EUROPEAN economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn accepts that the approach to be adopted for dealing with the public finances is not an exact science, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said following a meeting with the commissioner yesterday.
Congress general secretary David Begg said Mr Rehn had acknowledged that the methodology to be followed was a question of judgment.
The congress delegation argued that the timescale for reaching the 3 per cent deficit level should be extended.
Mr Begg said that Mr Rehn had asked about the proposal drawn up by congress for using money in the National Pension Reserve Fund to stimulate growth in the economy without breaching Eurostat rules.
He said Mr Rehn had “displayed considerably less arrogance” than many others who maintained that the Government’s approach was the only solution for dealing with the difficulties in the public finances.
Business group Ibec, which also met Mr Rehn, said that while a lot had to be done to restore the country’s fortunes, significant progress had been made. Director general Danny McCoy said he had maintained that the budgetary adjustment as set out by the Government provided “a credible and realistic path forward”.
He said he had argued that growth would come primarily from the enterprise sector.
In a statement issued following the meeting Ibec said it had maintained that the Irish economy has performed better than expected in 2010.
Following two years of contraction, output has stabilised, gross domestic product will be flat and tax receipts are on target.
Irish exports had fared better through the global economic crisis than in many other countries and returned to strong growth of 7 per cent in the first half of 2010.