Public sector pay deal: What’s in it for workers and can we afford it?

In The News · Nov 11, 2026 · 20m

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, after days of fraught discussion, the Government and trade unions agreed a €5.2 billion deal that will deliver pay increases of at least 10.75 per cent to more than 400,000 workers by the end of March 2029.

The immediate result is that the public sector strike planned for Thursday has been called off – a relief for the Government as the timing coincides with the biggest set-piece in Ireland’s EU presidency when nearly 50 heads of state and other dignitaries arrive in Dublin for meetings.

So what happens now? When will the 400,000 workers represented by…