The chief executive of business group Ibec has called on the incoming Taoiseach and the new Minister for Enterprise to cap Government imposed labour cost hikes.
Danny McCoy urged Simon Harris to commit to a competitiveness charter, to support firms as they deal with the rising cost of doing business.
He said the Government should cap the cumulative increase in any one year in labour costs imposed on businesses and ensure better co-ordination of policies.
Ibec has criticised the timing of changes such as the rise in the national minimum wage, the introduction of enhanced statutory sick pay and PRSI increases, which they claim are coming together or in quick succession.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, Mr McCoy said there had been a lack of coordination on the cumulative costs hitting small and medium sized enterprises in particular, and capping further costs should be top of the agenda.
"It's all about the payroll," he said, "so the best way to target supports is at the PRSI system as they apply to the employers PRSI costs."
Last week, unions pushed back against the complaints from businesses about rising labour costs arising from a series of Government policy changes aimed at improving conditions for workers.
Mr McCoy said there are lots of statistics that show that Ireland is actually a well paid economy. "It is not so much providing those benefits, its the cumulative impact of them coming together, and from the Government's own numbers we see that for some businesses, those labour imposed costs, even adjusting for wage growth, are about 20%. No business can cope with these very large increases.
"Everybody wants people to have a better standard of living because it comes back in terms of demand for those businesses. It's about coordinating those costs," he said.
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The Ibec boss paid tribute to the outgoing Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, describing him as "incredibly diligent".
"He has had a number of portfolios that has touched on business going back to Agriculture and Food. The biggest part of his career was in Foreign Affairs and Trade during the Brexit years. His greatest achievement, along with his colleagues, was to ensure there was no border on the island of Ireland. That has been crucial, not just for our businesses but for society more generally," he said.
When he announced he was stepping down from Cabinet, Simon Coveney was non-committal about whether or not he would run again in the next general election. Asked if there would be demand for former ministers, particularly those who had held the business portfolios, in the corporate world, Mr McCoy said Mr Coveney would bring great experience, great insight and would be in great demand.
