Fórsa, which represents thousands of workers in the community and voluntary sector, welcomed comments made by the health minister Stephen Donnelly on Wednesday, when he indicated his belief in the potential for a WRC process to address the substantial pay deficit issues in the sector.

Fórsa has called for the urgent introduction a Chief HSCP officer to the Department of Health in its latest submission to the Oireachtas Committee on autism policy and education.

Fórsa has hit out at the delay in providing a timeline for the rollout of the special pandemic recognition payment  to staff in section 39 agencies, the children’s agency Tusla and other areas.

Non-union employers could potentially face penalties for failing to negotiate with trade unions following the publication of the final report of the high-level working group on collective bargaining last week.

Fórsa has strongly condemned IBEC’s objection to the introduction of paid leave for workers who are victims of domestic violence, citing it as “distrustful and deeply insulting”.

Fórsa’s Global Solidarity Autumn School will take place on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th November in Nerney’s Court, Dublin.