Preliminary talks on public service agreement held

The opening negotiations on a new public service agreement have ended after a meeting between management and unions.

It is understood that management outlined its agenda for the talks, including widespread cuts in pay and conditions aimed at securing savings of €1bn over the next three years, in addition to reductions planned under the existing Croke Park Agreement.

However, no document was circulated during the meeting, which lasted approximately 30 minutes.

Unions also outlined their position and more detailed negotiations will get under way tomorrow.

It is hoped they will be completed by the end of February, though most observers believe that is overly optimistic.

Public servants face the prospect of compulsory redundancies, longer working hours, cuts in premium and overtime payments, and possible pay cuts for higher paid staff.

Staff may be asked to work longer hours to preserve their existing pay, with suggestions the Government would seek at least an additional four hours a fortnight.

Staff currently working less than 40 hours per week would be affected; this would impact areas such as local authorities where some staff work 34 hours per week.

In addition, management wants to cut overtime and premium payments, particularly for working Sundays.

Increments are also on the table, as is the possibility of pay cuts for higher grades. The cull of staff numbers in the public service will also continue with the possibility of further redundancies.

After the meeting, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said today's meeting had been a high-level engagement between both sides.

It was described as a "listening exercise" where both sides had tabled their proposals.

She said employer proposals related to productivity and efficiency measures, workforce reforms including redeployment, terms and conditions and performance, as well as measures to address the public service pay and pensions bill.

The group will reconvene tomorrow and agree a schedule for engagement over the coming weeks with a view to concluding as soon as possible.

Compulsory redundancies to be included - Quinn

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn said he is not in a position to say if any new public service agreement would also include compulsory redundancies.

He said the Government is looking to extend the Croke Park Agreement framework in order to find further savings.

Mr Quinn said that details of any new agreement "should be left to the initial talks participants".

Public service unions have described the negotiations as challenging, problematic, alarming and worrying.

Arriving for the talks, General Secretary of the Civil Public and Services Union Eoin Ronayne said his members who earn below €45,000 a year are "at the edge".

He said there is no scope for movement on pay.

Asked about the possibility of compulsory redundancies in the civil service, he queried why such redundancies would be necessary when clerical officers are awaiting work in existing bodies, yet the Revenue Commissioners are proposing to outsource certain operations.

Sheila Nunan, the General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, said all public servants, including teachers, had taken huge cuts in pay and were very alarmed at items on the agenda.

Asked about reports that supervision and substitution payments for teachers could be targeted, Ms Nunan said she would have to see the proposals that would emerge in the next few days.

She said she saw no scope for compulsory redundancies for primary teachers, given that they were successfully operating redeployment, with over 2,000 primary teachers redeployed last year.

Asked about the prospect of compulsory redundancies elsewhere, she said the protection from compulsory redundancies had been a cornerstone of the original Croke Park Agreement, and there was an expectation that it would be part of the current agreement.

Mike Jennings, the General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers, said it was remarkable that they were going into a set of talks where it was question of trying to minimise pain instead of trying to achieve any gain whatsoever.

He said that was a very uncomfortable place for trade unions to be.

IMPACT Deputy General Secretary Kevin Callinan said he believes it will be very difficult to reach an agreement.

Speaking on Morning Ireland, Mr Callinan said that IMPACT is seeking an extension of the arrangements in the current Croke Park Agreement, including protections against pay cuts, compulsory redundancies and compulsory adjustments to pensions.

Mr Callinan said that a new agreement will also have to pass three tests.

"Any proposals or any set of proposals are going to have to make sense, what this means is they're going to have to meet the requirement to actually achieve savings.

"Secondly they need to be fair and they need to be balanced and there needs to be equity across the various sectors, and thirdly and critically they'll need to pass the test of acceptance by members of the various unions in ballots."

Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation's General Secretary Liam Doran said he is extremely pessimistic about the prospects of any agreement being reached on an extension to the Croke Park Agreement.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Pat Kenny programme, Mr Doran said the vast majority of nurses and midwives are on ordinary incomes.

He said they cannot have them reduced further. He also said that any future redundancy schemes in the public service should be more targeted than under the previous agreement.

He said: "This blanket kind of early retirement scheme open to everyone is madness. It has led to disjointed manpower and skill mix in many areas and it has to be corrected.

"And that should be done by a targeted scheme. But certainly not a compulsory scheme, which I think would be a step too far for most of my union colleagues."

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