The Summer/Autumn edition includes details of the Lansdowne Road Agreement, along with features on the School Completion Programmes, the ethical workplace, the gender equality gap and IMPACT’s report on JobBridge. Plus news, sport, music, books, food, gardens and competitions.

The agreement means that an out of hours service which was piloted in Cork will now be rolled out to all parts of the country, and includes 24/7 telephone support and advice on cases out of hours. On call social workers will now be able to respond directly to urgent cases requiring intervention and the service includes fostering and the Gardaí as well as TUSLA social workers. Participation is voluntary and Tusla is now seeking volunteers.

IMPACT national secretary Andy Pike welcomed the development of the new service, but said that all elements of the new operation would need to be kept under review. “This new service is a very positive development for Tusla, and we were happy to be able to reach an agreement that can improve and expand the service to children and families at risk. Unfortunately, there is a continuing and widespread concern about adequate resources as the agency is still short of staff” he said.

The service will be structured around eight contact points nationwide, with a minimum core group of 12 on-call social work staff at each contact point. Each core group will be made up of staff with a minimum of five years post-qualification experience in the field, working a maximum of one on-call shift per week, on a three weeks-on and one week-off rotation.

Tusla chief executive Gordon Jeyes told the Oireachtas Committee on Health & Children last week that a shortage of social workers at Tusla is delaying about 5,000 cases. A new report suggests that 44% of social workers have reported an unmanageable caseload burden, and that some children were waiting years to be allocated a social worker. The National Review of Cases Awaiting Allocation reports that six out of 17 Tusla child protection area managers have said they are not satisfied that all children at highest risk in their areas can be kept safe.

Andy added that a number of operational issues around the EOHS are still under discussion and will be resolved by September when the service is due to commence.

The legislation will allow trade unions to represent members at the Labour Court where employers refuse to recognise unions, and secure legally binding benefits for workers, in addition to robust anti-victimisation protections.

IMPACT, which was the main union involved in the Supreme Court decision on Ryanair in 2007, said the legislation removed a significant obstacle to advancing the pay and conditions of all workers.

The legislation also defines what constitutes “collective bargaining” and offers guidelines to help the Labour Court identify if internal bargaining bodies are genuinely independent of their employer.

IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody said “This legislation is vitally important to every worker in the country. Collective bargaining rights will mean that unions and worker representatives will be able to secure benefits in companies where employers refuse to pay the going rate. The legislation also gives new and stronger statutory protection against the victimisation of workers in such companies.

“Trade unions have sought the introduction of collective bargaining rights for over a century. As the economic recovery continues and more people return to employment, it’s important that the right to collective bargaining is in place, and that employees who seek improvements in pay and conditions cannot be victimised for doing so” he said.

The proposals contained in the Congress submission are designed to protect the most vulnerable communities and individuals, while at the same time supporting jobs and growth.

Congress has proposed €2.15 billion in public spending (€1.43 billion) and tax (€720 million) measures aimed at supporting economic recovery and restoring living standards for many vulnerable groups, including low and middle income workers. It has also proposed to raise a minimum of €650 million from various reforms to taxation, bringing the proposed fiscal adjustment in net terms to €1.5 billion, consistent with the ‘fiscal space’ for Budget 2016 outlined in the Spring Economic Statement.

The Congress submission proposes a range of measures including:

• Funding for subsidised childcare
• Equality-proofed reforms to the Universal Social Charge (USC)
• The reversal of several spending cuts, including those affecting young people, pensioners and lone parents
• Increases in welfare rates within the specified spending parameters
• The introduction of a net wealth tax
• The borrowing of €1 billion for ‘off-the-books’ investment in capital projects
• The exclusion of capital spending from the rules governing the Stability & Growth Pact. Congress said the EU fiscal rules are “too restrictive, opaque and based on a flawed methodology.”

Congress highlights the fact that the current economic recovery, still in its very early stages, comes with “key public services stretched, state sponsored family supports diminished and core welfare rates cut.” It says that deprivation levels have skyrocketed since the beginning of the crisis while over 200,000 people remain in unemployment. The submission states that “The economic recovery must be an inclusive one that benefits everyone in society.”

National Economic Dialogue

The pre-budget submission formed the basis of ICTU’s contribution last week to the two-day National Economic Dialogue which took place at Dublin Castle. Established as “an open and inclusive exchange on the competing economic and social priorities facing the Government” in preparation for Budget 2016, the talks included representatives of community, voluntary and environmental groups as well as opposition parties, business, research institutes, the academic community, the diaspora and trade unions.

In his report to the Government, the chairman of the National Economic Dialogue, Professor Alan Barrett, said that few if any delegates at the talks supported the Government argument that reductions in income tax would support economic growth and that many participants were “less inclined” to agree with the Government’s proposed 50/50 split between spending and tax cuts. He also said that no delegates had argued for the €1.2 billion to €1.5 billion target to be exceeded in the budget.

