Taoiseach advised to re-brand social partnership

Irish civil servants advised Prime Minister Enda Kenny after he assumed office in March 2011 that he should consider re-branding the country’s 20-year-old social partnership system as ‘social dialogue’, and examine what the most appropriate institutional arrangements would be to support Ireland’s ailing social partnership model. Kenny said the government valued social partners and recognised the contribution they could make as the country responds to challenges.

Background

Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Enda Kenny took office in March 2011 and was handed a set of briefing documents prepared by a special section of his department, the Social Partnership (IR and Workplace Change) Division. Similar briefing documents were prepared by civil servants across all government departments and were made available to the public and the media.

The documents advised the new Taoiseach to consider rebranding the social partnership system, characterised by national-level collective bargaining and national agreements.

Mr Kelly told the Dáil (parliament) in late March that his government:

values dialogue with the social partners, whether within the framework of a formal agreement or otherwise, and recognises the contribution that social dialogue can make to maximising common understanding across all sectors of society as we respond to the many challenges facing the country.

Claiming that Mr Kenny’s position represented a significant departure from the concept of social partnership ‘as we have known it in recent years’, the Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin asked Mr Kenny whether ‘we are going to evolve to a situation’ of social dialogue, and if this is the case, ‘then we need more transparency on this and a clear statement, from a policy perspective, of the new government in respect of social partnership’. (Social partnership is a process by which social policy issues can be agreed between the government and social partners.)

Mr Kenny agreed that social partnership arrangements had been key to stabilising industrial relations in Ireland, but said they had extended into a range of areas ‘which was probably never intended in the beginning’. In that sense, he said, ‘a one size fitting everything approach did not work as effectively as it should have’.

Value of shared objectives

The Taoiseach anticipated that an ongoing process of social dialogue would continue, saying:

While this process is not the concern solely of my department, I intend to meet with the social partners in due course to outline the government’s approach and to explore how their activities can enhance economic and social progress.

He said he believed any framework for engaging with social partners can evolve if they are seen to ‘provide value in achieving shared objectives which reflect the needs of the country at this time’.

Mr Kenny recalled that the National Implementation Body, which has been strongly associated with informal dispute resolution under successive social partnership agreements, played an important role over the years in maintaining industrial relations stability under the terms of successive national pay agreements.

The government ‘remains supportive of engaging with employer representatives and trade unions to ensure a positive environment for the conduct of industrial relations,’ Kenny said.

The Taoiseach said social partner representatives continue to participate in a large number of other governmental consultative bodies, particularly with the public service trade unions. These talks continue under the terms of the Croke Park Agreement, negotiated between the government and various public sector unions at Ireland’s premier sports stadium, which included a four-year pay freeze and commitments by the government not to implement compulsory redundancies and to maintain existing pension arrangements.

The Role of NESC

Speaking directly to members of the social partner-dominated National Economic and Social Council (NESC) on June 17, the Taoiseach confirmed that it has a role to play in helping resolve the current crisis. But he asked the NESC to produce ‘more frequent, shorter and more timely reports’.

Mr Kenny said it would also be helpful if the members, ‘who represent the organised interests in NESC’, could draw on their personal experience and insights and ‘go beyond their formally representative roles’. While it was desirable that the council develop a shared analysis of issues and problems, he said, it is ‘better to have reports which reflect some variety of views, rather than self-censorship which excludes consideration of difficult questions’.

Mr Kenny also told the NESC that while formal social partnership agreements may no longer be appropriate to the current circumstances, this does not mean the social partners as organised groups do not have a contribution to make:

Self-evidently, it is important that sectors, organisations and interests of such strategic importance in Irish life should have opportunities to engage in dialogue with the government and with each other.

The Taoiseach said the government knows it does not have all the answers, ‘any more than our officials and the public service has all the answers’, adding that this was why ‘social dialogue and civic engagement are important in helping to broaden and deepen understanding about what needs to be done’.

Brian Sheehan, IRN Publishing