The new social partnership deal may succeed in avoiding the vagueness - and relative brevity - of its predecessor, Sustaining Progress, writes Chris Dooley
Government initiatives in areas ranging from social housing to education have been proposed as part of the final push to conclude a social partnership deal.
A 61-page draft document, setting out social and economic objectives for the next 10 years, is being finalised by the social partners in talks at Government Buildings. It proposes measures to alleviate child poverty, provide increased support for carers, help migrant children to integrate into Irish schools, and tackle residual unemployment.
Improved access to lifelong learning and on-the-job training are other key elements of the strategy to maintain Ireland's economic success. A large section of the document sets out initiatives for four sections of society: children, people of working age, older people and those with disabilities.
Objectives of this sort are a feature of all social partnership programmes, but these proposals are different in two respects.
First, there is the commitment by all parties to sign up to a 10-year agreement, rather than the three-year model that has been the norm since the first programme was agreed in 1987. The thinking is that three-year deals do not allow sufficient scope for the long-term planning of major societal issues such as healthcare, education, housing and transport.
The second departure from previous agreements is that there is a serious attempt being made to complete an agreement with specific targets and commitments. Sustaining Progress, the partnership deal agreed in 2003, was criticised in some quarters for the generality and vagueness of many of its social policy objectives. Among the critics were a number of community and voluntary groups that refused to sign up to the agreement. Their stance resulted in their being excluded from the current talks.
While the proposed new agreement is longer on specifics and shorter on generalities than its predecessor, many of its proposals are already set out in existing Government programmes.
The first section of the draft agreement deals with macro-economic policy and includes an emphasis on the need to restore and improve Ireland's competitiveness. Particular attention is paid to the manufacturing sector and the requirement to provide additional resources - as yet unspecified - to "upskill" workers. It is proposed that a "high-level manufacturing group" be established to review the challenges facing the sector and identify the measures needed to address them.
Extensive proposals on housing include a Government pledge to arrange through local authorities for the provision of additional lands and housing units. The aim of this particular measure is to provide 2,000 new housing units over the next three years. Overall, however, the document endorses the view taken by the National Economic and Social Council that 73,000 social housing units should be provided in the period 2004 to 2012.
It is also proposed that the National Building Agency establish, with immediate effect, a dedicated unit to support local authorities to bring all social housing accommodation up to "the best possible standard".
A section of the draft report on children includes the long-term aim that every child should leave primary school "literate and numerate". Enhanced support for the effective integration of international children at both primary and second level is proposed, "through the provision of additional English language teachers and the reform of the current limit of two additional teachers per school".
The section dealing with people of working age contains proposals for lifelong learning and access to employment. It urges that "priority" consideration be given to extending the scope of the National Employment Action Plan, which at present involves referring to Fás those who have been unemployed for six months.
If adopted, the new plan could see people being referred at an earlier stage, while others such as lone parents or those with disabilities may be brought within its scope.