Madam, - Please allow me to clear up some confusion arising from the headline in Tuesday's edition which read, "SIPTU to seek 4.5 per cent pay rise in talks", over a report on my speech at the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology the previous day.
I said that if the present obstacles to our resumption of negotiations can be overcome, there is space to conclude an agreement based on inflation and growth, with a minimum increase to improve the relative position of the lower paid.
Growth for this year, is projected at 3.7 per cent and at 4.5 per cent for 2005. Pay terms for the remainder of this year and all of next year must be dealt with.
Nowhere in my speech did I indicate that 4.5 per cent would be the figure likely to be sought by SIPTU if there is a return to talks on a new national pay deal. - Yours, etc.,
JACK O'CONNOR,
General President, SIPTU,
Liberty Hall,
Dublin 1.