The Irish Congress of Trade Unions welcomes the announcement by the Minister for Finance, Dr Caoimhe Archibald that an allocation of £685m has been made available to departments to allow them to begin pay negotiations with public sector trade unions.
ICTU assistant General Secretary Gerry Murphy commented
Whether this funding allocation will be sufficient to settle all industrial disputes will become clear as negotiations between individual unions and relevant departments commence. We would strongly urge government departments to begin these negotiations immediately in order to avoid any further unnecessary disruption.
While we welcome the prospect of settling disputes for this year, we are clear that public sector pay is not a one-off issue. Public services do not exist without the necessary funding for public sector pay. Paying staff must never again be seen as an optional extra.
