The Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has issued a has warning to union members saying that by introducing major pay increases the Government could be “repeating the mistakes of the past”.
Mr Varadkar who made his comments earlier today also said any future increase to public sector pay could make Ireland less competitive internationally and result in major job losses.
Mr Varadkar said: “We have been here before. We did get to that point in the country, not that long ago, where we became unsustainable in terms of pay levels, public expenditure in general and the level or borrowing that occurred.”
“We really need to make sure that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past.”