Ibec’s global engagements commence
When Ibec embarked on our global outreach programme for March last year, the world looked very different. Since then, we have faced a myriad of spikes of serious uncertainty, to which our members have had to respond and adapt time and time again. The resilience of Ireland’s economy and our members' ability to absorb these shocks- and often thrive despite them- has been at the forefront of our messaging across our key global engagements in New York, Ottawa, and Washington DC this week, and at the UK-Ireland Summit in Cork yesterday.
Both this week and next in Brussels, Ibec is engaging and advocating on your behalf with global leaders, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council, António Costa and EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maroš Šefčovič. This follows our recent New York and Washington D.C. engagements, where we met with the US Trade Representative, US Department of Commerce and a number of business stakeholders as well as hosting a dinner for business leaders to hear from Ibec President Colin Hunt, and Irish Ambassador to the USA, Geraldine Byrne Nason, with former Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe now of the World Bank in attendance.
Through our participation in the UK-Ireland Summit, alongside our partners at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), we highlighted that the business community across the island is eager to see aligned policy support from both governments. Such alignment is essential to drive economic growth and widen the benefits of cross-border cooperation. Most importantly, we underscored that close cooperation between the UK and Ireland is vital to ensuring our economies remain resilient and capable of withstanding future shocks. For more details on the business priorities sent in advance to An Taoiseach Micheál Martin and the UK Prime Minister, you can view a letter co-written with CBI CEO Rain Newton-Smith.
Our engagements are taking place against the backdrop of the very concerning conflict in the Middle East and its knock-on implications for business here. We have called on the Irish Government to take urgent steps to mitigate an emerging energy affordability crisis. With the sharp return to volatility in global energy markets over the past week, Ibec believes the Government needs to widen the scope of the National Energy Affordability Taskforce (NEAT), accelerate its work, publish a definitive timeline for action, and develop a comprehensive toolbox of targeted measures to protect the economy from sustained price shocks. For more analysis, our Executive Director of Lobbying & Influence, Fergal O’Brien, spoke to Newstalk.
As I previously mentioned, we have been engaged both at an EU level and domestically regarding concerns over the preparedness of Irish businesses for the EU Directive on Pay Transparency, noting that a delay in transposition would allow for greater support to ensure full compliance. The directive is currently scheduled to be transposed into Irish law in June. I would encourage you to listen back to our Executive Director of Employer Relations, Maeve McElwee, who spoke to RTE’s Drivetime last week. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has also launched a new central database for Gender Pay Gap reporting, now open for voluntary submissions from employers with 50+ employees. All voluntary reports will be published in the coming months, increasing transparency and supporting progress toward closing gender pay gaps. Organisations are encouraged to show leadership by registering and submitting their reports; guidance and helpdesk support are available here.
Next week, we will provide an update from our Brussels engagements.
Regards,
Danny McCoy
CEO
