Just the basic facts
by Niall Shanahan

Good morning colleagues,

 

Hope you're enjoying this February Friday so far.

 

Just to let you know we've created a dedicated 'Fórsa News' microsite while forsa.ie remains under construction. It's available here. The microsite will be updated regularly and we'll keep a permanent link available via the digest. The link is also pinned to the top of our Twitter feed.

 

Our main story yesterday was from the HSCP conference: "The failure of politicians and health service managers to place the health and social care professions at the centre of service planning will hamper the implementation of the ‘Sláintecare’ health reform programme, which won cross-party political support last year, according to Fórsa." Health minister Simon Harris was there and is in the news today over his strong criticism of the head of the HSE over its “poor budgetary performance” and warned him Government policy must be followed.

 

The Irish Independent reports that Ryanair has engaged in a "negative" start to talks with unions and has focused on "creating distractions and sowing seeds of division." That's according to the EERC (European Employee Representative Council), a council established to represent Ryanair pilots across Europe.

 

The Irish Times reports that institutes of higher education are relying increasingly on private consultants for expertise, with colleges spending €150 million hiring outside firms over the past six years, according to analysis from the HEA. Elsewhere, there are concerns about the effect of Eir’s decision to withdraw its bid for the national rural broadband scheme. One Connemara hotel is counting the cost of lost business.

 

For your Zen this morning I present Lord Lisvane's take on the Brexit options. Your bonus Zen marks the news that Joanne Cantwell is to take over from Michael Lyster as the presenter of The Sunday Game at the end of the 2018 season. However, this news report provides evidence that the robots aren't quite ready to take the jobs of TV news reporters.

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Fórsa members' news bulletins

(published Tuesday 18th January)

The next series of news bulletins will be published on Tuesday 6th February. Got a story? Get in touch.

 

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