Union leaders have said that the small reduction in inflate last month will not impact on the demand for pay increases of around 5 per cent currently being sought in the private sector.
The chairman of the private sector committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) Jerry Shanahan, said that the reduction in inflation from 4.4 to 4.3 per cent represented only a “snapshot.” He said that one swallow did not make a summer.
Speaking at Government Buildings at the start of the fourth day of talks on a new national pay deal, Mr Shanahan said that the inflation figure which unions were projecting for the end of the year was still close to 5 per cent.
The president of Siptu, the country’s largest trade union, Jack O’Connor said it was better that there had been a marginal reduction rather than a marginal increase in inflation. He said unions would have to see what they could glean from the trends reflected in the new inflation figures.
Asked whether the reduction in inflation last month would result in a moderation of the unions’ pay demands in the talks, Mr O’Connor said: “We have to see what the figures mean, figures fluctuate from month to month.
“We have to discern whatever trends are reflected. If the trend is positive from the point of view of controlling inflation it would be helpful from the point of view of making an agreement.”
The General Secretary of Ictu, David Begg, said that the inflation trend appeared to be steady. He said the European Central Bank was still forecasting that inflation would remain high and that this was something which would have to inform the unions’ consideration of it.
Unions and employers are being briefed on the inflation figures by the Department of Finance.
The director general of the employers’ group Ibec Turlough O’Sullivan said that the impact of the new inflation figures had to be helpful for the national pay talks.
He said that the trend in the inflation rate over the last few months had been downward and that most commentators were predicting that the figures for next year would be a lot lower.
“That is good news so it has to be encouraging for all of us”, he said.
Mr O’Sullivan said that he did not know whether the new lower inflation figures would make any difference in the negotiations on a new pay deal over the coming days.
“As I have said a number of times, everybody needs to want this agreement. I have also said many times that it is better for the country if we have the social partners working together with Government, to have a shared understanding and diagnosis of our problems and a shared way forward.
“That is always a more sustainable way than having to do it any other way and I would hope that we could do that”, he said.
Asked about the union’s comments on the inflation figures, Mr O’Sullivan said that it was a bit late in the process for posturing.
“It is time we faced up to the reality we have a couple of days in which to do a national agreement and if people want it they should get on and do it. Inflation has been coming down steadily. It is a global problem and I do not think the right thing for Ireland and for people still in jobs is for pay to chase inflation”.
“For pay to chase inflation, everybody now understands that that would make the situation worse and accelerate the pace of job losses and I think we all know that the vast majority of people would prefer to keep their jobs and take pay moderation on the basis that if you have a job you have something to build on for the future”.