The Taoiseach has strongly rejected suggestions from the Economic and Social Research Institute that maximising employment should cease to the central policy aim of the Government, writes Geraldine Kennedy, Political Editor.
In a speech to a party meeting in Nenagh last night, Mr Ahern said he did not agree that employers should slow down their rate of expansion and be more selective about the business that they accepted.
He was commenting on the ESRI's latest quarterly report, published on Thursday, which advised employers not to take on extra work at the present time, and in some cases to stop seeking new contracts altogether, in case they encouraged workers to demand higher wages.
Government sources, meanwhile, confirmed that the new British-Irish treaties, providing for the establishment of North-South bodies and other institutions under the Belfast Agreement, will be signed early next week.