Fórsa school secretaries and caretakers are to ballot for industrial action when schools reopen following the summer break in a dispute over the current two-tier pay system that leaves most staff on the statutory minimum wage. Kathleen O'Doherty of Fórsa's school secretaries branch spoke to Highland Radio about the current situation and how long it's been ongoing.

The Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs is to examine the challenge of recruiting and retaining social workers in Ireland. Speaking to the Committee yesterday, Fórsa's Éamonn Donnelly said there are 4,282 child protection cases awaiting allocation of a social worker, including over 650 that have been judged as high priority.

Defence Force personnel must be allowed to join a trade union the Dáil has heard following “extraordinary” and “unprecedented criticism” of the Department of Defence by a former head of the Army Ranger wing. Cathal Berry said he resigned after 23 years' service in the Defence Forces so he could speak up on behalf of his soldiers, as many of them and their families were "living in abject poverty".

NUIG has budgeted €2 million for recruiting temporary agency staff. The news comes as it was confirmed that SIPTU in Galway has negotiated the insourcing of 50 entry level jobs in NUIG.

In other education news, almost 50,000 secondary and primary school teachers in New Zealand walked off the job amidst calls for higher pay and shorter hours in the country’s largest ever education strike.

And finally, those of you who are Gavin and Stacey fans will be excited to hear that creators James Corden and Ruth Jones are currently writing a Christmas special for 2019. Today's Zen is a classic clip from the show (which is entirely available on Netflix at the moment!)