andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for Finance whether his attention has been drawn to the statement in Paper No. 12 of the Economic Research Institute that, provided that wages abroad — and especially Ireland's main trading partners — are rising as rapidly in relation to real product, this automaticity of wage increases can do no particular harm, or at least cannot worsen the relative situation previously obtaining; and whether present Government policy in relation to wages and salaries makes full allowance for this automaticity.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Salary and Wage Increases.
8.
I do not feel called upon to comment on statements in non-official publications particularly where, as in the present instance, the statement is based not on facts but on the assumption that the wages/output ratio is changing at the same rate here and abroad. I can, however, assure the Deputies that all relevant factors, including the movements of incomes and productivity here and elsewhere, have been taken into account in formulating the Government's policy in relation to incomes. I would also draw the Deputies' attention to paragraph 104 of the Second Programme for Economic Expansion, the final sentence of which reads —
Because of the leeway we have to make up, the argument that a rise in money incomes must at least be matched by increases in productivity would still hold good even if inflationary wage increases were taking place in Europe.