New national pay deal agreed

It is being reported that a new national pay deal has been agreed at the Labour Relations Commission and that a document proposing €1bn worth of cuts to the public sector has been handed over to unions. As part of the deal, it is understood that Government employees earning over €185,000 will face a pay cut of 10% under proposals for a new public service pay deal, while pay cuts would begin at 5.5% for staff earning in excess of €65,000, rising progressively to the 10% figure. Negotiations at the Labour Relations Commission continued throughout the night and despite four major trade unions walking out of negotiations at the 11th hour, agreement was reached after marathon all night talks in Dublin. It is also believed that included in the deal is a controversial cut to premium payments for Sundays, which is to be reduced from double time to time and three quarters. Overtime payments have been preserved at a lower rate. Unions will now ballot members on the proposals agreed, meanwhile Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin will brief the Taoiseach, the Finance Minister and the Tánaiste later today, and will brief the full Cabinet on the contents of the document tomorrow. The deal, if agreed by members, will run from July 2013 until 2016.