Minister for Education Norma Foley will today address the annual conference of the Teachers' Union of Ireland in Wexford. Ahead of her speech, the TUI will debate motions seeking pay increases to counteract rising inflation with some delegates calling for a ballot for industrial action as part of the pay claim.

Meanwhile, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) members paused the threat of industrial action over pay pending critical talks with the Government about a successor to the Building Momentum deal. A motion at the opening session of the union's three day Cork conference for a campaign of industrial action from September received vocal support from teachers upset at pay inequality and the spiralling impact of inflation.

In an unprecedented move, the country’s military officers have voted overwhelmingly to seek affiliation to umbrella union group ICTU, in order to gain proper representation at national pay talks, following an 85% vote in favour of the move by RACO (Representative Organisation for Commissioned Officers) members.

Fórsa’s work on the working time restoration to pre-austerity levels in the public service is still continuing to be picked up by digital outlets. 

A new survey of children’s experiences of Covid-19 found that the nation’s youth felt they had missed out on some key growing up milestones but that they got to spend more time with their closest relatives. The survey was carried out by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) in conjunction with Amárach Research among children aged 9-17.

Parents will receive five days of unpaid leave to look after sick children under new legislation to be signed off at Cabinet today. Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman is bringing a draft of a new Work Life Balance Bill aimed at providing more family friendly workplaces.

Iarnród Éireann has launched a new recruitment drive and is looking for new drivers, station staff and apprentices. It has advertised over 150 positions with record investment set to see rail services expand.

Overseas, Sri Lanka says it has requested emergency financial help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amid its worsening economic and political situation. The South Asian nation faces its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years. The country has seen mass protests in recent weeks as it suffers food shortages, soaring fuel prices and major power cuts as its reserves of foreign currencies are running low.
 
And the pay packages of the chief executives at Ireland’s top listed private companies jumped last year to almost double pre-Covid levels, fuelled by bonuses as companies’ earnings and share prices advanced globally on the back of economic stimulus from central banks and governments during the pandemic. More on that here. 

We all need a bit of a mid-week pick-me-up. So here’s a video of a dog having the time of its life in a public fountain.