You can download the ICTU pre-budget submission HERE

Peter expressed the growing concern among IMPACT members, who are working in both Dublin City Council and in voluntary homeless services, that the funding allocation for homeless services will be insufficient to meet the demand for services through to the end of 2015. Reports indicate a significant shortfall in funding as the total estimated cost for services for the year is €68m. The funding allocation for 2015 is just €37.1m.

“The growing concern among our members that are delivering these services is that the necessary funds will run out just as we enter the critical winter period” he said.

Peter added that the numbers becoming homeless since the start of the year have continued to grow, and there is a particularly worrying growth in the number of children and families who are becoming homeless each month. “It is largely due to this unprecedented surge in family homelessness that such a shortfall has emerged” he said.

Read the full letter HERE.

Market intervention needed

IMPACT has said that Government intervention in a ‘chaotic’ private rental market is one of a number of necessary measures needed to address the current homelessness crisis.

Speaking at the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s biennial conference in Ennis, County Clare, in early July, IMPACT organiser Joe O’Connor said that a range of solutions are necessary to address the current housing shortage.

The union’s motion to conference, which was unanimously supported by delegates, calls for a coordinated plan to ensure housing provision, an end to homelessness and adequate security of tenure, including the regulation of rents through an indexation system similar to systems in use in other EU countries.

Joe explained that the indexation approach links any rent increases to the consumer price index (CPI).

“These operate successfully in many countries such as Denmark, Belgium and Switzerland, which in different ways offer a degree of contractual certainty and security of tenure which hard-pressed Irish tenants desperately need to prevent many more becoming homeless.

“In Germany, the ‘Mietspiegel’ rent index policy controls rent increases at 15% over 3 years, which in practice led to increases of less than 5% between 2000 and 2012, at the same time as unregulated prices in France doubled during this period,” he said.

Joe said that this type of approach could guarantee landlord’s market rents at the beginning of a new tenancy, and prevent them from exploiting market conditions through proper regulation. He added, “Any suggestion that we’re powerless to intervene in the rental market to protect the most vulnerable in our society is defeatist and unacceptable. Every week we defer decisive action pushes more and more families into homelessness.”  

IMPACT members in University Hospital Galway (UHG) have voted in favour of industrial action in response to management plans to move physiotherapists and social workers out of their specialist facilities to expand the hospital's A&E department.

IMPACT assistant general secretary Padraig Mulligan has said that hospital management is running the risk of creating another crisis by trying to impose a short-term solution to the shortage of emergency department space. Padraig said the proposed measures will directly affect the number of patients being discharged home.

In a ballot of members at the hospital which concluded on Monday (20^th July), 94% voted in favour of the action. A meeting of members to discuss next steps will take place tomorrow (Wednesday 22^nd July).

Under management proposals, which staff at the hospital first heard about through the media, physiotherapists would be moved from a purpose-built clinic and into a smaller work space currently used by social workers. The social work department has been asked to move into a temporary prefab.

Padraig said that in attempting to address a problem of capacity at the hospital, management risked breaching one set of HIQA standards in order to meet the requirements of another set of HIQA standards. “These are state of the art facilities where physiotherapists and social workers have been able to deliver a first class service in appropriate facilities. It makes no sense to displace these services.

“The problem is one of capacity in the emergency department, and attempts to address that problem have been very poorly handled by management so far. The ballot result reflects the concern of our members, and their determination to protect the services they deliver” he said.

The main findings of the poll include:

• 69% agree that the Government should prioritise investing in public services rather than spending money to cut income taxes
• 86% agree that the Minimum Wage, currently fixed at €8.65, should be increased
• 77% agree that the Minimum Wage should be the same as a Living Wage
• 86% agree that the Government should do more to prevent the use of low-hour contracts

The results of the TASC poll shows strong public support for investing in health services, education, public transport and housing.  These services have all suffered significantly since the start of the recession but, with the economy growing again, many want these areas to be prioritised. 

Low pay

TASC policy analyst Cormac Staunton said, “Ireland has the third highest level of low pay in the OECD with incidences rising steadily and more quickly than our counterparts.  This is not related to the economic collapse as the number of workers experiencing low pay has been increasing since 2003.” 

Mr Staunton said that survey results show that people want wage inequality addressed by increasing the minimum wage to the same rate as the living wage and by tackling the growth of low hour contracts.  The minimum wage has not changed since July 2007, except for a reduction to €7.65 for five months in 2011.

This week, the Government appointed Low Pay Commission has recommended an increase in the minimum wage to €9.15, an increase of 50 cent in the hourly rate which employer and business groups are opposing.

The full survey results are available HERE.

The Retired Workers’ Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called for the complete abolition of the Universal Social Charge and the repeal of FEMPI legislation in its pre-budget submission.

The committee’s submission states that the decline in pensioners’ disposable income must be reversed, and calls for the full restoration of the Christmas bonus to the state pension, the restoration of the household benefits package, an increase in the living alone allowance and the abolition of prescription charges. It also calls for the full restoration of medical cards for those over the age of 70 and for all persons with urgent medical needs.

The submission also calls for public transport to remain in public hands, and for no further closures of Garda stations or post offices.

You can read the full submission HERE.