A new social contract built around social dialogue would help to address challenges like housing, health and climate change, while delivering a fairer future, according to Social Justice Ireland.
Addressing SJI's annual policy conference, Chief Executive Dr Sean Healy said Ireland - and indeed the planet - were facing crises ranging from the pandemic to pollution to poverty.
He told participants that "business as usual" would lead to "social and environmental catastrophe".
He said it was time for all sectors of Irish society to be engaged in social dialogue to decide how best to proceed.
"Government should have confidence, in this post-Covid world, that the general public would welcome new thinking in how our economy and society is structured," Dr Healy said.
He noted that Ireland had repeatedly prioritised addressing the economy, believing that once a thriving economy had been delivered, the country would have the resources to deliver all other desirable outcomes.
"What this approach fails to recognise is that a thriving economy cannot be built without investment in decent services and infrastructure, without just taxation, without good governance and without sustainability at its core," he stated.
He said that a new social contract would be crucial not only to face up to radical reforms that are required, but also for the Government to deliver on its own Programme for Government.
"Social dialogue ensures that all sectors of society young and old, urban and rural, businesses, trade unions, farmers, community/voluntary, social inclusion and environmental have a voice in deciding how these challenges will be met," he said.
His call for an enhanced social dialogue model was echoed by employer and union groups - though both ruled out a return to the social partnership model of a decade ago which had included centralised pay bargaining.
IBEC Chief Executive Danny McCoy told the conference that issues to be addressed by social dialogue were now more about collective or public goods and services, including access to affordable housing, childcare, transportation and sustainability.
He said a new social contract was needed - and social dialogue would be central to agreeing such a contract.
He called on the Government to "reset" Ireland's engagement with stakeholders in a more structured consultation and engagement model "...which can support recovery, address Ireland's long-term societal issues with inclusive and sustainable outcomes".
He highlighted the potential enhanced role for PRSI in helping to address infrastructure shortfalls.
Irish Congress of Trade Unions General Secretary Patricia King stressed that a new social contract could address many challenges facing Irish society and the Irish economy, but must have broad democratic support.
She called for an income-related social security system, but warned issues like sick pay, pensions, housing and a single-tier health system would also have to be resolved.
The Chief Executive of the Irish Farmers Association Damian McDonald described the prospect of more robust, structured and frequent engagement between various pillars of society and the Government as "very worthwhile".
"While the old Social Partnership model had no shortage of critics, the concept of the pillars coming together on a regular basis to discuss policy issues with the aim of reaching multi-annual agreements still has much to recommend it," he told the conference.
Karen Ciesielski of the Irish Environmental Network stressed that public participation would have to lie at the heart of any social contract, and insisted that as Ireland worked towards a just recovery from the pandemic, people and communities must be put at the centre of decision-making through participative, open and inclusive deliberative processes.
