National agreement continues to deliver

Last year the government and trade unions negotiated the Croke Park agreement. This was a commitment that there would be no more pay cuts or compulsory redundancies as long as the unions and public sector employers worked together to deliver major savings. A joint statement from the government and the unions acknowledges the success of the agreement although notes that further restructuring and redeployment still need to be implemented. The government has said the restriction on recruitment might be more flexible but there is as yet no scope to compensate for the pension levy and pay cuts that

The Impact and SIPTU trade unions report that the national agreement on jobs, pay and services - the Croke Park agreement - has delivered savings of €1.5 billion over two years. Public sector employment has been reduced by 17300 in the period and more are to go in the next three years but Impact warns that the government needs to be more flexible with its recruitment restrictions. [Read more at > Impact (EN)->http://www.impact.ie/12/06/13/Croke-Park-agreement--IMPACT-welcomes--1-5-billion-in-recurring-savings-but-warns-against-complacency.htm] [And at > SIPTU (EN)->http://www.siptu.ie/media

Last year’s national cross-sectoral agreement (Croke Park) commited public sector unions to contribute to delivering a range of savings and reforms in return for a commitment to no compulsory redundancies and no further pay cuts. There are around 14,000 fewer public sector workers now with this figure likely to rise to 19,000 by the end of the year. Most job cuts have been implemented through the freeze on recruitment. There have been a wide range of initiatives with considerable redeployment and restructuring as services and functions are merged. [Read more at > IMPACT (EN)->http://www.impact