ISME calls for public wage freeze

ISME, the Small and Medium Enterprises Association, wants the Government to introduce a public wage and hiring freeze as business confidence hits an all-time low.

However, ISME is calling for key infrastructural projects, essential to stimulating growth, to proceed and a reduction in business costs by freezing local charges and reducing the incidence of stealth taxes

ISME chief executive Mark Fielding believes tackling public sector pay, which remains a significant strain on exchequer finances is a priority and needs to be “reined in” with proper, verifiable and measured procedures introduced, including a 12-month pay pause and a two-year recruitment ban.