Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan has said Ireland must learn the hard lessons of the Covid pandemic by radically expanding the role and capacity of the State. He was addressing delegates at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Biennial Delegate Conference in Belfast today (Tuesday).
Mr Callinan called for an urgent and fundamental rethinking of Ireland’s economic and social model and said doing so would bring Ireland into line with European investment and tax policy, in addition to boosting public service delivery to European standards.
He said the country will remain vulnerable to future global shocks without a decisive shift in economic strategy and public policy: “The time has come to reject failed pre-2020 models based on privatisation, short-term thinking, and chronic underinvestment in public services.
“These outdated approaches hollowed out the State’s ability to respond to the pandemic, and they continue to undermine our preparedness for the future,” he said.
Mr Callinan told delegates that the early phase of the pandemic revealed what a well-resourced State could achieve. He said the temporary expansion of services, rapid deployment of supports, and visibility of frontline workers proved that, when properly supported, the public sector delivers quickly, equitably, and at scale.
He added: “A bigger State means a better quality of life for everyone, but this cannot be achieved when profit is the bottom line. Whether we’re talking about workers providing services, or the communities that rely on those services, a focus on profit diminishes what can be achieved.
“We must discard short-term thinking and lack of ambition to focus on a decent social wage, and sustainable solutions to the mounting challenges that face us, including the possibility of another pandemic,” he said.
He also criticised successive governments for their failure to plan beyond the electoral cycle and noted that growing and long-standing challenges are “routinely met with piecemeal or delayed responses.” Notably, these include climate action, the housing crisis and growing technological disruption.
The conference motion calls for a significant expansion of public service provision and staffing, alongside a broader and fairer tax base. It specifically highlighted the need for sustained investment in childcare, elder care, education, and climate adaptation.
The motion also warns of the dangers of over-reliance on corporate tax receipts from a small number of foreign-owned multinationals, which currently account for over 85% of all corporate tax revenue. He said this dependency leaves the economy dangerously exposed to the shifting strategies of global capital.
The motion urged the Government to adopt a proactive and progressive economic strategy, centred on:
- Universal access to free healthcare, providing full and adequate support from childhood to old age
- The delivery of secure and affordable public housing to meet actual demand
- Fully publicly funded and accessible, high-quality education at all levels, including early childhood, primary, secondary, and higher education
- An ambitious programme to meaningfully address climate change
- Robust investment in public services on par with the most ambitious European social democracies
- The development of indigenous industries, particularly those focused on tackling climate change and other major societal challenges.
Mr Callinan added: “We know that our approach will deliver better outcomes, greater opportunities and stronger communities. What we also know is that, in many cases, what we are asking for will bring us into line with the rest of Europe in terms of investment and tax policy.
“Increased investment in care and education, a properly funded just transition, supporting indigenous growth are not only reasonable expectations – they are what is needed for people to thrive in the post pandemic state.
“Some plan for a wealthier tomorrow for themselves but the trade union movement has always, and will always, demand a better future for us all.”
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