Living and working in Ireland

Wage pressures caused by inflation carried over into 2023 from the previous year, with inflation (based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI)) remaining ‘sticky’ at around 5–6% for much of the autumn. CPI inflation fell to 3.9% in November, but HICP (Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices) inflation rose again in December. Around half of the 50 pay agreements recorded by Industrial Relations News were in the range of a 3–4% basic pay increase per annum, while another one-third of the agreements were above 4%; all the 4% or more agreements were concluded in the second half of 2023.

The upper limit of tax-free vouchers that employers can give to employees (under the Small Benefit Exemption scheme) was expanded to €1,000 per annum per employee in 2022. However, most of the pay agreements recorded for 2023 that featured the use of tax-free vouchers used a voucher value of €500 or less. Tax-free vouchers can be used by workers to purchase goods in most retailers. Government supports against inflation (including another series of energy credits agreed under Budget 2024) were a factor in the public service pay talks (in that they reduce the cost of living pressure for workers, hence reducing slightly the pressure on wage increases). Private sector employers also cited these supports when their unions sought higher pay increases to meet inflation, as part of an overall view of what can be negotiated.

While it was expected that a new public service pay agreement would be concluded by the end of 2023, talks extended into January 2024. A new deal was proposed on 26 January, which provides for pay increases of up to a total 10.5% over 30 months to the end of June 2026.

Social dialogue structures did not change in 2023, with the main outlet for dialogue, the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF), convening its main body and subforums on pressing issues throughout the year. At the top of the working life agenda are the planned reforms of collective bargaining and industrial relations in Ireland. These reforms include changing sectoral bargaining rules to ensure low-pay sectors can produce new wage agreements and to compel non-union employers to meet with trade unions. These matters were forwarded to the Attorney General regarding their constitutionality. No increase in industrial action according to the days lost metric was recorded, but some thorny industrial disputes broke out in public, notably with part-time or retained firefighters and community and voluntary sector workers, who went on strike over pay issues that had gone unresolved for many years, resulting in recruitment and retention issues.

The primary working life legislative development in the year was the enactment of the Work–Life Balance Act, which introduced a new right to request remote work and a right to request flexible work for employees with caring responsibilities. Both rights have yet to come into force (they will not be in operation until 2024), but they are significant developments for both employees and employers. Eligible employees requesting new working flexibility have recourse to the Workplace Relations Commission if their requests are unreasonably refused. Another notable feature of the law is a new domestic violence leave entitlement of up to five days in any 12 consecutive months.