NEARLY £1.5 billion should be set aside to combat unemployment, social exclusion and low pay, the Government has been told by the eight organisations involved in the "second tier" of talks on a national agreement. The claim has been presented as unions and employers enter the most critical phase of negotiations.
The proposal would scoop the pool of tax relief available in the talks if it was conceded, leaving little for unions to offer members in middle to upper income groups.
Those who made yesterday's submission said tax relief under a new agreement should not be used to subsidise low pay deals by employers.
The most expensive element in the package sought by the other social partners is acceptance of the principle that 0.75 per cent of GDP should be spent on fighting social exclusion, particularly unemployment. This would amount to £350 million a year or £1.05 billion during a three year agreement.
The other demands are that social welfare rates be brought up to the minimum levels recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare in its 1986 report, costing another £127 million and that personal allowances and tax bands be increased for the low paid. This would cost at least £32 million a year for every £100 increase in relief at the standard 27 per cent rate.
There are eight organisations in the "second tier", including the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, the Conference of Religious of Ireland, the National Women's Council, the National Youth Council, the ICTU unemployed centres, the Society of St Vincent De Paul, Protestant Aid and the Community Platform. The latter includes travellers and people with disabilities.
Their submission to the Government will be a timely reminder to negotiators that there is a wider constituency interested in concluding a national agreement.