Updated at 11:50
HIGH-EARNING LAWYERS and doctors are likely to be included in the government’s labour reform plans next month, according to a report in today’s Sunday Business Post (print edition).
The report says that efforts to combat restrictive practices by lawyers and doctors are part of the planned EU/IMF reforms and are now expected to be announced next month to coincide with the government’s overhaul of the Joint Labour Commitees’ wage agreements.
Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton’s proposals to cut Sunday and overtime payments for some 250,000 workers is still putting pressure on the coalition.
The Independent and the Sunday Times (subscription required) both report that Bruton’s plans remain under fire from Labour backbenchers, with some sources telling the Times that the proposals will not be passed by the cabinet.
Although Taoiseach Enda Kenny initially described Bruton’s wage reform plans as a “personal agenda”, he said on Friday’s Late Late Show that he and Bruton are “singing off the same hymn sheet”.
Speaking on today’s Marian Finucane Show on RTÉ, Minister Pat Rabbitte said Bruton would hold discussions with employers and trade unions “to inform his way forward” before bringing his plan before cabinet. However, he said “fairness demands that very high paid professionals” who are still taking enormous fees must be addressed:
The whole question of the sheltered private sector and the enormous fees that have been paid to professionals of various kinds over recent years in Ireland has always been something that government wanted to address. There have been attempts in the past, which haven’t been very successful.
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