The director general designate of employers' group IBEC has criticised the slow pace of securing a plan for economic recovery.
Danny McCoy said that the Government proposals revealed last night were part of an ongoing process, and were going in the right direction in emphasising employment. But he said the pace was too slow.
Earlier. the Irish Congress of Trade Unions voiced disappointment at the scale and scope of the Government's proposals for national recovery.
Speaking after a meeting the ICTU Executive Council, however, general secretary David Begg said that the Government's process was the only show in town. He said the document was not adequate to the needs of the situation, but probably could be built on.
The Government document provides for a job protection programme, including a temporary employment subsidy scheme with an initial budget of €250m.
The scheme would permit a €200 a week subsidy towards employees' wages in vulnerable industries - particularly manufacturing and internationally traded services. The Government has said that if the initial €250m fund proved effective, the total allocation could eventually rise to €1 billion. But unions have criticised the fact that no time frame for that additional allocation has been set.
The Government has also proposed procedures to deal with wage increases due under last November's national wage agreement.
In addition, it has pledged €100m a year for three years to fund a Pensions Insolvency Payment Scheme to assist workers and pensioners whose pension funds collapse.
Partnership pace concerns IBEC
Mr McCoy said that the slowness in the partnership process was not matched by what was happening on the ground. He said he looked forward to helping with the daunting task of tackling the economic problems in his new position as director general of IBEC.
Asked whether he believed there was a future for social partnership, he said it was a very sensible way for any society to do business. But he added that it needed to be relevant, timely and urgent. IBEC chairman Tom Noonan said employers were concerned that there was no sign of a finishing line.
He said that rather than talk about support, they must move to the stage where measures can be put in place with a minimum of bureaucracy. Mr Noonan warned that while employers had supported partnership to date, that support could not be taken for granted into the future.
Begg accepts union members' disappointment
Meanwhile, Mr Begg said union members would not expect Congress to walk away if it could influence events. He said concerns were raised about the limits set on the firms that would benefit form the Temporary Employment Subsidy Scheme, which is limited to manufacturing and internationally traded services.
He said there were many other sectors that needed assistance, citing construction and the general services area. Mr Begg said he could see no reason for their exclusion.
He acknowledged that some members would be disappointed that a review of the minimum wage had been suspended until 2011. But he said that at least the minimum wage would continue to be a floor for wage formation - and would help to resist what he called a 'juggernaut campaign' for pay cuts across the economy.
Mr Begg said that at the moment ICTU did not have enough information to form a full judgement, and expected that it would go back to the Government for further clarifications.
