Partnership agreement - Deal must deliver on public sector
Yesterday’s clinching of the pay deal optimistically dubbed Towards 2016, comes after five hard-fought months of wrangling and is particularly welcome since it promises to ensure relative stability as the platform for growth and higher productivity at a time when interest rates are rising and global economic conditions are becoming tougher.
Now that employers and unions have slotted the last pieces of the jigsaw into place, it only remains for workers to ratify the deal and for Government and farmers to reach agreement on demands for a better deal on agriculture.
Welcomed by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as an important framework for meeting the economic and social challenges ahead, the deal involves national wage increases of 10% spread over 27 months, a compromise on pensions and also a social framework that will run for 10 years.
Having gained more than handsomely from bench-marking, there is an onus on Government to ensure that workers in the public service deliver on productivity, as expected but so far unrealised under this costly process for taxpayers.
Significantly, the new accord will protect the interests of migrant workers, with an inspectorate to police the workplace, crack down on rogue contractors and root out exploitation. Turning a blind eye to labour exploitation, such as that exposed by this week’s Irish Examiner series on Polish immigrants, risks leading to an Irish Ferries-style “race to the bottom”.
A key aspect of the new deal will see social issues afforded the same importance as economic factors. Elements stitched into the accord include social infrastructure, fairness and inclusiveness within society. It is crucial to improve the economic prospect of people on the margins left behind during the Celtic Tiger era. Clearly, it is in the interest of society to guarantee all boats rise on a rising tide.
On a related front, Finance Minister Brian Cowen, in his advance briefing on the National Development Plan (NDP) for 2007-2013, yesterday signalled a shift away from investment in road construction towards a “radical enhancement” of the public transport network in greater Dublin, where traffic is permanently gridlocked at rush hour.
Not before time, the Government accepts the urgency of accelerating the level of investment in public transport. As Mr Cowen concedes: “We simply have no choice.” With characteristic directness, he stressed the need for a major programme of infrastructure investment before it is too late.
It does not require a crystal ball to confirm that as Ireland’s population ages, there will be immense pressure on expenditure in pensions, health services and across a range of other age-related matters.
Besides investing in bringing the country’s creaking infrastructure up to world-class standards, education, social and affordable housing, health, energy, broadband and childcare will also be areas of focus in the next National Development Plan, according to the minister.
It is vital to ensure, as Mr Cowen acknowledges, that pouring money into the greater Dublin area, which has already gobbled up the lion’s share of investment, should not be at the expense of other regions.
Despite his protestations, aggrieved citizens in outlying regions feel, and with some justification, they are treated as second-class citizens because the economic cake is being divided unfairly.
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