The Joint Committee on Health will meet today, Wednesday, for a discussion on issues relating to homecare with representatives from Fórsa attending. The session begins at 11am and you can keep up with it here. 

Reports this morning suggest public and private sector workers are demanding pay increases of at least 5% to offset the rise in inflation. The Cabinet sub-committee on the economy is to formally decide the final details of an inflation-busting package on Thursday to tackle the cost of living crisis, but unions have called for protecting the rights of low-paid workers and to ensure they get pay rises that are in line with inflation.

A new survey has found over 40% of workers in the early childhood sector are actively seeking employment elsewhere. The SIPTU commissioned report finds professionals are still struggling with low pay and insecure working conditions in the sector, feel under-valued by society and experience work-related stress. It also found a large majority – 94% – of managers found it “difficult or “very difficult’ to recruit staff in the past 12 months,

Meanwhile, the return to office working will cost some employees more than €100 a week in additional transport, parking, food and clothing costs. Lower-income employees will be disproportionately impacted by the accelerating return to the workplace after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an Irish Independent survey. 

And the number of homes available for rent across Ireland has dropped to a new all-time low and led to a further spike in rents around the country, according to Daft.ie. The average rent across Ireland is also over 10% higher than one year ago according to the report. 

Finally, 'The Lost Daughter' star Jessie Buckley and Belfast's Kenneth Branagh, Ciarán Hinds and Van Morrison are among the nominees for this year's Oscars. Belfast's writer-director Branagh has received Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nominations for his semi-autobiographical family drama.

Meanwhile, dark Western drama 'The Power of the Dog' leads this year's nominations with 12. Its director, Jane Campion, has made Oscars history by becoming the first woman to be nominated twice for Best Director. Here’s a snippet of it.