Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Given that good substantive questions have been asked I would like the opportunity to reply. I listened attentively in silence to what the Deputy had to say and I would like to respond. After my first sentence, perhaps people will allow me to expand and give my side of the equation. I do not expect the Deputy to agree with everything I have to say but, perhaps, that courtesy could be extended to me as I have extended it to the Deputy.

Social partnership is about more than one pay agreement. I regret the fact that it was not possible to reach agreement. Everyone made good efforts in good faith to achieve an agreement but it was not possible. Much work was done. The strategic gains are important pieces of work that have been done sector by sector, where a common vision has been outlined between management and unions about how we could proceed with reforming of public services. Clearly much of that work was being done in the hope of also achieving agreement on the contribution the public sector pay bill would make towards the consolidation of the public finances that we will discuss this afternoon. Unfortunately, we were not in a position, for a combination of reasons which I have outlined in my reply, to reach agreement. I regret that. I did not in any expedient way seek to avoid agreement. What we had to have was a permanent reduction and an ability to see beyond 2010 that a reduction would be of that magnitude and that further reductions would be possible and further contributions from the changed programme would be able to be made.

There was also the question of the unpaid leave aspect. I can understand the negotiating position of the unions on the other side. They had come with a very restrictive mandate and that was not to accept pay cuts, reductions in rates of pay. A deduction was proposed for 2010 which involved banking equivalent unpaid days leave subsequently. It was further developed to provide that over a longer period than the original proposal would suggest. That was in an effort to see in what way disruption to levels of service could be minimised while that would take place. The problem was also that, in the context of where the proposal had been developed, further talks during 2010 would have been required on how the contribution to the deficit could be made up in the event that the changed programme would not have provided savings of €1 billion in 2010 on the pay side. I always believe that one should try to find agreement if possible but regrettably we were not in a position to find sufficient agreement on that basis.

Social partnership is a structured approach to an interaction between stakeholders in society that has to take place. One has either a structured approach to what it is one is doing or one has an unstructured approach. Having a structured approach is far better because in the modern governance of any society it allows all stakeholders to put their proposals not only on the traditional areas of industrial relations, which are quite narrow in terms of pay and conditions, but on the wider vision of a society and how one can expand equality of opportunity and improve the lot of people in society. That is what social partnership is about. While it has been fashionable to malign that process in recent times, for whatever reason, one has to acknowledge the contribution it has made. It has not been the panacea and solution to all our problems but it has been the new way for the past 20 years of trying to deal with problems and finding accommodation and a way forward. Not every side gets what it wants in toto but it is a means by which a structured discussion can take place that can lead to, hopefully, coherent outcomes. It is more than a single pay agreement.

We have been able to have extended discussions on social partnership over a series of programmes. Many have taken far longer to negotiate than others because of the complexity and difficulties that have to be encountered at any given time when a programme is being formed. The idea of something beyond simply pay and conditions and the relationship between those who employ and those who represent employees, Government, farming and the voluntary and community pillar representatives is a far more inclusive concept of social dialogue than would have been the case with precursors to its emergence and development over the past 20 years.

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