An independent body is needed to oversee the Croke Park agreement, the chairman of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) said yesterday.

Speaking at the Isme national conference in Dublin, chairman John Ryan castigated the second progress report on the Croke Park deal as “a work of fiction and a study in obfuscation and half-truths more suited to Ian Fleming or John LeCarré, rather than a so-called independent body”.

Arguing that the body currently in charge of the agreement lacked independence, Mr Ryan called on the creation of “a truly independent body, preferably from overseas, to examine the implementation of the deal”.

A lack of progress on the agreement was a “significant contributory factor to the ongoing excessive exchequer deficit” which was leading to austerity being foisted on the private sector. He called for an immediate cessation of all pay rises in the public sector.