An online survey of Fórsa’s special needs assistant members yesterday revealed that only 49% of the 2,100 respondents were able to confirm that their school had provided medical grade face masks, while 17% reported that they had been asked to re-use PPE equipment. This story was picked up by the Irish Times, the Examiner, and the journal, and received strong local coverage around the country too.

Nurses and midwives have warned the Government that their continued co-operation in the health service over the winter “should not be taken for granted”.

Safety is facing a triple threat from under-staffing, the winter surge in demand for care, and the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the INMO. This news comes as new research has shown that work–life imbalance has become "normalised" within Irish hospital medicine.

Meanwhile, The Examiner reports that management at Cork Airport have called a ‘crisis briefing’ for Oireachtas members to outline the scale of the threat it faces amid the pandemic. This comes in the wake of Ryanair’s threat to close its bases in Cork and Shannon airports unless the Government relaxes its quarantine restrictions on passengers flying into the country.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he is not optimistic of a Brexit deal in light of the UK introducing domestic legislation to override parts of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said trust has been eroded and is likely to impact further negotiations.

The Taoiseach also said the rights of workers in the meat industry need strengthening, and collective representation for those workers is important. “That will form part of the Government’s continuing engagement with the industry,” he told the Dáil last week.

While construction workers are due to get their expected 2.7% pay rise in October, despite calls from the Construction Industry Federation to defer the increase.

This morning we have a special sneak preview, exclusive to our digest readers, of a new digital campaign - the first phase of which goes live tomorrow. After hundreds of CE Supervisors and Section 39 agency workers took to the streets last February demanding pension and pay justice, this campaign aims to put pressure on the new administration to ensure these claims are met. We'd very much appreciate your support online with this over the coming days and weeks.

CE Supervisors video

Section 39 video

And finally, a quick Zen to kickstart your morning is Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', released on this day in 1991.