Vol. 446 No. 4
102 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the proposals, if any, he has to reduce the cost of providing employment; the incentives he intends to introduce to encourage more employers to increase the number of their workforce; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1773/94]
Earlier this year in his budget speech, the Minister for Finance, reflecting the Government's commitment to stimulate employment, announced that from 6 April 1994 a reduced PRSI rate of 9 per cent would be levied on incomes up to £173 per week. Above £173 the normal rate of 12.2 per cent would apply on all income, subject to a weekly ceiling of £496. In addition, the Minister for Finance announced that, as part of the Government's concern to improve the position of low income earners, an exemption would be introduced from both the 1.25 per cent health levy and the 1 per cent employment and training levy for those in receipt of incomes not greater than £9,000 per year for the self-employed and £173 per week for employees. Moreover, in order to reduce employment costs for lower paid jobs, the Minister for Finance proposed the removal of the obligation on employers to pay these levies in respect of employees with medical cards. I am confident that the above measures will help job maintenance and creation by reducing the tax wedge in certain areas and easing pressure on payroll costs. These measures are also intended to reduce the employment costs of Irish enterprises against competition from overseas, particularly the UK, and in this context I am keeping this situation under continual review.
In addition to the above, a number of organisational and financing measures have recently been put in place which will help enterpreneurs to expand their businesses which should then lead to an increase in the number of their workforce. For example: the ICC loan subsidy scheme is making £100 million in subsidised loans available to small and medium sized enterprises since February 1994. Such types of facilities have long been requested by entrepreneurs and their representatives and, I am glad to say, are now available.
Since late last year a nationwide network of county enterprise boards has been established to provide funding and commercial assistance to new and expanding enterprises employing up to ten employees, and it is expected that this initiative will result in many more business start ups throughout the country, with consequent increased job opportunities. The creation earlier this year of a separate agency, Forbairt, to concentrate on the development of indigenous industry will, I am sure, make a valuable contribution to increasing the numbers in the workforce over time.
103 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the steps, if any, he has taken to implement the commitment in the Programme for Competitiveness and Work to encourage the adoption at local level of initiatives to promote employee involvement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2250/94]
I am anxious that the Programme for Competitiveness and Work's provisions in this regard operate and achieve tangible progress. Ways in which the issue might be progressed, consistent with our voluntarist tradition in industrial relations, have recently been the subject of discussions within the context of the Central Review Committee. Officials of my Department participated in these talks.
In my discussions with both employers and unions I am seeking to promote and encourage the idea that new forms of management-employee relations simply have to be part of the wider enterprise dynamic. It is my objective to bring all relevant groupings — shareholder, management and workforce — to develop new relationships, founded on open and clear lines of communication, involving appropriate information and consultation about the business on a partnership basis. I do not believe that this adjustment can be brought about by fiat or by the imposition of regulations, but by progressing in partnership.
