Irish public sector pay cuts may end

Richard Bruton, the Irish minister for jobs and enterprise, has held out the possibility that public sector workers may see a restoration of the pay cuts that have been imposed on them since 2009. However, he also made it clear this would only be done once the economy has recovered.

The public sector pay bill has been cut by 20% since 2009, with a 10% reduction in the number of public sector employees. The deal with the unions on pay and productivity runs out in July 2016. Talks on a new agreement are expected to begin later this month, with union leaders already calling for the cuts to be reversed.

In a radio interview on 13 April, Bruton accepted that “it is time to look at pay”, but he also said that restoration of the pay cuts “will take time” and the government had to “look at the other pressures”.