Taoiseach Brian Cowen has given the clearest signal yet that the controversial pay rises for Government ministers due later this year might be up for negotiation at the current pay talks.
Mr Cowen said that if the parties got to a position where everyone is prepared to come forward with a responsible approach that would help to secure as many jobs as possible, then clearly Government would have a role to play in all that.
Speaking in Kilkenny at the IMPACT conference, he also announced a new task force to devise an action plan for public service reform, which will report later this year.
It was Mr Cowen's first visit to a union conference as Taoiseach. He was greeted by representatives of IMPACT's 55,000 members, of whom 28,000 health workers are due to start industrial action on Wednesday over cutbacks in the health sector.
He praised public servants, but said further reform was essential - particularly as the economic climate deteriorates.
He said public workers had accumulated significant gains under previous pay deals. He warned that the private sector also had a duty to be responsible in setting pay levels.
He said he remained committed to social partnership adding that a new agreement would provide stability for the economy at a time when it needs it most.
He also urged trade unionists to vote for the Lisbon Treaty.
IMPACT plans civil reform proposals
Earlier at the conference it emerged that IMPACT, which is Ireland's largest public service union, was to develop its own proposals for public service reform.
The union said Government-led initiatives have failed to deliver better services for the public.
Speaking at the conference in Kilkenny, General Secretary Peter McLoone acknowledged that unions were 'fighting a losing battle' in their effort to defend public services.
He added the choice faced by unions was to either let those who care more for private profit than for public service to set the agenda or to set it themselves.
IMPACT said most management proposals have been obsessed with internal organisation while delivering little real change for people trying to access or use public services.
Delegates in Kilkenny were told that Government and management-led modernisation programmes had focused on attacking working conditions and introducing private provision, rather than improving services or responding to the real needs of people who depend on them.
Mr McLoone said unions could no longer afford to leave management to define the reform agenda.
They had to come up with simple understandable reforms that meet public demands and that respect for service users and taxpayers should be at the centre of everything, he added.
