Good morning colleagues,

Coverage of Fórsa's appearance at the Oireachtas Transport Committee on Wednesday continues, as the Sligo Independent reports that "Search and Rescue (SAR) air crew in Sligo face “unfair and unsafe” working-time practices next year, unless Government intervenes to end the long-standing use of factoring in the Coast Guard helicopter service."

Elsewhere, political support for school secretaries and caretakers continues to roll in ahead of the Labour Court hearing in January, while our colleague Andy Pike is quoted in RTÉ's coverage of calls for the Government's Leave of Absence following Assault Scheme to be extended.

In the Irish Times, Emmet Malone looks at the legal industry, where the proportion of women among the workforces continues to grow, in line with the wider profession, but recently filed gender pay gap reports "suggest the rate at which they are being integrated into the companies’ higher echelons remains slow."

Finally, the Department of Further and Higher Education has announced €39 million in devolved capital funding to be disbursed across the 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs). 

Your Zen this morning is from Dublin band The Jimmy Cake. Their album, Dublin Gone, Everybody Dead, was released in 2002, and remains a stone cold classic. Meet Ricky Sound.

Have a lovely weekend.

NS