Talks that will begin the process of looking at giving something back to public sector workers will get underway this year, Communications Minister Alex White has said.

Minister White also said there was a case for a wealth tax but said it would only yield around €150m.

This means that Universal Social Charge (USC) could not be replaced with such a tax because it raises around €4 Billion, he said speaking on RTÉ‎'s Saturday with Claire Byrne.

People Before Profit Alliance TD Richard Boyd Barrett said that the issue was not the private and public sector.

Rather it was the "hammering" of low and middle income earners who should no longer have to pay the USC, Deputy Boyd Barrett said.

He said some form of the USC could be introduced to continue to raise tax from high income earners.

The current Haddington Road agreement on public pay is set to run until 2016.

But the Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said some months ago that he expected talks on the winding down of financial emergency legislation on public sector pay to take place this year.