The number of public servants who receive family income supplement (FIS) has increased by 32% since 2008, up from 2,720 to 3,595 in 2013. The figures, revealed in an answer to a recent Dáil question, also show that 300 more FIS applications from public servants are awaiting a decision.

IMPACT has rejected claims that the local authority driver licence service was characterised by long delays. The claim was made by a Road Safety Authority (RSA) spokesperson in a radio interview, in which he tried to deflect criticism from the RSA after it took over the service this week.

Europe is sinking into a protracted period of deepening poverty, mass unemployment, social exclusion, inequality and collective despair, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The general secretary of Britain’s Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called for Europe to be run for citizens and workers, not bankers and bond markets. Speaking at the Dublin-based Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) last week, Frances O’Grady said the European social model must be reshaped for a new age and a new Europe.