Competitiveness at top of partnership talks agenda

Competitiveness will be top of the agenda in talks on a new national partnership agreement, Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin said today.

Mr Martin claimed he was hopeful unions, employers, farmers, the voluntary sector and the Government could reach agreement, although he admitted the process would be challenging and difficult.

“Competitiveness has to be top of the agenda and that affects everybody in terms of workers and employers alike and we’re all in this together,” he said.

The talks process was given the green light after months of speculation when the Irish Congress of Trade Unions indicated yesterday that it would join the other partners at the table in Dublin Castle this afternoon in a bid to replace the current Sustaining Progress agreement.

David Begg from ICTU has warned the overarching goal of the new talks would be to ensure the country’s many social deficits were addressed.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Tánaiste Mary Harney and Finance Minister Brian Cowen will make opening statements as the plenary session of the new talks gets under way in Dublin Castle.

The Government is looking for a three-year social partnership deal before the scheduled talks deadline of St Patrick’s Day.

Mr Martin said he was hopeful an agreement could be reached.

“I would hope that we would have a deal,” he told RTE Radio. “I think it’s going to be very challenging and very difficult.”

He added: “We’re up for an agreement that actually copperfastens and protects workers’ right and conditions.”

Congress is understood to be seeking to extend the life span of agreements with a six-year deal to allow policy goals to be achieved.

Following controversies at Irish Ferries, which proposed outsourcing more than 500 jobs, and the Gama construction scandal, where Turkish builders were underpaid, unions have been demanding increased protection for both Irish and foreign workers.

The state’s largest union, Siptu, which agreed to enter the talks process, insisted any potential talks would take place as part of a two-stranded process to ensure integral issues raised by its members such as outsourcing of work and the exploitation of workers were addressed.

Siptu’s Jack O’Connor has reassured its 200,000 members the talks process will not move past the first strand of discussions unless the issues of exploitation were dealt with.

The community platform section of the partnership talks have warned any new national partnership agreement should tackle the high levels of poverty, inequality and social exclusion in society.