The State's biggest trade union, Siptu, is to convene a special delegate conference tomorrow to decide whether it will enter talks on a new national partnership deal, wrtites Carl O'Brien.
Senior sources at Siptu say officials are broadly in favour of talks taking place following informal contacts with the Government and employers over issues such as employment standards.
One source said: "There is a growing belief that the Government and, to a lesser extent, employers are beginning to realise the importance of employment standards. There has been a lot of activity on these issues behind the scenes."
Siptu's special delegate conference was adjourned in October. Talks had been put on hold while energies were focused on resolving the ferries dispute.
Meanwhile, the 28 national anti-poverty and equality organisations, which make up the Community Platform section of the partnership talks, have said that any new agreement must be judged in terms of four key tests on areas such as reducing poverty and inequality, advancing a right to appropriate employment and increasing participation of the most marginalised.
Seán Regan of the Community Workers' Co-op said the platform had proposed a series of measures which would help ensure a partnership agreement could meet these tests.
They include a new target to reduce poverty; substantial increases in the minimum wage; a major increase in provision of social housing and an increase in the availability of medical cards at a level above the minimum wage.
Some key initiatives identified by Community Platform that would ensure a new social partnership agreement passes these tests are outlined in its position document launched today.
The proposals listed are not exhaustive but they set out an approach that would make the next social partnership agreement relevant and meaningful to disadvantaged communities in Ireland.
Mr O'Regan said: "Social partnership is meaningless unless the most marginalised in society are given a voice and unless the outcomes of social partnership results in real outcomes for them."
The Cori Justice Commission also said a new agreement must make serious efforts to tackle poverty, inequality and social exclusion.
In a position paper published today, Securing Fairness and Wellbeing - Ireland in the Coming Years, it says such measures would move Ireland towards being a society characterised by fairness and well-being.
These measures include addressing infrastructure deficits such as public transport; securing "appropriate levels" of service provision in areas such as healthcare, education and employment services.
They also include increasing social welfare rates and tackling the "working poor" issue and maximising the participation of all of Ireland's people in their own development and in the development of the wider society, the justice commission paper says.