The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), which represents Fórsa and other unions with a collective membership of over 20 million, has condemned the recent Russian attack on Ukraine in the strongest terms.

Fórsa is recommending acceptance of a package of measures that would see school secretaries transfer to the public service clerical officer pay scale, with 2022 pay increases of between 10.5% and 24.5%, depending on length of service.

Last Friday 500 SNAs became first group of students to successfully complete the certificate in Inclusive School Support. The course was developed by UCD for SNAs working in the Irish education system. This short video is part of the #RespectForSNAs campaign. We celebrate the 500 SNA graduates and highlight the failure of the Department of Education to properly recognise the high level of skill and training this qualification represents. Fórsa continues to campaign to ensure these high level training courses are properly accredited.

An extra pay point worth €1,100 is to be added to the top of the special needs assistant (SNA) pay scale after Fórsa members backed the deal in a ballot last month.

Recently-published legislation that claims to give workers a right to request remote working arrangement is “fatally flawed” and needs major amendments, according to Fórsa and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).

Social protection minister Heather Humphreys has indicated that final proposals for an auto-enrolment pension scheme will go before Government in the coming weeks.

Ireland spends 28% less on pensions and 12% less on family and child welfare when compared to high-income EU countries, according to a major new report on The Irish State Post-Pandemic, which was published by Fórsa last week.