Around 650 delegates, representing IMPACT members in workplaces across the country, will converge in Killarney, County Kerry next Wednesday for IMPACT’s 2016 delegate conference. The conference, which is the highest decision-making body in the union, will set the union’s policy and priorities for the next two years.

The conference will also elect a new union President and fill eight other officer positions on the IMPACT central executive.

IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody will update delegates on public service pay determination on Thursday morning before they debate 27 motions on pay. These include proposals from the union’s elected executive on pay restoration, future public service pay determination, and the extension of the ‘living wage.’

IMPACT has welcomed new Programme for Government’s commitment to honour the Lansdowne Road agreement and unwind the FEMPI legislation as the recovery strengthens over time. But the union has said it will want accelerated income recovery if better-than-expected growth and ‘fiscal space’ emerge in the coming months.

The conference will also decide whether to continue discussions on the creation of a new union involving IMPACT, the Civil Public and Service Union (CPSU) and the Public Service Executive Union (PSEU).

Delegates will also hear from ICTU general secretary Patricia King and SIPTU official Gerry McCormack, who will warn on the potential employment impact of a UK exit from the European Union.

Other issues down for debate include working hours, the regularisation of acting arrangements, childcare costs, housing and homelessness, the refugee crisis and Irish Water. And there will be calls for the union to support a repeal the eighth amendment to the constitution.