Irish Congress of Trade Unions general secretary David Begg has said the timeframe for tackling the budget deficit should be extended to 2017.
Speaking at the launch of ICTU's election document, he said the current 2014 deadline was too austere, and would depress growth - and without growth, there would be no job creation. He also pointed out that unemployment would be far worse but for the fact that 100,000 people had emigrated.
Mr Begg said the remaining €5-€7 billion in the National Pensions Reserve Fund should be harnessed to stimulate investment in infrastructure, including water, waste, energy and broadband. He also said the EU/IMF package was unsustainable and should be restructured.
Meanwhile, the president of the country's largest union SIPTU has described the prospect of a single party Fine Gael government as a 'recipe for disaster'.
Jack O'Connor said the the majority of people in Fine Gael were good, well-intentioned people, but the party was committed to the same deflationary principles as the outgoing Fianna Fáil-led administration.
He said there was a need for a balanced government made up of Fine Gael and Labour that would reflect the views of working people. Mr O'Connor said that while SIPTU was not instructing members on how to vote, it had carried out an analysis which stated that members' interests would best be served by voting Labour, and to transfer to left-leaning candidates committed to social solidarity.
