Overview
- The national public‑sector pay agreement for more than 420,000 employees ended on Tuesday 30 June and formal talks on a successor have not begun.
- The Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said its 19 affiliated unions will consult members and move to industrial‑action ballots in the coming weeks after exploratory meetings found no credible basis for talks.
- Unions say a pay increase is needed to cover July–December because inflation at 3.6% in May has wiped out the 1% rises paid earlier this year and left wages behind prices.
- Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers says the Government will engage but will not agree a deal at any cost and that pay rises must be affordable, while a department spokesperson stressed that all matters are open for discussion and warned against preconditions.
- Unions are pressing for a wider package alongside pay that includes local bargaining, remote working, housing measures, protections against outsourcing and rules on AI, and they warn a prolonged impasse could worsen recruitment, retention and public‑service delivery.