Also in today's news, the HSE has made a bad debt provision of €42.5 million arising from advance payments it made for ventilators last year that it ended up not receiving or not being able to use, and an Irish Coast Guard helicopter was forced to leave a crew member and an injured fisherman on a trawler off the coast of Kerry on Sunday after encountering mechanical trouble. . 

The Minister for Education had to field some questions in the Dáil last Thursday about the slow progress of talks to regularise the terms and conditions of school secretaries and caretakers, as per the Government's commitments to do so. You can see how that discussion went here.

In other Fórsa news, the union has plans for progress on the HSE's CHO learning sites, home help coordinators have won a regrade, the Health and Welfare division clears some space on its shelves for an Excellence in Business award, and Fórsa has agreed new and stronger governance procedures for the special needs assistant (SNA) supplementary assignment panel.

The Echo reports that TD Mick Barry has argued it's not appropriate for Aer Lingus to place 198 workers on temporary layoff while continuing to receive Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) payments from the State. Barry has warned that the issue is going to grow “louder and louder” in the coming months. 

The Sindo yesterday included a feature by Gabrielle Monaghan, asking if the four-day week can be realised, and includes the views of a number of employers. Elswhere, Congress has called for a workers voice on the working group on the hospitality sector, while the Dublin Bay South byelection candidates have backed Siptu's pension age campaign.

The Sunday Times (paywalled) reported yesterday that Ibec is lobbying against proposals to introduce mandatory paid breastfeeding breaks for mothers for up to two years. Legislative proposals are expected later this year to give effect to the policy. 

Zen

Sitting out in the balmy air on Saturday night I could hear the distant sound of Donna Summer classic I Feel Love. Somebody, somewhere was having a really good time, as I could hear a chorus of women joining in with Summer and Giorgio Moroder's sizzling floor-filler. And then I remembered Bronski Beat's 1984 cover version with Marc Almond, which distinguishes itself with a brilliantly transgressive twinkle in its eye. One for the midsummer revels, wherever you may find them and which ever version you fancy.