Government action to relieve bottlenecks in housing, childcare, transport and the health service was demanded yesterday by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. It also warned of a growing race relations problem unless a "coherent immigration policy" was developed.
In an opening submission to the Government in talks on a new national partnership deal, Congress also called for steps to eliminate inequalities in society.
It said a new agreement should address the issue of low pay and the fact that women continued to be paid up to 20 per cent less per hour than men. However, the unions have not made any specific pay claim at this stage.
The Congress delegation, which met Government representatives for about an hour at Government Buildings, said a more detailed statement on pay would be made later.
In a wide-ranging submission, Congress said a number of bottlenecks in the economy were seriously affecting quality of life, fuelling wage pressures and reducing competitiveness. The financial and social cost of the housing problem, which forced people to live in satellite towns up to 50 miles from Dublin, was "very serious", it said.
"Only 272 'affordable' houses were built last year although total house completions was 52,000. In effect the builders are on 'unofficial strike' against the 20 per cent affordable housing requirement in private developments."
Homelessness, the submission added, was "a reproach to any society", yet up to 300 people were living rough in Dublin every night.
On public transport, Congress said the absence of a spatial strategy meant there was no coherence between building development and transport infrastructure.
"The inadequacy of the current arrangements . . . is a major bottleneck affecting the performance of the economy."
The Nice campaign, it said, had exposed the extent to which immigration was an issue. "If it is not handled properly we could have a serious race relations problem."
The nine-page submission said any new agreement should be "more focused" than the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, the current social partnership deal, which expires next year.
A new agreement would have to take account of the current economic climate, but it "should not underachieve in the context of the potential for economic growth and social development in an economy which is fundamentally strong."
