A Late-Night Breakthrough. Harris Says a Pay Deal Is Within Reach

There was a breakthrough in the Irish public sector pay talks late on Monday night, and by Tuesday morning both sides were back at the Workplace Relations Commission to try to finish it. The Irish Times reported that word of the shift came just after midnight, after a day on which union sources had still described the offer as short of what they wanted and strike preparations as continuing. An independent group chaired by the commission's Kevin Foley had been sitting with the two sides. Government sources said that group had found a basis for resolving the issues in front of it. Formal negotiation resumed with a view to an agreement.

Tanaiste Simon Harris, speaking to reporters in Brussels, said a deal was within reach and asked both sides to make a last push today. He welcomed the return to the commission and said very significant progress had been made. Kevin Callinan, who chairs the Irish Congress of Trade Unions public services committee and is general secretary of Forsa, told broadcasters as he arrived that the unions were committed to trying to close a deal today, and that this would depend on the talks. He said he was neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Asked whether Thursday's strike would be called off, he said it was impossible to say. Non-pay issues are understood to be at the centre of what is left.

What the money is now said to be

On Monday the figure in the room was 10.5 per cent, running into early 2029, with lower-paid staff in line for as much as 17.8 per cent. Tuesday's reporting moves the range. The Irish Times described a cumulative 11 per cent into the first half of 2029, with bigger uplifts of up to 18 per cent for the lower paid, local bargaining written in, and a cost of more than 5 billion euro. Other government accounts still describe a substantially improved offer of 10.5 per cent, with a path toward 11. A backdated payment of 1,200 euro or 2 per cent, whichever is higher, would land in 2026. Added to 2 per cent already due under the old agreement, that would make 4 per cent for this year. The last deal, worth 10.25 per cent over two and a half years, expired at the end of June. Unions have said they want something better than that, and they have worried that a three-year length needs a larger uplift to justify it.

Thursday is still in the diary

If the leaders agree, government sources expect the strike planned for Thursday to be cancelled. Any deal would still have to go to a vote of union members, a process of several weeks, and that vote is not a formality. Until Callinan or a minister says the action is off, the plan stands. About 300,000 public servants are due to stop for 24 hours. Schools and hospitals would be disrupted. Rallies, from noon to 2pm, are set for Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Sligo, Tullamore and Letterkenny. The Dublin rally falls on the same day as the European Political Community summit, which is why the government has spent a fortnight trying not to reach Thursday without a text. Europe's other argument this week is in Antalya. Ireland's is in a room at the commission, with a clock that still says Thursday.

The mood on the government side on Monday night, before the midnight word, was that the music had improved and that the unions had not yet said yes. The midnight word is why Harris can use the phrase within reach from Brussels. It is also why a correspondent should not file the strike as over. The date was chosen because the leaders would be in Dublin. The date comes off the board only when someone with the authority to cancel it says so. That person had not said so at breakfast.