Finance Minister Brian Cowen has warned workers against pricing the Irish economy out of international markets by seeking pay rises higher than those of our competitors.
Mr Cowen told RTE News that Irish pay rates had increased by two and a half times the EU average in the past three years, and that other economies had made competitive gains in relation to Ireland.
He said we needed to make sure we did not decide on pay rises which made people happy at the moment, but were not in their long-term interests.
Minister Cowen added that pay increases had to be 'inextricably linked' with change and modernisation in the public sector.
He said this included tightening up commitments on co-operation and flexibility, greater scope for contracting out of services, increased open recruitment, improved work practices, new and extended patterns of working and increased access to services.
Earlier, business group Chambers Ireland called for basic pay rises under the new national pay agreement to be fixed at two percentage points below annual economic growth.
The group added that inflation-linked pay rises should be considered only along with increases in local productivity.
* The Minister today launched a strategic alliance between University College Dublin and the Institute of Bankers in Ireland.
Under the agreement, the Institute of Bankers will establish a new School of Professional Finance at its headquarters at North Wall Quay in Dublin's IFSC. UCD will designate this as the first external school to be recognised by the University.
The Institute and UCD say they want the new school to 'provide a key source of strategic advantage to the financial services industry'.
It will provide the industry with access to executive short courses, to professional certification programmes, and to academic qualifications at all levels up to and including doctorates. It will also serve the growing demand from the industry, for applied and commercial research in financial services.
