Ministers deny a return to social partnership
Trade unions and interest groups will have ministers’ ears at National Economic Dialogue as government agrees on ‘giveaway budget’ spend
Whatever you call it, don’t call it social partnership.
Parts of the coalition – especially around the Taoiseach’s office and Richard Bruton’s Department of Jobs – are allergic to the suggestion that they are resuscitating the old social partnership arrangements that they believe contributed to the crash in the public finances which followed the banking collapse.
The government led by Brian Cowen, they point out, was still paying public sector pay increases when ...
