Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the thoughtful contribution by so many Members, not that I agree with all of them. I commend the Leader and the House for this opportunity to debate social partnership.

Social partnership is a process of deliberation involving a search for consensus in addressing trade-offs both between and within interest groups in addressing joint problems. It has played a pivotal role in Ireland's dramatic development on economic and social fronts since its introduction in 1987 when national morale was sapped and business confidence was low. The part of the negotiation that resulted in the Programme for National Recovery has been followed in each of the successive agreements with the preceding report by the National Economic and Social Council providing a focus for subsequent negotiations.

The recently published NESC Strategy 2006: People, Productivity and Purpose, provides a guiding vision for economic and social development in the coming years and the framework within which the negotiations should take place. The Government's approach to the negotiations will be guided by the shared vision and medium to long-term perspective proposed by the NESC report.

Our strong commitment to pursuing economic and social prosperity through social partnership and dialogue has brought us far. It is appropriate as negotiations on a new agreement begin, to remind ourselves of the benefits since 1987. Unemployment has fallen from approximately 17% in 1987 to 4.3% in 2005, the lowest in the EU. Long-term unemployment stands at just 1.4%. A single person on average industrial earnings has seen his or her take home pay increase by 75% in real terms. The enormous turnaround in our employment situation has had a favourable impact on social inclusion. The falling rates of consistent poverty during the 1990s are a further indicator of the success of Government policy on social partnership. Before social partnership, an annual average of over 317,000 days were lost through industrial disputes in the 1980s compared with a record low of less than 21,000 days in 2004.

The negotiations to agree a successor agreement to Sustaining Progress have commenced. Addressing last Thursday's plenary meeting of the social partners in Dublin Castle, the Taoiseach outlined the challenges which face Ireland and which must be recognised in the negotiations. As a small, open economy, Ireland has learned that competitiveness and flexibility are key to economic development, a fact that must also guide the negotiations. The Taoiseach stressed that we want to see greater productivity and enhanced competitiveness based on new products and services, upskilling of staff, new work practices and technological innovation. Building competitive advantage must not be based on poor wages, casualisation of labour, low health and safety standards or other poor compliance practices. Not only is it wrong, it is unsustainable.

The consensus on economic and social policy issues in Ireland through successive national partnership programmes could not have been achieved without the agreement on social standards. This consensus approach involving employers, employees and Government has been a major contributor to Ireland's recent economic success and has been backed up by balanced employment rights legislation which, together with measures designed to stimulate employment, provide an appropriate framework for achieving a competitive and efficient business environment.

The protection of employment standards is an important goal of public policy. In particular, we do not want to foster social division by having jobs transformed from decent employment for Irish citizens to low-paid positions targeted at migrant workers. This country has invested significantly in tackling poverty and inequality. The Government is not prepared to see it replaced by short-sighted and exploitative decisions. Ultimately the State has to subsidise unsustainable, low-paid employment through the family income supplement, social services, etc. This is why I am satisfied we have good employment standards. I recognise that commercial reality and competitive pressures will impact on any employment that may not be sustainable. Outsourcing can be a necessary and legitimate response to such pressures. It generally involves the reorganisation of work processes and production systems. The best defence for all of us against these pressures is to ensure that our approach to wage bargaining is responsible and reflects competitive realities, that our workers are encouraged to update their skills in line with technical progress, that our industrial relations practices foster flexibility and change in order to boost productivity, and that our support for workers affected by change is timely and effective.

The Government has already communicated its intention to engage fully and effectively in the process of devising policies and measures, which would protect employment standards and ensure appropriate compliance. I am confident that a successful response to these issues can be found. They are best found in the context of a social partnership agreement that continues the stability and progressive modernisation of our labour force and employment practices in order to sustain jobs and living standards.

To remain a competitive growing economy with the capacity to improve our social provision, we must continue to build on what it has achieved for us. If we have learned anything in the past 18 years, it is that a shared analysis of the issues coupled with a problem-solving approach has worked. However, social partnership is not a recipe for perfection. Not everything works as planned. It will fail the test without an open and honest engagement now and in the future. There is no place for free riders in social partnership. There is no place for those who take the benefits without contributing. Imperfect as it is, however, it has delivered far more for each of the participants — all of us — than could possibly have been achieved in the bad old days of confrontation and conflict. As rapid economic and social change continues, Irish society needs the stability provided by the partnership approach. Everyone has benefited.