The head of the Workplace Relations Commission says if any changes are made to the Lansdowne Road Agreement for teachers - then other unions would come back looking for separate deals too.

Kieran Mulvey was responding to threats of industrial unrest by teachers' unions, who have refused to sign up to the agreement.

Garda unions have also rejected the deal.

The minister for public expenditure Brendan Howlin says he's "confident" that opposing unions will sign up to the deal before it takes effect next July.

But he's admitted that another government could change tack and still agree to increase pay for the workers in unions who oppose the deal.

This lunchtime Sinn Féin has said it would do exactly that, as well as promising to address the outstanding issues raised by the unions outside of the process.

While the government faces other disputes with train drivers, emergency ward nurses and with teachers over the controversial Junior Cert reforms, the dispute has the potential to trigger a 'winter of discontent' in the run-up to next year's election.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly filed this report for Today FM's National Lunchtime News: