Ireland strikes new public sector pay deal to avert more industrial action

DUBLIN, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Irish government struck a draft public sector pay deal with trade unions on Wednesday that provides for average cumulative pay increases of 10.75% to early 2029 and the ending of all industrial action, pending ratification.

The new deal was negotiated following the expiration of the last pay agreement in June which result in a widespread strike last month, the country's first since the height of the financial crisis in 2009. A second strike on Thursday was suspended.

• The draft agreement will be backdated to July 2026 and run to the end of March at the cost of €5.2 billion, the public expenditure ministry said in a statement. The costs will be spread across five budgets

• The deal is weighted towards lower paid public servants, with those on lowest incomes receiving pay increases of up to 18.3%

• The threshold at which the lower-pay provisions apply will increase from €50,000 to €60,000

• Starting pay would increase by 18.3% over the course of the deal for a cleaner, by 14.6% for a police officer and 13.1% for primary school teacher, the government said

• Either party can trigger a review if assumptions regarding the rate of inflation or other economic parameters change significantly over the lifetime of the agreement

• Public service unions and associations will now ballot their members on the proposed agreement

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Sarah Young)