The ICTU today has published a paper entitled, 'Challenging Myths and Improving Working Conditions in a Strong Economy', which seeks to infuse some perspective and balance in the debate about the cost of doing business in Ireland today.
Commenting on the report, Owen Reidy General Secretary of Congress stated,
We have heard the cries from a variety of business groups in the first few months of this year regarding the costs of doing business in Ireland, the argument that jobs will be lost and just how hard some employers have it. Much of this narrative has gone unchallenged by some of the media. Our paper today seeks to deal with the facts, not the fiction, the data not the anecdote around some of the recent welcome but modest labour market reforms.
Most of the reforms are merely bringing us into line with our EU counterparts. Employers (correctly in some instances) have received additional supports from government due to Brexit, Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis. It seems some employers are not able to wean themselves off such supports.
We now have 2.71m people at work which is historic and excellent, but still for too many of these workers work does not pay. We hear some employers state that many of these modest reforms are coming at them all at once. Most if not all, were flagged in the Programme for Government and have been staggered over years. We hear some employers talk of a sharp rise in business failures but PWC stated that business failures in 2023 were 27 per 10,000 which is nearly half the average of the previous 20 years at 50 per 10,000 including the period of the global economic crash.
We therefore need this discussion based on reality and not fantasy. Employers in Ireland pay about half of what employers in the EU pay when it comes to taxes on labour. We need to ensure our economy and labour market work for workers and not just businesses.
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