Chris Flood
Question:29 Mr. Flood asked the Minister for Finance the likely impact a move towards European Monetary Union will have on any successor to the Programme for Competitiveness and Work. [16755/96]
Written Answers. - New National Agreement.
A key characteristic of the agreements between Government and the social partners over the past ten years has been an awareness of the impact of developments in Ireland's external environment on our international competitiveness. The successes we have achieved, most strikingly under the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, have been firmly based on a realistic assessment of how to exploit the opportunities and meet the challenges of a rapidly changing global economy.
The partnership structures we have successfully developed have clearly demonstrated their capacity over time to adapt to the changing circumstances of the competitive international environment which we face. Indeed, this has been the key to the resilience of the agreements over the past decade and must remain a feature of a successor agreement to the Programme for Competitiveness and Work.
The move towards European Monetary Union reinforces the need for the type of sound fiscal policies now being pursued and this will be a significant consideration in the negotiation of a new national programme to succeed the Programme for Competitiveness and Work.