Newsletter - IMPACT members' e-bulletin - Friday 15th August 2014 Issue 25

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has said there will be negotiations next year on the start of public service pay and pension restoration. In an interview with the Irish Independent last Saturday (9^th August), Minister Howlin warned that the pay cuts of recent years would not be restored all at once. But he said he wanted talks with unions on the “unravelling” of pay cuts introduced under emergency legislation since 2009.

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Jobs growth brings safety risk
by Bernard Harbor

IMPACT has criticised the continuing fall in the number of health and safety inspections after the latest Health and Safety Authority’s (HSA) annual report revealed that 12,244 inspections took place last year. This compares to over 13,000 the year before and over 16,000 five years ago

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Burton and McVerry set for homelessness event
by Bernard Harbor

Tánaiste Joan Burton and homelessness campaigner Father Peter McVerry will be among the speakers at an IMPACT public event on Dublin’s homelessness crisis on Saturday 20^th September. The event, hosted by the union’s Boards and Voluntary Agencies' branch, will challenge policymakers and practitioners to outline practical measures to implement their commitments to tackle the capital’s homelessness crisis.

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Falling unemployment still among EU’s highest
by Bernard Harbor

Unemployment fell for the 25^th consecutive month in July with the live register down to 382,000 or 11.5%, compared to 13% in July 2013. Nearly 19% of those on the live register – almost 76,000 people – are in part-time or casual work, which shows that taxpayers continue to subsidise employers who pay too little or offer their staff inadequate working hours.

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Bill will shake up IR bodies
by Bernard Harbor

The Workplace Relations Bill, which was finally published at the end of last month, will give statutory force to Government plans to reform the state’s official industrial relations structures. The move, which has been largely welcomed by trade unions, will see just two bodies – a new Workplace Relations Commission and a strengthened Labour Court – replace five existing bodies.

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