'Far from a done deal', says Longford firefighter as talks broker strike suspension

A breakthrough in the dispute came after more than 12 hours of negotiations between SIPTU and the Local Government Management Agency under the auspices of the WRC.

Siptu is set to begin consultations with members on new proposals ahead of a ballot, with its members agreeing to a suspension in industrial action as part of that move.

That stoppage brought a temporary stoppage to over two months around 2,000 of rolling industrial action, with pickets placed across 200 retained fire stations by retained firefighters.

However, government bosses have been put on notice that the deferral in action will resume unless proposals contained in a document and presented to members is put into meaningful action.

"It's far from a done deal," said Ballymahon based firefighter Michael Farrell.

"It's a starting point, but what it does is it puts pressure on Darragh O'Brien (Housing Minister) to fulfill his statement in the Dáil from last year that he would advocate for us and now is the time for him to put his money where his mouth is."

The overwhelming majority of retained firefighters had recently rejected a Labour Court recommendation aimed at ending the row, which they described as a major disappointment.

Under that proposal, the Labour Court had recommended an increase of between 24% and 32.7% in the retainer, which would have seen the payment rise from €8,870 to €11,769.