Irish Congress of Trade Unions General Secretary David Begg has said today that "a new model" of social investment was needed to combat the dramatic inequality that has resulted from the "demand of the markets" that working people bear the brunt of the ongoing crisis.
Addressing the Congress Women's Seminar in Belfast – his last public engagement as General Secretary – Mr Begg said: "Inequality has worsened since the crash and our politics have been torn between the competing expectations of markets and citizens. Markets demand higher profits and bonuses for the rich while requiring lower wages, precarious work and minimal security for all others.
"In Ireland, we see mouth-watering levels of pay for a minority at the top while half of all wage-earners take home less than €28,500 a year," Mr Begg said.
"We need a new model of social investment to defeat and mitigate social risk, across Europe in order to equip welfare states to respond adequately to modern kinds of social risk. This requires an adequate tax base but debt servicing is now a huge drag on tax revenue.
'the feminisation of the labour market now requires different kinds of risks to be taken on board. Family formation is different. Caring needs are different. These have to be provided for if people – male and female – are to be able to participate in the labour market and achieve their full potential.
"In a nutshell it is about turning vicious circles of poverty and unemployment into virtuous circles of a strong economy, good public services, high taxes and full employment."
Referring to International Women's Day on March 8, Mr Begg said:
'that is what I always wanted – for women to be equal in a way that gives every person the opportunity to be fulfilled, to have children and yet have the freedom to obtain your own dreams, whatever they might be."
Mr Begg said the Irish recovery was still fragile and that "a new grand bargain" was required for Europe:
"Austerity combined with reform was never a good choice to offer Europe. Growth has to be part of the deal. A new grand bargain is needed in which the European economy is stimulated, both by fiscal and monetary means. For the bargain to work everybody has to see that they benefit. A strong commitment to arresting the rise in inequality through social investment is a necessary first step in constructing the new grand bargain. This is the only way the European integration project, the most ambitious political experiment in history, can be saved," Mr Begg concluded.
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