Tánaiste Launches Tesco Save As You Earn Scheme

Mary Harney, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment today (Monday 3^rd April 2000) launched Tesco Ireland's new Save-As-You-Earn Scheme (SAYE).

Launching the scheme the Tánaiste said that "Today's announcement is a serious step in the right direction by private industry. It is very important that everybody has the chance to share in prosperity and save-as-you-earn is an ideal mechanism for enabling employees to participate in the success of the companies for which they work. It helps to foster a spirit of partnership in the workplace and helps us to move further away from the confrontational models of industrial relations which prevailed in the past.

The Tesco scheme is the biggest of its kind ever launched in Ireland: with some 6,500 staff members standing to benefit from it.

People are the most valuable resource available to any company. At a time of economic boom it can be very difficult for companies to recruit and retain the kind of high-quality staff which they need. Good wages and good conditions are important. In future, however, companies will have to do more: they will have to give their staff the opportunity to participate, the opportunity to share in success, if they want to hold on to good people", continued the Tánaiste.

"I would hope that schemes of this kind will become the norm throughout this country over the next few years."

"The recently approved national partnership agreement provides for significant increases in take-home pay over the next three years. A combination of wage increases and tax reductions will produce increases in take-home pay of the order of 25% for the average worker over the lifetime of the agreement. Wage increases are pitched at a level that will help to sustain economic growth and prevent inflation from reducing real living standards," the Tánaiste said.

"Employee participation schemes such as save-as-you-earn enable workers to secure extra benefits above and beyond the terms of the partnership deal. I would encourage other companies to follow the example of Tesco: get together with your staff and see what you can achieve through partnership in the workplace", she added.

"Considerable progress has been made in recent years in promoting partnership at enterprise level. Progress has been uneven, however, and much work remains to be done if we are to promote the concept of partnership right across the economy. Under the new national agreement IBEC and ICTU will work together to develop guidelines to assist companies in embarking and successfully putting in place partnership arrangements. The Government will do all that it can to support their efforts", concluded the Tánaiste.