The Public Expenditure Minister says seeking savings from only public sector workers earning above €100,000 would have destroyed the health service and the judiciary.

Brendan Howlin has come under fire in the Dáil this afternoon over the 'Croke Park Two' deal.

It will see even low-paid workers take a cut of 8% in their pay due to reductions in premium payments.

The union representing lower paid public sector workers says its considering industrial action as part of its opposition to the deal.

The Civil and Public Services Union (CPSU) is among the bodies which pulled out of the pay negotiations before the talks concluded.

'Anger & upset' of lower paid workers

The union says its members - who earn between €23,000 and €38,000 - simply have no more to give after previous cuts.

Eoin Ronayne is the CPSU General-Secretary.

He says the Executive Committee will meet tomorrow to decide on the next step.

"Yes of course there's going to be a discussion about industrial action, and how you might go about that" he said.

"I think it would be remiss of me to not stress the level of anger and upset and fear that's out there amongst lower-paid civil servants at the moment".

"In that environment people will obviously weigh up heavily the impact of taking industrial action on their own personal lives - but also on whether enough is enough" he added.

Speaking in the Dail, Minister Brendan Howlin says the deal is "fundamentally fair" but imposing the cuts on 6,000 out of 290,000 workers would not have been.