Employers body Ibec has criticised the Government for reversing the cut in the minimum wage.

It has also urged it to abolish the controversial Joint Labour Committee (JLC) mechanism for setting wages rather than simply reforming the system.

Addressing Ibec's employment law conference in Dublin this morning, it's director of industrial relations, Brendan McGinty, said the restoration of the national minimum wage meant that it would be 28 per cent higher than the rate applying in the UK.

He said this differential was even more significant - at about 37 per cent - in sectors where pay and conditions were governed by the JLC system. Mr McGinty said this differential was "unsustainable" and represented a barrier to job creation.

Mr McGinty warned the Government against introducing mandatory trade union recognition or compulsory collective bargaining. He said that this was a "red line issue for employers on a par with the 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate" and said the Government needed to set out clearly its policy in this area .

Mr McGinty also called on the Government to introduce reforms to legislation governing bullying and harassment in the workplace.

He said that while Ibec welcomed the Government's jobs initiative, it believed the levy on private sector pensions to pay for the programme would add to the very serious problems already facing pension schemes.

He warned that the introduction of the levy could represent a tipping point that could force the closure of a number of defined benefit schemes or could leave employers and employees having to pay higher contributions or accepting lower benefits in the future.