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.

Fórsa has said a survey of school principals is “not nearly enough” to stop a ballot for industrial action by school secretaries going ahead in the autumn.

A one-year pilot of the new ‘School Inclusion Model’ scheme, which is taking place in 75 schools in Dublin and surrounding counties from September, has the potential to improve job security for SNAs, following assurances won by Fórsa.

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

The Government has been given an ‘F’ grade for its record on child and family homelessness, which the Children’s Rights Alliance says has a “devastating” impact on children.

An explainer on ‘auto-enrolement,’ setting out the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) stance on changes to the Government’s current plans, and written by ICTU’s social policy officer Laura Bambrick, has been published in the latest edition of the Fórsa magazine.

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