The Taoiseach has said wage levels should be set at a "sensible and affordable level" to maintain the State's competitiveness.
Speaking at a meeting with social partners in Dublin Castle this morning, Mr Ahern
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
said the setting of wage levels was "critically important for stability and growth in our economy".
Initial discussions on a new national wage and partnership deal begin in the autumn, and Mr Ahern said wages were "a critical issue at the heart" of this process.
"It will absorb appropriately large amounts of energy when we begin our negotiations later this year. For this morning, I merely wish to emphasise that we can best protect high incomes by setting wage growth at a sensible and affordable level," he said.
"It is important that we do not undermine the job creation capability of the Irish economy or our international attractions as a place to work and to invest. This is the context in which a successor to the current agreement must be considered."
"The rise of new industrial powers in China and India . . . as well as the dynamic created within the European Union through the membership of new, young, well-educated and dynamic states, and the relentless pace of change in technology and its application, make us all subject to a relentless competitive pressure," he said.