A flexible and innovative approach is required to overcome scepticism about the reality of implementing the National Development Plan, Mr John Dunne, the director general of IBEC said yesterday.
In his speech to the conference, Mr Dunne also warned that economic success would be damaged if there was any slippage in the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF).
Mr Dunne said there was already a degree of scepticism about the reality of the National Development Plan. He said the Government would have to acknowledge that it didn't have the capacity to deliver the plan by itself.
He said the plan required partnership between the public and private sectors. Unless the government was at the top to monitor progress and take some hard decisions, the sceptics would be proven right about the whole process, he added.
Mr Dunne said a flexible planning process was required. He noted that the eight-mile-long Vascoda Gama bridge in Lisbon took only seven years to complete against the optimistic 12-year projection for the Dublin port tunnel.
He said the labour shortage should be addressed by the increased participation of women in the workforce and an active immigration policy. He said a priority should be made of attracting skilled labour from abroad. Companies should embrace diversity programmes and there should be a nation-wide awareness campaign on racism, he added.
Mr Dunne delivered a harsh warning on slippage on the terms of the PPF and future industrial unrest. He said extraordinary expectations among public sector unions, politicians, professionals, senior civil servants, farmers and the self-employed were a threat to the economy.
He singled out the teachers' pursuit of a 30 per cent pay increase and the increasing threat of industrial unrest as a major threat. He said this was despite the reality that teachers` salary levels were the second highest in Europe.
Mr Dunne said the real test of the model would be the next 33 months, since it would be difficult to maintain its aims against the growing expectations of all sectors of society.
He said there were limits to partnership and these included an increasingly delicate situation as to the role of the Oireachtas. He said it was no surprise that little emerged from negotiations, contrary to stated Government policy, because it participated in negotiations under each and every heading.
Mr Dunne said rising house prices, transport, infrastructure and potential external shocks, such as a weakening of sterling, oil prices, and stock market volatility, were potential threats to continued success.
