Negotiations on the next social partnership deal will have to cope with slower economic growth and an unstable international financial environment, the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) has warned.
A three-year review of economic and social policy being prepared by the NESC will play a key role in the upcoming talks on a successor to the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness.
In a preliminary statement yesterday, the NESC said Ireland must maintain its competitiveness while pursuing a number of "complex tasks" to ensure that "a fairer, more equal society" is created.
The PPF successor must agree measures that will improve public services and infrastructure, promote a knowledge economy and nurture sustainable, environmentally friendly development.
The NESC emphasised the factor it thinks responsible for the improvements in the Irish economy over the last decade.
"It is the willingness and ability to change policies, arrangements and institutions that ultimately underlies Ireland's success. This is confirmed by the fact that Ireland continues to achieve less in precisely those areas where we have not adapted institutions, policies and arrangements," it said.
Social partnership must learn from experience and change its aims accordingly "to continuously improve policy and implementation", the NESC advised in its statement.
There are pressures on the country's economic development, including problems with childcare, transport and commuting distances, urban sprawl, health, and education. "These pressures, which affect different people in different ways, must be addressed if people are to feel that the economic breakthrough is worthwhile and are to be willing to make the changes necessary to secure the foundations of long-term prosperity and a more equal and socially inclusive society."
Highlighting housing costs, crime and the cost of goods and services, the NESC went on: "There is a widespread sense that opportunities and outcomes are still not fairly available to all." In future, negotiators must consider all these elements. "A partial view of any of these influences or issues can be damaging and even self-defeating," it said.
Reacting to the NESC's statement, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said it represented "an important step forward on the path towards an agreed foundation" for the upcoming round of social partnership negotiations.
