Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin has raised the prospect of giving exporters who face severe pressure on their business due to currency fluctuations opt-out clauses from parts of future social partnership pay deals, writes Arthur Beesley, Senior Business Correspondent, in Druid's Glen

With the euro trading near record highs against the dollar this week, the Minister said future partnership deals should have "in-built flexibility" to protect exporters and traditional manufacturers who are vulnerable to movements on the international currency markets.

Mr Martin was speaking at the Irish Management Institute (IMI) conference in Co Wicklow, where Waterford Crystal chief executive John Foley argued that the "one-size-fits-all" nature of social partnership did not suit exporters. "I would argue that these agreements have suited the public service, the banks, State-sponsored and semi-State organisations and the construction industry better than they have suited exporting businesses," Mr Foley said.

The Minister said he accepted Mr Foley's point and suggested that future deals might include specific measures - such as ability-to-pay and opt-out clauses - to give flexibility to exporters.

"I think what should be on the table is that there should be a fuller understanding for all concerned of the pressures that the export sector, particularly the manufacturing sector, face on an ongoing basis," Mr Martin said after the public session.

"I think it's clear that there are certain sectors in manufacturing, particularly ones that would have had a more traditional bent and that are in a transition phase, that are very vulnerable to exchange rates, that are very vulnerable to international issues beyond their control." He added: "It seems to me that we should have in-built flexibility in terms of how future partnerships are constructed so we can facilitate transitioning and we can facilitate meeting the pressures that such companies have, like Waterford [ Crystal] and others."

The Minister said he was not saying for certain that such changes would form part of the next deal, but indicated that the issue would be discussed by a "high-level manufacturing" group formed under the Towards 2016 deal.

He ruled out making any change to Towards 2016 - "the current agreement is done and dusted" - but acknowledged that currency movements and globalisation generally presented difficulty for some Irish companies in the international markets.

"It's not just a problem for the management of the company, it's a problem for the workforce and for the country. So therefore we need to have certain flexibilities, in my view, built in," he said.

"There's nothing new, by the way, we did do that in earlier agreements and there's something around that, that we should have that in-built flexibility in social partnership in the future that would respond to the challenges of globalisation as they emerge."