Irish pay talks restart

Negotiations on a new national pay deal for Ireland, which broke down last month, have now been restarted.

The new talks follow an intervention by the government, which tabled new proposals. These involve a 7% increase, paid in three tranches, over 18 months at a time when inflation is 4.8% (November 2002).

The negotiations had previously broken down because the employers were asking for a pay freeze, something the unions found entirely unacceptable.

Other points at issue were the unions' demand for a statutory recognition process (at present it is voluntary) and the employers' demands that unions should comply strictly with any pay norm. Recognition and compliance are both taken up in the government's proposals, although the details remain to be settled.