Retired Gardaí say they are concerned at the impact the Croke Park II deal could have on thier pension.

The Garda Retired Members Association says anxiety is at an all time high among its 9,500 members.

The Association says many of their members have adult families living with them and some have gone guarantor on mortgages that will never be paid off.

President Gerry Blake says the voice of the retired public servant has gone unheard so far.

No-2-Croke-Park-2

It comes as a campaign against the Croke Park II deal ratchets up, with organisers accusing the government of exploiting trade unions.

The 'No-2-Croke-Park-2' group say the coalition have divided unions in order to reach agreement on the proposed cuts under the new deal.

The campaign is to announce details of a rally it will hold this Saturday at Liberty Hall in Dublin.

Those behind the campaign want all public servants to turn their back on the deal.

The call comes despite Public Expenditure and Reform minister Brendan Howlin announcing yesterday that agreement has "all but been reached".

Eddie Conlon, spokesperson for the group, says they will continue to oppose the cuts:

Meanwhile, two IMPACT conferences will get underway today.

Delegates representing local authority workers and civil servants will meet to discuss various issues such as the changes to the Croke Park II deal.

Members of IMPACT voted to accept the deal in April by 56% to 44% - but it's expected that two motions in relation to pay and working conditions will debated.

Niall Shanahan of IMPACT says the union wants to protect its members from adjustments to the proposals:

Yesterday the Public Expenditure and Reform minister said he hopes compulsory redundancies will be avoided if trade unions sign up to Croke Park II. Brendan Howlin says draft proposals have been agreed that will now be considered by the public sector unions following long and difficult discussions.

He says the targeted pay bill savings of €300 million this year and €1 billion by 2015 remain in place.

Minister Howlin has briefed the Cabinet on the negotiations. He says he hopes an overarching agreement can been secured.

"I hope if we get an agreement that we will be able to give the same guarantee as we've given to workers in the public sector, that there will be no compulsory redundancies. That's contingent on people signing up to the deal" he said.

The Minister says it is now up to unions to decide on the deal:

The head of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) has also said he is hopeful negotiations on the Croke Park deal are coming an end. Kieran Mulvey added that some progress has been made on a new public sector pay deal.

Kieran Mulvey says progress has been made at the talks but there are still some difficulties for health sector unions. "There's some progress - there are negotiations still going on with the health sector. But in most other unions groups and sectors, proposals or documents have been issued to the respective unions for their consideration" he said.

"It's been a difficult set of negotiations over the last 2 to 3 weeks, and complex issues and difficult issues for all involved - so I'll just leave to the unions themselves who will be balloting on these in the next few weeks".

"I hope the process is coming to an end - but you never know in industrial relations" he added.

Three unions - the INTO, the TUI and the ASTI have all threatened strike action if the government tries to impose pay cuts without agreement.

Yesterday third-level teaching unions said they will not accept pay cuts or compulsory redundancies as part of any new public sector pay deal. Last week the INTO and the Teachers Union of Ireland agreed to try to reach a negotiated agreement over the proposals which include pay cuts, increment freezes and longer working weeks.

The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) says its members have already rejected job and pay cuts and will not accept them as part of any new proposals.