The Taoiseach says he is "hopeful" the problem of trade union recognition can be resolved shortly "through positive dialogue and a common-sense approach". Mr Ahern made his comments yesterday at a ceremony to mark the tenth anniversary of the Building and Allied Trades Union (BATU).
The High-Level Group on Trade Union Recognition is to meet on Thursday amid growing indications that a draft agreement will be reached. The issue of trade union recognition has become one of the major stumbling blocks to a successor to Partnership 2000.
Mr Ahern said the industrial relations climate had improved dramatically as a result of social partnership, with the average number of days lost through strikes less than a third of the figure before 1988. "However, there is no room for complacency," he said. "We continue to have a number of difficult disputes."
"The construction industry itself is not isolated from these continuing difficulties. Ways must be found to progress these types of disputes in a more co-operative manner which would be more consistent with a partnership approach."
Mr Ahern said a National Minimum Wage Bill would follow the final report of the inter-departmental group on its impact, which is expected in May. He warned that provision would be made to ensure "that claims for the restoration of relative pay differentials" from higher-paid groups "would not be entertained".
BATU general secretary Mr Paddy O'Shaughnessy said the high level of fatalities in the construction industry could not continue. There had been 22 fatalities in 1998 alone.