The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath has said he hopes further engagement between his officials and public service unions will lead to a pay agreement by the end of this month.

Fórsa has said its members in cabin crew, pilot and administrative roles working at Aer Lingus are currently working through one of the toughest summer seasons in decades. The airline has had to cancel numerous flights to and from Dublin Airport in recent weeks as a spike of Covid-19 infections among crews continued to affect its operations.

Fórsa has broadly welcomed a new national strategy on domestic, gender and sexual based violence as a step in the right direction. The union has also called on the Government to introduce statutory paid leave for victims of domestic violence.

The spread of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not expected to lead to net job losses. But it will mean that certain jobs will disappear, to be replaced with new employment opportunities over time. 

The Government must reverse three decades of failed policy that abandoned social housing to the market, according to an expert on housing policy.