WHEN talks begin today in Dublin Castle to draw up a successor to the Programme for Competitiveness and Work (PCW) a fourth party will be participating in the negotiations for the first time. This "fourth pillar" includes groups representing the unemployed, women, the under-privileged and youth.
One of the groups, the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI), will make its submission today. This will be presented by Father Sean Healy, who will point out that in the past to years poverty increased, long-term unemployment "increased dramatically", exclusion grew, the poverty gap widened, and divisions in Irish society deepened.
He said the groups who benefited least included unemployed people, low-paid employees and other poor people, especially small farmers. He called for a new national programme which would give priority to eliminating poverty, providing meaningful work for all citizens, tackle exclusion, and develop meaningful participative structures.
The SIPTU vice-president, Mr Jimmy Somers, warned that no new pay deal could be signed unless it included substantial tax breaks for the PAYE workers. In the past, agreements included larger pay increases, but significant proportions were clawed back through tax. "More recently, agreements centred more on modest pay increases coupled with improvements in the tax system. Regrettably, this Government reneged on its commitments in this area and this has led to much clearer demands from workers regarding the nature of any new deal.
He strongly criticised the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, for "talking down" worker expectations of a new pay deal. "The Minister's comments suggest that he is seriously out of touch with the mood of PAYE workers. He clearly does not appreciate the huge damage to his credibility inflicted by the Government's failure on the tax front during the PCW."
One of the new members to the talks, the National Youth Council of Ireland, said 42 per cent of the population was under 25 years of age. The new national programme would have an "enormous influence" on their lives and it was only right that young people should be represented at the discussions.