Fórsa has insisted that essential health staff who have attended work throughout the Covid-19 crisis should get the same health and safety protections as public servants returning to workplaces after periods of remote-working.

Fórsa’s head of health, Éamonn Donnelly, has said there will be a continued need for temporary staff redeployments into hospital and community health settings, which are set to resume normal health service delivery over the coming weeks.

Fórsa has published new advice for workers who will be working remotely in the medium or long-term.

Increasing number of workers could struggle with childcare problems in the coming weeks as employees migrate back to workplaces after working remotely.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan has welcomed a proposed European Commission post-Covid recovery plan, worth €750 billion, which would bring the total EU budget to €1.85 trillion over the next seven years.