”.
“While the resources that we have are greater than a number of years ago, the demands on that and the expectations are very significant.”
“I am going to be entering these negotiations in good faith. I am looking to secure a collective agreement. But it is a collective agreement that has to be fair to everybody. “
“We have commitments in other areas in relation to what we want to do; with tax reform, in relation to public services that we need to improve .
“We have since 2013 hired, for example, 5,000 more teachers. We need to be able to continue with our ability to do all those things.”
