Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan has called on the Government to open negotiations on a new public service pay agreement by May at the latest.

Pay scales for Fórsa members working in the civil service have been updated on the union’s website.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) will next week submit written evidence to an Oireachtas committee charged with scrutinising planned new laws that the Government claims would give all workers a right to request remote working arrangements.

Fórsa has welcomed new Government measures to ease the cost of living crisis, but says more needs to be done

Fórsa’s Civil Service Division has referred management proposals for recording the working time of legal professional and technical grades in the Chief State Solicitor’s Office to adjudication.

Fórsa has said new Garda Ombudsman powers set down in the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill are "excessive and disproportionate." The proposed legislation represents the widest ranging reform of policing in many years.

A number of executive officer (EO) positions have been announced in the Legal Aid Board following discussions with management on career progression for workers. 

Fórsa is pursuing a claim for annual leave parity for Legal Aid Board mediators, whose leave entitlements fall short of similar grades. While their pay is linked to the civil service engineer scale, their annual leave entitlement is not.

Fórsa is currently considering the recommendations contained in the Report of the Commission on Defence Forces, which was published last week.