THE GOVERNMENT has confirmed its aim of introducing a single 12.5 per cent rate of corporation tax by 2011 and of halving the unemployment rate to below 6 per cent over the next decade.
Launching a Government jobs strategy yesterday, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, said the concept of a minimum wage, suggested last week by Fianna Fail, could be examined in social partnership discussions involving Government, employers and trade unions.
He also said he would be willing to look at measures to limit Sunday trading. "From a human point of view quite apart from religious considerations" it was important to give workers "some space" in the working week.
The document sets out the aim of reducing the rate of unemployment to below 6 per cent by 2007, and the rate of long-term unemployment to below 3.5 per cent over the same period.
Much of the policy document is devoted to listing the record of the Government in job creation, curtailing involuntary emigration and tax reform.
Considerable credit for Ireland's economic performance is given to the partnership agreements since 1987, and according to Mr Bruton almost all political parties can claim some credit for that. The numbers at work have increased by 200,000 since 1987, unemployment fell by 42,000, real take-home pay grew by 28 per cent, living standards have improved and the depth of poverty has been consistently reduced.
Policies must, however, remain focussed in increasing employment levels through reducing employment costs, encouraging employment take-up and identifying new forms of work, he said.
Ireland's enterprise strategy will be geared to ensuring that Irish companies retain competitive advantage in the global environment, the document says. This, Mr Bruton said, means "profitably producing innovative products that people want to buy".
To this end Ireland must be the best location in Europe for foreign direct investment, and becomes one of the top 10 states in the World Economic Forum's Competitiveness League.
A National Competitiveness Council will be set up to monitor Ireland's competitiveness, he said. This body will report on the main challenges facing business and make recommendations to improve competitiveness. It will include employer and trade union representatives, the chief executive of Forfas, a representative of the Department of Enterprise and Employment and others.
Investment in the skills of workers and management was crucial to maintaining and enhancing competitiveness, Mr Bruton said.
The Government's White Paper on Human Resource Development, published last week, contained measures to encourage and facilitate small and medium-sized companies to develop the skills of their workforce.
Traditionally such companies have been reluctant to make such investments in human resources.
The Government has also decided to establish a new national employment service to provide guidance and placement services for the unemployed. The service will be allocated £5 million and will have a staff of 110.
Ireland's success in attracting mobile international investment was due to the stability of our political and fiscal environment, the Taoiseach said. Outlining the corporation tax regime that would apply up to 2025 gives "a very long tax planning perspective" to those considering investment here, he said.
To ensure that the overall tax take from business does not fall, the Government would introduce new anti-abuse measures. These would ensure that profits paid to individuals in dividends would become subject to income tax as well as corporation tax.
Other measures to maintain the overall tax take from the corporate sector would include:
. The extension of the existing surcharge on certain small businesses to ensure that profits are not sheltered from income tax;
. A significant curtailment of business reliefs including the Business Expansion Scheme and other investment incentive tax reliefs;
. New revenue-raising measures aimed at maintaining the revenue from those sectors benefiting most from the low corporation tax rate.
The document suggests that Irish banks are overly "risk averse" when it comes to providing loans to businesses. The Government will work with the commercial banks and other providers of capital to ensure that greater equity is provided to business.