Talks on a new national agreement would begin with "urgent engagement" on steps to combat exploitation of workers, the Government promised last night.
The Government has acknowledged that unions will require that issues such as enforcement of employment standards should be addressed before parties negotiate on pay.
Government officials yesterday began circulating a proposed structure for the talks, which are expected to begin early next month, to the social partners.
Unions have delayed participation in talks on a successor to Sustaining Progress because of concerns over a "race to the bottom" in employment standards.
In a letter to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions yesterday, Department of the Taoiseach secretary general Dermot McCarthy said a "multi-stranded" approach to talks was being proposed.
As on previous occasions, the talks would begin with a plenary meeting between the Government and the four "pillars" of social partnership - employers, unions, farm bodies and the community and voluntary sector.
Thereafter, negotiations would start on the different strands of a new agreement, he said.
"In respect of pay and workplace matters, it is proposed that the process of negotiation will reflect the NIB [National Implementation Body] statement of December 4th, which recognised the need for urgent engagement on employment standards, displacement, inspection and enforcement, the protection of vulnerable workers from overseas, and related issues raised by Congress [ Ictu].
"This will therefore constitute the first strand of these negotiations," Mr McCarthy said.
"We note and accept that it is the Congress position that significant progress will be made in this first strand regarding employment standards before any substantial engagement takes place around core pay issues."
It is not being proposed, however, that all other issues be put to one side while unions, employers and the Government negotiate on employment standards. Rather, it is envisaged that talks with the four pillars on the other strands "would commence simultaneously with the employment-related strand", Mr McCarthy said.
He added the Government hoped to see negotiations concluded within four to six weeks of their starting date.
The proposals will be considered today by the national executive of Siptu, which must reconvene a special delegate conference before taking a formal decision on whether to support Ictu's participation in talks.The Siptu conference is likely to be called for the end of January, possibly paving the way for negotiations on a new agreement to begin in the first week of February.
