The Irish Government wants Public Servants to be rostered to work over an extended week, including weekends, as part of a new overall agreement on pay.
The proposals put forward by the Department of Public Expenditure in recent days also suggest there should be “maximum flexible service delivery options” — which some observers believe could lead to greater outsourcing of services.
The Department maintains that employees should be available over an entire week “to provide better services for the public”.
Union sources have indicated the proposals “would absolutely not be accepted as part of any final deal”.
Unions are seeking what they describe as an “acceptable” pay award as well as a reversal of the requirement for staff to work additional unpaid hours, which were first introduced under the Haddington Road austerity agreement in 2013.
The talks on a new Public Service agreement are understood to be facing significant difficulties after trade unions learned that proposals drawn up by the Government side in the talks had also been shared with other staff associations that were outside the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).
Union sources said that by circulating what they described as “early proposals”, the Department had created difficulties for the entire talks process.
A spokesperson for the Department said it did not intend to comment on the specifics relating to its discussions with Public Service organisations on a potential new deal, “which are confidential to the parties”.
It is understood that no overall quantum of money has yet been tabled for either individual sectors or any across-the-board awards.
The Government is understood to want a pay pause for staff for much or all of next year as part of an agreement running between 24 and 30 months.
It is also seeking to retain many of the work flexibilities introduced as emergency measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dublin, 6 December 2020
