The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has offered the Irish Congress of Trade Unions up to £125 million in tax breaks and social welfare increases to re-enter talks. However, the ICTU has asked its own taxation sub-committee to draw up proposals which could form the basis for further negotiation.
ICTU sources last night said that wider issues needed to be clarified before the unions could re-enter talks with the Government and employers. These included measures to tackle social exclusion and flat rate pay increases for the low paid, as well as income tax cuts.
Yesterday, the ICTU decided to keep talks on a successor to Partnership 2000 on hold while its taxation sub-committee explored the options for budgetary reform. Meanwhile, congress is to have parallel talks with the other social partners, including the Government, on how the proposals contained in the report of the National Economic and Social Council can be brought back on track following the Budget.
After the ICTU executive meeting yesterday the organisation's general secretary, Mr Peter Cassells, said it had been decided that "much more is going to have to be done for the low paid. We are seeking commitments to have the situation rectified. Also the implications of the Budget for negotiations on a new national agreement will have to be examined."
He added that everyone had known that talks on a new agreement would be the most difficult yet. That was why a shared vision, based on the NESC report, was so important and the damage caused by the Budget had to be rectified.
There was strong support at the meeting for Mr Cassells from union leaders, who felt that SIPTU had pre-empted the congress position by refusing to attend last Monday's talks. There were also differing views on what the new priorities should be in light of the Budget.
Mr Des Geraghty, SIPTU president, still felt that the priority must be the narrowing of the gap between the lower-income groups and the rest of the community. "SIPTU is concerned about the wider issues as well," he said, "but the critical point at the moment is the Budget and people on low incomes who lost out badly".
"We warned the Government that the Budget would be a bridge or a barrier. At the moment it is a barrier that needs to be lifted," he said.
Other unions were anxious to clarify wider issues before re-entering talks, such as the willingness of employers to offer significant pay increases in any new discussions, both in terms of flat-rate increases targeted at the low paid and percentage increases for all workers. IMPACT general secretary Mr Peter McLoone said that with only 1 per cent left to be paid next year under Partnership 2000 it was necessary to establish where employers, including the Government, stood.
He said the Budget had exacerbated the pay issue, particularly for those on low incomes.
Over the next few days contacts will take place between the taxation and the general purposes committees of the ICTU and senior Government officials to agree parameters for any further discussions. The vice-president of ICTU, Mr Joe O'Toole, described these contacts as "shadow talks". He said the Budget had made it necessary to deal with the "crunch issues" now and clarify people's respective positions.
There is no doubt that most of the unions in the ICTU would prefer to have a national agreement, if it is on terms they can stand over. The general secretary of the Communications Workers' Union, Mr Con Scanlon, said: "It would be an absolute shame if we can't resolve the difficulties that exist as a result of the Budget. It would be perverse if we were not at the table when the coffers were full, after being around the table when all we had to distribute was misery."