The Government is stepping up plans to keep business costs low as it aims to maintain jobs across the economy amid the uncertainty caused by US trade tariffs.
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers confirmed that increases in the minimum wage may be brought in over a longer period because of the need to make them sustainable for businesses.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week, Mr Chambers said the deadline for the auto-enrolment of workers into pension schemes is also likely to be pushed back beyond the current September date.
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He added that Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary is looking at the issue and he expects “it’ll be a short deferment”.
The minister also warned that “we are at a point of enormous damage not just to the Irish economy but to the EU economy” if tariffs are raised.
However, People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger called on trade unions to make themselves relevant again and protect workers’ rights.
The Dublin West TD warned that workers and the disabled were among the hardest hit during the last period of austerity and there cannot be a repeat of this.
Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane said there are fears among workers that commitments to them are now being rowed back on.
Speaking on The Week in Politics, he also called for assurances that public investment in housing, infrastructure and green energy would be safeguarded.
Yesterday, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke said he plans to bring a memo to Cabinet next week setting out the Government’s competitive action plan.
Mr Burke said he will also be highlighting “15 clear wins” or measures that the Government can take in the short term.
He said this will send a “really strong signal to business” that Ireland is going to retain the most competitive economy in Europe.
The minister said he hoped the competitive action plan could be published before the summer.
“We’ve established a unit in Enterprise Ireland now working with all our exporters. We’ve had 300 meetings in the last week trying to ensure that they’re getting support through market diversification, also enhancing productivity,” Mr Burke said.
He added: “We’re trying to ensure that if you’re exporting to the US, a lot of product is high quality, it’s a premium product so we’re trying to hive out more innovation and efficiency so they can retain the most of that market, even under a 10% tariff.”
