Kevin Callinan became Fórsa’s Senior General Secretary last week as former leader Shay Cody retired from the post. He will be supported in the role by the existing General Secretary Eoin Ronayne and a deputy general secretary, who will be ratified by the union’s National Executive Committee (NEC) this week following a competition.

A referendum, which would “focus on retaining the entity charged with the provision of public water in public ownership,” could take place in the first half of next year, according to the local government minister.

Fórsa will return to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for talks to finalise the replacement of the common recruitment pool with an agreement on confined promotion competitions for local authority grades IV to VII. The draft agreement was reached with the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), which represents council employers, back in May.

Women in Ireland spend twice as much time as men carrying out unpaid care work according to new research.

Fórsa is to write to the Labour Court seeking to reopen a claim for an independent job evaluation scheme in the local government sector.

A planned ‘excessive water charge,’ which on current water-use trends would be levied on just 7% of households, would be used to fund investment in water conservation measures, according to local government minister Eoin Murphy.

The Low Pay Commission (LPC) has recommended that the national minimum wage should increase to €10.10, a rise of 30 cent.