Ireland strikes new public sector pay deal to avert more industrial action

Ireland Agrees to New Public Sector Pay Deal to End Strikes by 2029

Key Details of the Public Sector Pay Agreement

Background and Negotiations

DUBLIN, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Irish government struck a draft public sector pay deal with trade unions on Wednesday that provides for average cumulative pay increases of 10.75% to early 2029 and the ending of all industrial action, pending ratification.

The new deal was negotiated following the expiration of the last pay agreement in June which result in a widespread strike last month, the country's first since the height of the financial crisis in 2009. A second strike on Thursday was suspended.

Main Provisions of the Deal

Financial Terms and Timeline

• The draft agreement will be backdated to July 2026 and run to the end of March at the cost of €5.2 billion, the public expenditure ministry said in a statement. The costs will be spread across five budgets

Pay Increases for Lower Paid Public Servants

• The deal is weighted towards lower paid public servants, with those on lowest incomes receiving pay increases of up to 18.3%

• The threshold at which the lower-pay provisions apply will increase from €50,000 to €60,000

Specific Pay Increase Examples

Impact on Various Public Sector Roles

• Starting pay would increase by 18.3% over the course of the deal for a cleaner, by 14.6% for a police officer and 13.1% for primary school teacher, the government said

Review Clause and Balloting

• Either party can trigger a review if assumptions regarding the rate of inflation or other economic parameters change significantly over the lifetime of the agreement

• Public service unions and associations will now ballot their members on the proposed agreement

Reporting

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Sarah Young)