The vice-president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Mr Joe O'Toole, has denied press reports that pay is not a major issue in talks on the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. "Pay and tax are both on the agenda and there is no question of pay being deferred," he said.
However, he added that with the Budget deadline fast approaching tax, welfare and other budgetary issues had received priority so far in the present round of talks.
Mr O'Toole told The Irish Times yesterday: "In terms of the outcome of the current review I would be looking for a combination of tax improvements, progress on pay and proposals to accelerate the timescale of existing improvements such as benchmarking and dates for increases due under the PPF."
He could not predict the outcome of the talks but said that if the PPF was to survive "we have to make significant progress on these issues and there is no question of any of these items being off the agenda."
He accepted the position taken by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation was that there could be no pay increases outside the terms of the PPF.
"We say our claims are being made within the PPF under the clauses to do with growth and low inflation. These talks, at our request, are taking place under the PPF."
The current phase of talks is due to conclude by November 10th and it should be clear by then whether a compromise can be reached between the two sides. IBEC and ICTU are more or less agreed that tax cuts should be targeted at low to middle income groups, but IBEC has so far set its face against any extra pay increases beyond those provided for under schemes for profit and gain sharing.