THE 19 organisations represented at the opening of talks yesterday on a successor to the Programme for Competitiveness and Work agree on the necessity of a new agreement.
Despite predictable differences between the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), it also, seems likely an agreement will be struck.
Whether that will happen by the official deadline of November 26th is less certain. However, the Government is anxious to have a deal done as early as possible, in order to make provision for any necessary tax changes in the January Budget.
Unions have already made clear that tax cuts worth £859 million are needed over three years in return for continued wage moderation. A pre Budget agreement on tax is therefore important.
The director general of IBEC, Mr John Dunne, said a 10 per cent pay rise over the life of any new agreement was "absolutely, out of the question". He was responding to comments made earlier this month by the general secretary of SIPTU, Mr Billy Attley.
The ICTU general secretary, Mr Peter Cassells, was more positive. He said significant pay rises during times of high economic growth were not unreasonable. But he accepted they should not undermine competitiveness.
He also said there should be "greater respect for workers and entrepeneurs". This remark was a major gesture by the ICTU, extending the hand of friendship to the business community. Mr Cassells clearly meant his call for mutual respect to underpin his demand for greater social partnership at local level between employers and employees.
Part of such an approach should include a "Jobs Partnership". This would involve workers and management in looking at ways of protecting jobs and creating new ones.
Mr Dunne countered with the idea of a "Competitiveness Council", which would be used to ensure that pay rises and other aspects of a new programme did not undermine industrial competitiveness.
The Government wished both sides well and, wearing their employer's hat, both the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and the Minister for Finance Mr Quinn expressed concern at the growing public sector pay hill.
Opening the talks, Mr Bruton said: "The Government, as employer, will have a very tight position for the forthcoming discussions on public service pay".
Mr Quinn, referring to the day's discussions, said pay negotiations in the public service had not been as satisfactory as in the private sector under the PCW. He reminded the public sector unions that in some EU states governments were talking about very low pay increases or even pay freezes".
It was a sign of the times, that Mr Bruton devoted a considerable part of his speech to issues other than pay. He identified the promotion of enterprise, social inclusion, gender equality and a cleaner environment as priorities, in any new agreement.
Present at the discussions were nearly a dozen organisations never represented before. Many of them were from the voluntary, religious and community sectors with correspondingly wide agendas.
Under the current talks structures, the Government will try to achieve consensus among all the groups as to how wealth is divided. Once those parameters are set, more detailed negotiations will take place between the core social partners on issues such as pay and taxation.
While there was some private scepticism yesterday about the extent of the real influence the wider forum would exert on the" core negotiations, it was accepted that more attention would have to be given to issues such as social exclusion and equality.
The presence of new groups, an indication of the increasing, complexity of national agreements. The Taoiseach, in his, speech, made it clear that however difficult it might be to achieve consensus, national agreements had been good.
He put it to employers that a price had to be paid for continuing growth and industrial peace in terms of pay. He also put it to unions, in both the public and private sector, that receiving pay rises simply for changes in work practices was no longer acceptable.
"We need to broaden and deepen partnership, in a realistic way, to deal with the world of the 21st century," he said.