Need to go beyond pay deals stressed

There should be a "fresh look" at the Republic's model of social partnership, the chief executive of the Irish Productivity Centre (IPC) has said.

Mr Tom McGuinness said if partnership agreements continued to be seen as only relating to pay increases, this would lead to the "demise of the whole concept".

He said workers should not "just take pay increases", but also concentrate on wider issues like efficiencies within their companies. The IPC is a joint body formed by IBEC and ICTU which works to promote partnership in the workplace. "Both employers and employees should not just focus on one element, the future of individual enterprises is also important, topics like profit-sharing and performance-related pay should also form part of the discussions," he said.

"Reform of our institutions and practices have yet to be given the consideration they deserve or need if the economy is to remain successful," said Mr McGuinness. He will deliver his comments at a conference today in UCD on reward and recognition systems.

Mr McGuinness said partnership agreements also referred to employees having a direct input into strategic decisions in companies, but this element tended to receive "scant attention".

"A lot more needs to be done to bring employers and employees to a fuller understanding of partnership and Partnership 2000 in particular," he said. "Until such time has arrived, partnership in the truest sense will be ineffective and in fact could lead to disaster rather than success," he added.

He said the disaster may arise if larger issues within the economy are not tackled in the national agreements and pay is "the focus of everything".