Kenny urged to act on pay deal

Business and union leaders have urged Taoiseach Enda Kenny to "show leadership" and call together a national forum to hammer out pay and welfare deals as the economy recovers.

The move comes after Ministers said the Government would need to make a decision on whether to return to a system of social partnership as emergency legislation was repealed and talks begin next year on reversing some public sector pay and pensions cuts.

Ibec chief executive Danny McCoy warned he did not want to see a return to the sweeping partnership deals that dominated national life from the late 1980s to the crash, but a new forum was needed to aid economic stability.