Public sector strike off as 10.75% pay deal agreed for 400,000

The draft agreement runs for 33 months to 31 March 2029 and would deliver increases of at least 10.75 per cent to more than 400,000 workers. It is composed of general round increases of 9.75% and a 1% payment for local bargaining, which allows pay issues involving specific roles and grades to be addressed. The total cost is €5.2 billion, spread over five budgets.

The 9.75 per cent in general increases would be implemented in eight instalments, five of which have a specified minimum cash amount so staff earning less than €60,000 a year receive a greater increase in percentage terms. The schedule starts with 2 per cent or €1,200, whichever is greater, from 1 September 2026, followed by 1 per cent from 1 April 2027, 1 per cent or €600 from 1 August 2027, and 1.5 per cent or €900 from 1 November 2027. Further general rises follow on 1 March 2028, 1 June 2028 and 1 October 2028, with a final 1.25 per cent or €750 on 2 March 2029.

Local bargaining is handled separately. Implementation of the second phase of local bargaining of 1% falls on 1 March 2029, while the final phase will be implemented during the lifetime of the successor agreement. The Department of Public Expenditure said the agreement reinforces reform and modernisation, supporting innovation, digital transformation and greater flexibility in how services are delivered.

Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said the deal runs for 33 months and provides certainty for public servants, the Government and public service users. He said the proposed agreement is fiscally sustainable and consistent with the Government’s medium-term fiscal and expenditure plan. The Government is to move to formally approve the deal while unions consider it.

The deal is weighted towards lower-paid workers through flat-rate minimums and a wider safety net. The threshold at which lower-pay provisions apply will increase from €50,000 to €60,000, so staff below €60,000 receive the minimum cash amounts where those are greater than the percentage rise. Because the increases compound, Mr Chambers said the minimum value for workers over the agreement would be 11.3%.

For the lowest incomes, the combined effect is larger still. Those on the lowest incomes will receive up to 18.3% over the lifetime of the agreement, inclusive of local bargaining provisions. For a clerical officer or other employee in any part of the public or Civil Service earning €35,000 annually, the first €1,200 increase would be about 3.4 per cent, and in total the deal would be worth about 16 per cent to a worker on that level of pay.

SIPTU deputy general secretary Adrian Kane said the deal was shaped to favour younger and more modestly paid staff, saying the deal we shaped through negotiations is skewed and very much weighted for lower and moderately paid people, which are younger people by and large. Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan, who led the union negotiating team, said better rates for those earning below €60,000 were an important win for young workers.

Beyond headline pay, union officials said the deal contains strengthened provisions on outsourcing, consultation, new protocols around decision-making on hybrid working, guarantees against compulsory redundancy, provisions on procurement and career development opportunities in education. There are measures aimed at recruitment and retention, work intensification and class sizes for teachers and special needs assistants. The employer side secured co-operation with the integration of AI and changed work practices, with detail to be clearer when the draft document is published.

The dispute built up after the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026 expired and exploratory talks between unions and the Government broke down. The move was part of a co-ordinated campaign by public sector unions affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. In August, the ASTI said it would ballot members on industrial action, up to and including strike action.

The ASTI ballot sought a mandate to secure an acceptable pay increase covering July to December 2026 and beyond, to secure full implementation of claims under the 3% local bargaining clause that had not been implemented before expiry, and to resist imposed changes to work practices without union agreement. General secretary Kieran Christie said the 1% increases paid in February and June had already been eroded by inflation, leaving teachers and other public servants working for less in real terms. President Richie Bell said members had engaged with reform and were entitled to fair pay and genuine engagement.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland also moved to ballot members on action that could have affected co-operation with new Leaving Certificate assessments. Talks collapsed again in recent weeks after unions said the Government’s previous offer had not been sufficient. Mr Kane said that was because the offer that the Government put on the table some weeks back was just not credible.

A Government-appointed group then put a revised offer on the table on Monday night, enabling union leaders to return to the Workplace Relations Commission for the final round. Its coincidence with the arrival of EU leaders in Dublin raised the stakes for the Government, which had hoped to avoid disruption during a major summit.

Mr Callinan said the negotiations had been difficult and that trust would take time to rebuild. He said the offer was ahead of inflation projections over the period and welcomed a review clause in the event that inflation was to spike again. He said this has been a really difficult process and that it will take more than a pay offer to rebuild trust.

Mr Kane said unions would now bring the package back to members for decision. General secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation Phil Ní Sheaghdha thanked the Workplace Relations Commission and the Government-appointed group, saying there were times when we didn’t think we would have proposals to members. She said the deciders on whether it is a good agreement are those that will have a vote.

Irish National Teachers’ Organisation general secretary John Boyle pointed to education-specific gains on recruitment, retention, workload and class sizes. He said the agreement includes measures that will improve opportunities for young teachers and special needs assistants, with less work intensification and smaller class sizes.

Mr Chambers welcomed the proposed agreement as balanced, fair and credible and said it particularly prioritises the lower paid to help with the cost of living. He said it is sustainable, affordable and within the fiscal parameters of the medium-term plan, and that he looked forward to seeing it put to members in ballots in the coming weeks. He said it underlines the value of collective bargaining and constructive engagement in resolving complex issues.

Expected next step: This may change.

The immediate effect is that Thursday’s strike and related work-to-rules are being stood down while unions examine the text. National executives of the affiliate unions will meet in the days ahead to analyse the full terms before a recommendation is made to members. Each union is then expected to ballot members on acceptance while industrial action remains suspended.

Unions will now ballot members with votes to conclude early in the week beginning 7 December, with an overall result expected during the second week of December. Publication of the full draft document will allow teachers, nurses, civil servants, health workers, council staff and other public servants to see detailed terms on pay scales, local bargaining, outsourcing, hybrid working and education measures before they vote.

If a majority of the total membership endorses the agreement, the first increases would likely start being paid in January, with backdating of the first increase to September providing modest lump sum payments in the post-Christmas period. That backdating means staff would not lose the September starting point even though agreement came in November. Mr Chambers said he was hopeful members would endorse the agreement.