Ahern admits need for EU work policies

Committee: The standard of family-friendly employment policies in Ireland is lagging behind other European countries, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has admitted.

Speaking to an Oireachtas Committee yesterday, he said EU directives in such areas as employment protection and maternity leave had been "extremely good for us".

However, further initiatives were needed to make the workplace more attractive for older people and women in particular. "There are better European models than ours, quite frankly, and these are what we should be working towards."

Mr Ahern was addressing the Joint Committee on European Affairs, where Mr Ruairí Quinn (Labour) claimed childcare costs were the highest in Europe at around €850 per child a month.

Speaking on the future direction of the EU under its Lisbon Agenda, the Taoiseach also warned that the average retirement age in Europe would have to increase to avoid a pension crisis. While he said people should not be forced to work beyond 65 years there was "no great basis" for people retiring at that age.

He added the Lisbon Agenda had been a "priority" for the Irish presidency of the EU, and claimed "a lot has been achieved to date" in the areas of sustainable growth, job creation, and legislation. While he said there tended to be better implementation of EU policy if it was driven from the centre, he said he would only support the creation of a special "driver" post within the union if the relevant official addressed all the pillars of the agenda.

He noted there was concern the social inclusion pillar would be dropped in favour of economic competitiveness.

The Taoiseach also told the committee he believed there was "over-regulation" in Europe.

"In some cases red tape is necessary . . . but why do we need 1,500 regulations and directions to help make a cardboard box is the other side of it . . . Some of it is in the lands of zany."

The committee chairman, Mr Gay Mitchell (FG), said Eurostat figures showed the number of people aged over 65 would increase in the EU from 71 million in 2000 to 110 million in 2030, while the working age population would fall from 303 million to 280 million in the same period. Unless this issue was addressed, he said, Europe was heading for a similar pensions crisis as experienced by Japan in the early 1990s.