Employers have called for "as many Government services as possible" to be outsourced to the private sector as part of a new national partnership agreement.
In talks with the other social partners, IBEC has also called for the transport and energy markets to be liberalised as a priority action in dealing with inflation.
The calls have been rejected by union leaders, who want a clear statement from the Government on its privatisation plans in advance of agreement being reached on a successor to the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness.
In a position paper submitted to the Government and unions on behalf of the business sector, IBEC said action was urgently required to promote greater competition in a number of sheltered sectors in the economy, "particularly areas where (the) Government dominates economic activity".
As part of a ten-point plan to tackle inflation, it said as many Government services as possible should be outsourced to the private sector, while major infrastructural projects should be "fast-tracked" through greater use of public-private partnerships (PPPs).
Speaking at the TEEU conference in Galway, Mr David Begg of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said the market failures in Britain involving privatised companies were there for all to see.
Unions would require the Government to make its plans for public utilities and PPPs clear from the outset of any new partnership deal. "One thing we can't buy into, it seems to me, is that we are drip-fed a whole series of privatisations about which we know nothing at the time we enter the agreement." "The Government must be able to say at this point in time what its position is about its involvement in the running of economic affairs." In a related development, conference delegates voted to take industrial action if the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, attempts to split up the State's three main airports, Dublin, Shannon and Cork.
Mr Brennan is planning to remove control of Cork and Shannon airports from the State-owned Aer Rianta, and is expected to seek Government approval for the move before Christmas.
Mr Arthur Hall, the TEEU's eastern regional secretary, said it made "absolutely no sense" to break up a profitable company that was "a jewel in the semi-State crown". He claimed preservation of the present structures, with Dublin "providing support for the other two airports", was vital to them maintaining a full service in the regions.
The union is to begin balloting workers immediately, and similar action is expected from other Aer Rianta unions.
