Isme calls for national forum to replace 'failed' social partnership

ISME HAS called for a new national representation forum to replace the social partnership process.

Launching its pre-election agenda yesterday, the association said such a forum was “urgently required” to replace the “failed social partnership process”.

The forum would include business representatives, unions, representatives of the ESRI and the Central Bank as well as front-bench spokespersons, according to Isme.

The association, which represents small and medium-sized businesses, said the incoming government needed to show a “fundamental change in attitude” towards smaller companies, calling for recognition of the significant contribution the sector made to employment, purchasing power, tax revenue and economic growth.

Among the areas of concern for small businesses highlighted were competitiveness, access to finance and the problem of late payments.

It also called for public-sector reform. Arguing that the public-sector pay bill represented more than a third of current expenditure, the association said it was “imperative that a new framework for delivering public services at a reasonable cost is introduced to restore confidence and protect jobs across the economy”.

Isme chief executive Mark Fielding said SMEs must be at the centre of the new government’s decision-making process.

“It is essential that political parties recognise that it is SMEs who create jobs and that politicians’ role is to support them by creating the correct environment,” Mr Fielding added. “The adoption and implementation of strategies for driving entrepreneurship and small business development in Ireland is critical in addressing the current economic crisis.”