Trade unions and business leaders have accepted an invitation from the Taoiseach to take part in talks on a new national agreement on economic recovery and unions have deferred planned national strike action scheduled for next Monday.
The decision was taken following a meeting of the executive council of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) today.
Speaking after the meeting Ictu general secretary David Begg said he believed Taoiseach Brian Cowen was sincere in stating in his letter to unions yesterday that he believed the outstanding difficulties could be resolved.
Mr Begg said unions would be available for talks as early as tomorrow. However he also warned that the outcome of any agreement and the forthcoming budget on April 7th was not likely to be greeted with delight by most people
He said the key objective of the unions was a deal based around its own 10-point plan for economic recovery. He said the unions would also be looking for a relaxation of the Government’s position on borrowing and said they would be seeking the Government to borrow around 11 per cent of GDP this year rather than the 9.5 per cent set out by Cabinet.
He also said the unions wanted the recovery plan to be phased over a five- to seven-year period.
In a statement, Siptu said its priorities in talks on a new national agreement would be to protect jobs and restructure public finances through a fairer tax system
The union's officers have told members the priority will be protecting jobs, "even if it means extending the Government’s time frame for borrowing". Siptu will also seek a two-year moratorium on house repossessions and mediation rather than the courts to resolve problems with repayments.
The union said will also be looking for major tax reforms, "including the closing off of all tax shelters, protection for those dependent on social welfare payments and protection for occupational pension schemes threatened with insolvency".
Business representative body Ibec said it would accept the invitation to talks and welcomed the move by Ictu to call off the planned day of action next Monday.
Ibec director general Turlough O'Sullivan said: "It is vital that we urgently take the steps necessary to address the economic crisis.
"Ibec looks forward to meeting with government and unions, and putting in place arrangements that reflect the economic realities we now face. It is important that we all work together to restore Ireland's international reputation."
Mr O'Sullivan said the top priority must be to support enterprise and stop the "haemorrhage of jobs".
In the Dáil this morning, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour’s Eamon Gilmore welcomed the Government’s offer of talks with the unions and said they were hopeful next Monday’s day of action would be called off.
Mr Kenny said it was critical that public services be able to continue.
“What we are trying to do is build on the framework that was agreed back at the end of January to see if it’s possible to proceed with agreement on a range of issues,” Taoiseach Brian Cowen said in response.
The wave of strikes in parts of the public and private sectors had the potential to cause serious disruption, particularly in the transport, health and education sectors.
However, the campaign suffered a number of significant blows in recent days. Yesterday Impact, the largest public sector union, said it had no basis to sanction industrial action after a ballot result fell marginally short of the level of support required under its rules.
Last night the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants also voted decisively not to take part in the planned action. It is understood that Siptu staff in the Higher Education Authority also voted against participating in the strike.
The central executive committee of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (Into) met today and decided to defer its strike action planned for March 30th in primary schools.
Speaking after the meeting, Into general secretary John Carr said the key objective of calling the work stoppage was to get the government to re-engage with the trade unions on a social partnership basis.
Into had sought a mandate for industrial action as "leverage to secure a re-engagement with Government" and had achieved this, Mr Carr said.
The Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI), which represents 14,500 teachers and lecturers at second and third level, has also deferred strike action.
TUI General Secretary Peter MacMenamin said:"We welcome the decision of Government to re-engage with the other social partners in talks on a new economic plan. We are formally withdrawing the strike notice but the other aspects of the industrial action remain in place.
"We support a fairer distribution of the effects of the economic difficulties in accordance with the Ictu's ten-point plan."
However, the taxi drivers branch of Siptu has brought its protest forward to Monday 30th. It had originally planned to hold it on Wednesday. The time of the protest remains 7am to 11am.
