Public expenditure minister Michael McGrath has told his officials to engage with unions after unions triggered the review clause of the Building Momentum public service agreement. The two sides are expected to meet for an initial engagement next week.

The move came after Fórsa urged unions to invoke the review clause on foot of sustained high inflation, which the union said provided grounds for a review of the agreement’s pay terms. The union’s general secretary Kevin Callinan said the assumptions underpinning the agreement needed to be revisited in view of soaring inflation.

In media statements last weekend, Minister McGrath hinted that he was open to early negotiations on an extension to the agreement in light of economic uncertainty fuelled by the war in Ukraine. Unions expect to hear more detail on this proposal in next week’s meeting.

Speaking at the Siptu biennial delegate conference in Sligo this morning (Wednesday), Kevin Callinan called on the Government to engage in social dialogue with employers and unions to tackle rising prices and other aspects of the economic and geopolitical impact of the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at the Siptu conference last week, Kevin Callinan said the fallout from Russia’s war would be felt across Ireland and the rest of Europe “certainly in terms of further increases in the cost of essentials like food and fuel, and possibly in the form of a new and potentially deep recession.”

He said neither unions nor Government could ignore the impact of inflation on living standards.

“It hits the poorest first and hardest. But we also know that, against today’s uncertain background, the protection of employment must remain as big a priority for our movement as confronting the cost of living,” he said.

Kevin also called for deeper social dialogue between unions, employers and Government to deal with the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine.

“Over the last two years, we’ve proved beyond doubt our collective ability to meet challenges of this scale and seriousness. During the Covid crisis – and particularly in the early months of the pandemic – this was done through a more robust commitment to social dialogue that we’ve seen for years. Clearly, the economic and geopolitical impact of the war in Ukraine needs to be added to that list,” he said.