Social partnership 'aids growth'

The economy and society can still benefit from social partnership but the goals of the process should be updated, according to the National Economic and Social Council (NESC).

The council yesterday published its three-yearly strategy report which will feed into the negotiating process for the replacement to Sustaining Progress, the current national partnership.

The report is prepared by representatives of all the social partners and represents their "shared understanding" of the state of the economy and society as well as the challenges to be addressed.

Among the crucial issues affecting the economy and society are changes in the make up of the population and high levels of migration.

"The scale and composition of likely in-migration must now be factored into infrastructural and regional planing, the development of eduction and health policies and a wide array of social policies," according to the NESC.

Migration has contributed positively to the economy but policies need to be put in place to ensure that if there is an economic downturn the migration problems experienced elsewhere are not reproduced in Ireland.

Civil society and civil society organisations play a key role in ensuring the integration of immigrants according to the Council, adding that "the control of standards is more effective than control of entry in ensuring that a dynamic process does not get underway which undermines standards across the Irish economy and society".

The council has also called for a shift away from the focus on economic growth and job creation with has dominated the previous national agreements.

A more sophisticated approach which looks at productivity and the quality of jobs being generated is called for.

"Increased labour mobility within the enlarged European Union and globally make it important to focus on GNP per head and not just the growth of total GNP, on the overall employment rate and the employability of individuals and not just on the absolute level of job creation," according to NESC.

GNP is the value of the goods and services produced by the economy after allowing for the impact of the multinational sector.

The economy will continue to grow strongly but faces a number of challenges including the loss competitiveness, believes NESC. "The council is firmly of the view that the economy can continue to benefit from co-ordinated wage bargaining at the national level," according to the report.

A widening of policies that support innovation is the best way to address falling competitiveness, argues the body.

They want to see "a step improvement" in the level and quality of the training of people in the workforce with a focus of poorly qualified workers and those at risk of redundancy. The full cost of training or educating these groups should be borne by the State, the council says.

The NESC is supportive of the benchmarking process by which public sector wages are now linked to the private sector.

But, it warns, it is critical public confidence is built in the process by demonstrating that it enhances productivity and the quality of services.

In a reference to the health service the NESC warned: "In particular a scenario should be avoided in which publicly subsidised private providers deliver high-quality services that are exclusive to the better-off, while wholly funded public providers deliver lower quality services used only the least well off."