IBEC: Deliver clear deal and full government, ASAP

IBEC CEO Danny McCoy lent his name to a joint statment urging the formation of a new government

A group of Ireland's leading business groups has called on the government to accelerate its efforts to form a stable government

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It’s now almost seven weeks since the 2016 General Election and still no sign of the formation of a stable government. While industry, the media and most of all the public tap their feet and wait for the major parties to settle their differences and move forward, Ireland’s leading business groups, representing a majority of the country’s employers, have called on the politicians to deliver a clear, comprehensive agreement that will ensure the next administration is capable of serving a full term.

In a statement signed by the heads of several groups and associations (see below), the group said that the incoming government needs to keep its focus on the significant challenges Ireland is facing. “The next government needs to have the mandate, authority and capacity to plan ambitiously and take difficult decisions, if needed,” the statement said. “The country would not be served well by a government preoccupied by the possibility of an imminent General Election.”

“Any poltical agreement must first and foremost serve the interests of the country as a whole,” they said. “Over the coming days, all parties and TDs must play their part in supporting the creation of a stable environment for policy making and legislation that will last a full Dail term.”

At the time of writing, the wheels are coming off negotiations as Independent TDs, on whom the major parties will rely in order to form a majority, exercise their new-found influence with various demands on a wide range of issues.

“The Irish economy is moving in the right direction,” the group’s statement said, “but domestic pressures, global economic uncertainty and a possible vote by the UK to leave the EU means we cannot take the recovery for granted.”

The full list of signatories:

Patricia Callan, director, Small Firms Association
Mark Fielding, CEO, ISME
Danny McCoy, CEO, Ibec
Simon McKeever, chief executive, Irish Exporters Association
Tom Parlon, director general, Construction Industry Federation
Ian Talbot, chief executive, Chambers Ireland

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