The Labour Relations Commission is set to intervene in the dispute between the Government and public service unions as thousands of workers prepare to escalate their protests over pay cuts.
LRC chief executive of the Kieran Mulvey said today the commission was keen to get involved with unions and management to examine the issues that have led to the dispute.
"We are effectively playing by no rules and that is my concern and that is the concern I think the Commission has at the moment," Mr Mulvey said on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, to be broadcast tonight.
“Will we spend the next 12 months as the Labour Relations Commission - literally as a boxing referee between employers and trade unions while they punch themselves to death over 15 rounds?” he asked.
“That is not our function. Our function is to settle disputes. I am not prepared to allow the resources of the Commission to be used over the next 12 months… literally standing by just being a referee.
He said the LRC and Labour Court need to be more proactive in settling disputes. "I think within a very short period we would end up with gridlock in this state if all the services were to activate their action in a build up over the next number of months."
On the same programme, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said she could not give an assurance that there would be no further pay cuts this year. “We are not in a position to do any of those things in the context of having to realise three billion of further savings, give or take, next year,” she said.
Industrial action across the public service in protest at pay cuts following the budget last month gets under way in earnest tomorrow. Thousands of staff across the civil service, local authorities, and the health and education sectors who are members of Impact are scheduled to begin industrial action from tommorrow in protest at the pay cuts.
Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation are also expected to commence industrial action tomorrow.
Further industrial action, including strikes in selective areas, are understood to be under consideration by public sector unions in a second phase of the campaign which could take effect in the weeks ahead.
Mid-ranking civil servants, who are members of the PSEU, are scheduled to join the initial industrial action by the middle of next week.
Siptu said on Friday it would be serving notice of industrial action across the civil service, local authorities, and health and education sectors tomorrow. This proposed action would come into effect a week later, February 1st.
Lower-paid civil servants who are members of the CPSU have already been involved in industrial action for the last several days.