MINISTER FOR Enterprise and Jobs Richard Bruton has told trade unions his plans to reform wage-setting mechanisms for over 200,000 workers are in line with official advice.
In a meeting last night with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), Mr Bruton said most of his proposals followed the spirit of the recent Duffy-Walsh report on the joint labour committee (JLC) and registered employment agreement (REA) systems. In areas where the report did not make recommendations, the Minister said he had developed his proposals from the analysis contained in the document.
Ahead of last night’s meeting, Ictu said dismantling the JLC/REA systems could lead to job losses and damage growth prospects.
General secretary David Begg said Congress would be asking the Minister if he intended to depart from the recommendations made in the Duffy-Walsh report, which was an independent review of the system. He said the report’s finding that the JLC system should be retained was extremely pertinent in the light of unemployment rising to 14.8 per cent.
“It was claimed that dismantling the JLC/REA system would open the floodgates to job creation. The independent review found otherwise. It was claimed that lowering pay would create jobs – again the review concluded otherwise.”
