asked the Taoiseach if he will state whether pay policy forms part of the discussions which the Government and ICTU are having on a programme for national recovery and whether an agreement has been reached between the Government and ICTU on this issue.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - National Recovery Programme.
7.
In the Government-ICTU discussions on 15 and 29 April, it was agreed that policy on pay and other incomes would be one of the issues to be discussed in the talks being initiated with a view to preparing a national programme for growth and economic recovery. On the Government side, we stated that the principles we would be putting forward in the discussions were that — and I quote —"an income strategy will be necessary to ensure that the average rate of cost increases in Ireland will not exceed the weighted average of cost increases in our main trading partners and that since pay accounts for one-third of current Exchequer expenditure, public service pay must be restrained over the period of the programme in order to contribute to reduction of the national debt-GNP ratio." ICTU will be putting forward their preliminary views on pay and incomes policy at the next Government-ICTU meeting. The question of an agreement on this or any other issue has not yet arisen at this very early stage of these discussions.
I would like to emphasise that the proposed programme is a comprehensive one covering macro-economic policies, employment and development measures, taxation reform and social policies. As I stated earlier in my reply to Question No. 3, joint working parties are being established to prepare comprehensive proposals which will be submitted periodically to the Ministerial-ICTU group for consideration. Similar arrangements are being made involving the other social partners.
Will the Taoiseach agree that it would be helpful at this stage if the Government would publish an authoritative statement of their pay policy for both the public and private sectors because at present when we endeavour to get information on this we are referred to the pay policy of the previous Government, as glossed by the Minister for Finance in his Budget Statement? Will the Taoiseach agree it is a less than satisfactory situation in that we have to piece these things together? Could we ask for a clear and authoritative statement of where the Government stand on this issue?
I do not think there is any need for any further statements on that matter.