The ‘Reboot Ireland’ campaign, which is expected to launch a new political party by next month, has already made its intentions clear to freeze public sector pay.

The campaign, launched by TD Lucinda Creighton and celebrity financial adviser Eddie Hobbs earlier this month, has already attracted widespread criticism for not having any real policies. Despite the absence of a manifesto or policy programme, the as-yet-unnamed political party seems very keen to contain public service pay.

At the campaign launch Mr Hobbs said "Public sector remuneration would not increase, unless the minimum lifestyle standard increased first. That would be the primary objective of Government - I can't be any clearer than that.” Mr Hobbs said that a key objective of the party would be to “minimise the cost” of the public sector to the State.

Another campaign message of Reboot Ireland is that it wants to “make the public sector public.” This vague slogan is described as “fostering a spirit of entrepreneurism in our public sector that will reward those who work the hardest and deliver the best results for our public services.”

Both Ms Creighton and Mr Hobbs have a long track record of hostility to public sector trade unions, with both writing regularly in daily newspapers attacking public service pay and pensions.

While very little is known about the new party’s policy programme, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the public sector and trade unions will be a regular target of hostility. It is likely that some of Reboot Ireland’s political competitors will join in on the act, as TD John McGuinness has already done in a recent column in the Irish Independent.

If this is to continue, public sector workers are set to become regular political targets ahead of the next general election, which is expected in early 2016.

IMPACT national secretary Louise O’Donnell responded directly to Mr McGuinness and to the letters page of the Irish Independent. The Irish Independent declined to publish IMPACT’s response.