Public sector pay offer: Harris urges unions to engage in good faith

Irish unions urged to engage with revised public sector pay terms

The offer was submitted over the weekend and is understood to include a 10.5% increase in pay, with the proposed agreement running until early 2029.

Contact between union representatives and Government officials is expected to continue today, as an independent group works to establish a route back to formal negotiations.

Speaking at Monday’s Eurogroup meeting in Brussels, Harris said the Government had made substantial changes to its position and called on unions to engage with the revised terms “in good faith”.

"The work is all about trying to find a landing zone and de-escalation. The Government has made a substantially revised and improved offer, and I would now respectfully ask that unions engage with that offer in good faith," he said.

He described the revised terms as “a significant move by any fair objective” and appealed to union leaders to consider what had been put on the table before deciding whether to proceed with industrial action.

'Small but crucial window' remains to reach deal before Thursday's action

Asked whether the Government would keep the revised proposal on the table if the strike went ahead, Harris refused to be drawn on what might happen. 

He said he did not want to make comments that could sound “provocative or escalatory”, but stressed that the Government had already “moved in a significant way”.

He warned that Thursday’s action could cause problems for people across the country, including parents trying to get their children to school and patients waiting for hospital appointments.

Harris called on both sides to take advantage of the “small but crucial window” remaining to lower tensions and reach a deal before the planned walkout.

The Government is still working to prevent the strike from going ahead, RTÉ reports.