Speculation has continued about the possibility of a successor to social partnership, following comments by the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, about the need for a process to ‘protect the recovery’ by engaging in a process to “consult the people between elections through representative groups and civic society organisations.”

The respected journal, Industrial Relations News, reported that the Minister for Finance raised the issue at the Cabinet last week. The proposal is also understood to have the backing of the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and suggests the Government is seriously considering the proposal.

However, despite the speculation, no approach has been made to the trade unions.

At a press conference last week, the general secretary designate of Congress, Patricia King, said that the Government was “talking to itself” on the proposal for social dialogue, and that no approach had been made to unions on the issue.

Forum

IMPACT general secretary, Shay Cody, said that there’s a growing recognition among stakeholders that issues of national interest will need a forum of their own eventually. “As the economy continues to recover there’s increasing debate about pay recovery, taxation, pensions and other workplace issues.

“Alongside that, there is a growing recognition that some sort of tripartite forum, involving employers, unions and the Government, might be necessary in order to have a place where those issues can be discussed. No such forum exists at the moment, so all of these issues are dealt with in isolation from each other,” he said.

Shay added that there was no appetite in Government circles for a return to the model of social partnership that collapsed in 2009.

Signals

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin TD, has signalled broad support for renewed talks with the social partners but said the scope of any new arrangement was not settled.

At the same press conference he said that talks on public pay would take place with trade unions before emergency laws to cut pay expired, which suggests that future talks on public pay would take place as a separate process.

In an opinion article published in the Irish Independent last week, Minister Howlin said that there is no ‘bonanza’ in store for public service workers. He added, “But nor should they be excluded from the general improvements in remuneration in the wider economy. Perhaps it is because we have gone through seven years of economic hell that we have forgotten that pay increases are part of a normal, functioning economy.”

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