Sinn Féin spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, Louise O’Reilly TD, said strengthening the hand of workers through legislating for collective bargaining “can help tackle the current wave of profit driven inflation”.

Speaking this morning, Teachta O’Reilly said:

“The current bout of inflation differs from previous inflationary periods in that it is driven by runaway profits more than wages. This has been reinforced by several domestic and international experts.

“Earlier this year the European Central Bank (ECB) highlighted that corporate profiteering was contributing more to inflation than wages, and last week the Central Bank of Ireland outlined that profits have contributed more to domestic inflation than wages.

“Indeed, earlier this week the International Monetary Fund reported that rising corporate profits accounted for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation over the past two years, as companies increased prices by more than costs.

“Despite this evidence the government has continuously cautioned against wage increases fuelling inflation, and this mantra has been repeated ad nauseam by policymakers and Government ministers.

“However, according to a Parliamentary Question reply I received from the Minister for Enterprise, this position appears to have changed and the government now seem to appreciate the need to restrain profits to tackle inflation.

“The best way to ensure the corporate profiteering, which is the most significant contributor to the current bout of inflation, is restrained, is for the hand of workers to be strengthened through legislating for collective bargaining.

“If the government legislates for collective bargaining it will allow workers the ability to negotiate for better pay and conditions and thereby restrain runaway profits.

“I welcome the governments conversion on this matter, and I look forward to engaging with them further.”

ENDS

Note to editor:

You can view the PQ response on Inflation and Profit Restraint in full here.