Tá sé ráite ag Fórsa go bhfuil sé thar a bheith buartha faoi thuairiscí faoi laghduithe móra ar sheirbhísí cúraim phríomhúil i réigiún an Iarthair de chuid HSE. D'ardaigh oifigeach an Fórsa, Pádraig Mulligan, an imní a bhí air maidir le go leor postanna cúraim phríomhúil gan líonadh le ceann seirbhísí cúraim phríomhúil HSE san Iarthar: Fórsa raises concerns over cuts to primary care in West

Nurses and midwives will be paid if compelled to stay away from work and self-isolate as a precaution due to coronavirus. The INMO told members on Monday evening that health service management had agreed that such absences would be considered to constitute special leave with pay.  

Meanwhile, ICTU has called on employers to take account of HSE advice when introducing measures to stop the spread of infection, saying that firms should communicate with staff on actions that might be taken in their workplace to protect workers from Covid-19 while also ensuring that employees' incomes are protected. 

The Journal has published this handy list of entitlements for workers if they are affected by he virus. 

More good news. A "pandemic" of air pollution shortens lives worldwide by nearly three years on average, and causes 8.8 million premature deaths annually, according to a new international study by leading scientists. Eliminating the toxic cocktail of molecules and lung-clogging particles cast off by burning oil, gas and coal would restore a full year of life expectancy, according to the report.

The Green Party has insisted that providing for added public transport should take priority over the delivery of major new motorways including the M20 between Cork and Limerick, in their talks with Fine Gael yesterday.

The Indo reports that Nama has paid off the last of the debt it took on a decade ago to fund its share of the bank bailout and cleared the way to begin handing cash back to taxpayers this year.  

A new report by ICTU indicates that CEOs in Ireland’s largest companies are earning up to 212 times as much as the average workers within their organisations.

President Michael D. Higgins has warned that the capacity of universities to provide a “moral space” for discussion is being eroded at a time of growing political populism. Mr Higgins, who was opening a celebration of Trinity College Dublin’s College Historical Debating Society, said “universities are not there merely to produce students who are useful”. Read more about that here.

And finally, North Presentation Primary School in Cork is going the extra mile for students, providing cooking and laundry facilities to the families of pupils who are homeless. The school has had children from up to 12 homeless families attend their school. Read more about that here.

Our zen this morning is a song from my most favourite Stereophonics album, Just Enough Education To Perform. Some table quiz worthy trivia for you, Stereophonics were forced to change the title of this album, originally titled JEEP, after car manufacturer Daimler Chrysler objected to their use of the copyrighted word 'Jeep'. The UK title became 'Just Enough Education To Perform.'