IMPACT has described the ongoing shortage of social workers in the midlands region as critical, as concerns mount nationally about growing waiting lists of children and families requiring services.

Cregg House, which provides residential care and day/community care programmes to people with intellectual disabilities in Sligo, will see responsibility for its services transfer from the Daughters of Wisdom religious order to the HSE from October 1st.

IMPACT has sought the assistance of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) following a statement by the HSE that 22 beds in St. Brigid’s Hospital, Ballinasloe would be closed in the next two to four months. The HSE made the announcement to members of the Oireachtas in July.

Last Friday (August 2nd), as Hungary was in the grip of a near-40 degree heatwave, the mayor of the Hungarian town of Ózd issued an order to reduce or cease water pressure to more than eighty roadside pumps. Mayor Pál Fürjes claimed it was too expensive to continue to supply water to the pumps.

His decision affected several hundred families and, in particular, a number of poor neighbourhoods with a large population of Roma people. Hundreds of people were forced to queue in extremely hot conditions to collect water from pumps that were still delivering a trickle of water.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) launched its annual report and statistics in July. Ellen O’Malley Dunlop, CEO of DRCC said that since the recession there had been a disturbing increase in calls to the national helpline from victims of adult sexual violence. Between 2009 and 2012 there was a 23 per cent increase in first time callers.

Migraine is a complex neurological condition which is classified by the World Health Organisation within the top twenty leading causes of disability worldwide. It is ranked 12th for women. There are approximately half a million people in Ireland who suffer from migraine, yet it remains for the most part an under-recognised and under-diagnosed illness.

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Terms and conditions

IMPACT has learned that some HSE-funded voluntary agencies have sought to impose the terms of the Haddington Road agreement on their staff, despite there being no agreement to do so.

Staff working in funded or ‘Section 39’ employments are not employed directly by the state, do not have the same terms and conditions of employment, and have not been balloted on the agreement.