Exporters want halt to benchmarking

THE Irish Exporters Association (IEA) has added its voice to calls for the benchmarking pay awards to public servants to be stopped.

In its pre-budget submission to the Minister for Finance, it said that the relatively moderate wage increases in the private sector could be disturbed if public sector workers were seen to be getting pay increases without productivity gains.

“The IEA is strongly of the view that no further payments should be made under the benchmarking agreement until there is clear evidence of productivity gains in government services,” it said.

IEA chief executive John Whelan said the key thrust of the budget should be to ensure that Ireland was in a position to benefit from the international turn-up when it came.

The IEA said infrastructure was the “life blood” of the export sector and that several areas were suffering infrastructural deficits. “Current under-performance in the roll-out of the roads programme must be addressed and funding allocated to accelerate current performance and ensure completion of the NDP scheme by 2006.

“Deficit budgeting is recommended to cover this short-term capital requirement. This may be achieved at low cost and risk by utilising the National Pension Reserve.”

The exporters also said the country’s ports were “suffering from years of under development”. They want serious consideration given to special seaport public-private partnerships (PPPs), with clear incentives from the Government to the participants.

The IEA said that exporters had been hit hardest from the loss of Ireland’s competitiveness. To reverse this position, the Government should immediately take steps to bring inflation down to 1.2%.

Diesel excise duty should be reduced by five cents per litre. A reversal of the three cents per litre introduced in last year’s budget was widely perceived as a retrograde step for a nation so dependent on roll-on, roll-off transport of goods to export markets, it added.

It said the erosion of the Government’s finances should not be passed on to businesses in the form of stealth taxes, as happened last year. It would oppose the introduction of new taxes such as green or carbon tax.

The IEA are also seeking:

l restoration of the capital allowances and roll-over relief to the 2002 level;

2 removal of the stamp duty on intellectual property;

3 adjustment of the stamp duty on commercial property to facilitate transfer of business to new premises.