Good morning colleagues,

Yesterday's Irish Times front page led with news that talks on a new public-sector pay agreement are expected to get under way “in the coming weeks...with trade unions expected to push for above-inflation pay increases." Pat Leahy reports, quoting Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan: “We’re not going to sit down with the Department of Public Expenditure at the WRC and do a deal like we’ve done for the last 15 years.”