They participated in national social partnership agreements, based on a national consensus that laid down the criteria for the definition and the solutions of social problems, moderation of wages.

Labour force trends

Trends in the labour force reflect demographic trends in the population, changes in women's labour force participation, educational levels of labour participation, retirement and, in the Irish case, migration.( Table 2.2 )

The numbers in the labour force grew slowly at an annual average of about 11,000 per year between 1981 and 1991, and very rapidly by almost 30,000 per year between 1991-96. In 1999- 2000 it grew at 35,000 to 38,000. These labour force trends can be attributed to four principal factors. First, there was strong growth in the adult population over the entire period. Second, however, growth in both the labour force and the adult population was reduced by net emigration. Third, there occurred increase in women's labour force participation. Historically, women's labour force participation in Ireland has been low. The female labour force participation rate was less than e.g. 28 % in 1971, and it remained under 30 % in 80´s. The growth in female labour force participation continued to be slow in the 80´s, but it increased dramatically to 35 % in 1991 and to almost 41 % in 1996. The Irish pattern of slow growth followed by rapid increase in female labour force participation rates has been attributed to the removal of discriminatory labour market practices and regulations in the 1970s, increased educational attainment, and rapid expansion in demand in the services sector and in part-time working. On the other side, men's participation in the labour force has been moving in the opposite direction: the participation rate fell from 81 % in 1971 to 76 % in 1981 and 72 % in 1991. Even with the changes in the labour market in the 90´s the declining trend continued to 71 % in 1996. These opposite trends in male and female labour force participation meant that the overall labour force participation rate remained almost unchanged in period of years 1980 – 1991 at around 53 %, although it slightly increased to 55.4 % of the population in 1996. Fourth, the educational level of Irish population influenced the labour market in this way: the total numbers engaged in education increased from 200,000 in 1981 to 283,000 in 1991 and to 340,000 in 1996( it makes 70 % over the period 1981 – 1996). Naturally, this led to reduction of young people in the labour force (the labour force participation rate for the 15-24 year age group fell from 61 % in 1981 to about 45 % in 1996), also it led to increased women’s labour force participation. Employment and unemployment

The numbers at work declined over the first half of the 1980s while the size of the labour force increased, experts say that it is due both to natural population growth and increasing labour force participation by women. Changes in employment combined with labour force growth resulted in an increase in the unemployment rate from 10% in 1981 to 18% in 1987.