Kevin Callinan spoke to RTE’s Morning Ireland this morning about plans by public service unions for a coordinated campaign on public service pay, supported by industrial action ballots. "We're getting mixed messages from government. Talk of a revised offer has not yet materialised. The reality for low and middle income workers is that they really are struggling." You can listen back here

The story also features on the front page of the Irish Times this morning with the possibilty of commencing ballots at the end of August. The Irish Independent have also covered the same story. You can read these by clicking here: Times Indo

Workers in the care, community and voluntary sector are to escalate their campaign of industrial action as part of an ongoing pay dispute. Union members are to be balloted for industrial action commencing during September and spreading country wide thereafter. The campaign is supported by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, SIPTU, Fórsa and the INMO.

The restoration of pre-austerity working hours will have a “significant impact” on health service recruitment targets in the coming years according to according to an early review of the HSE National Service Plan 2022 (NSP). According to 1 June correspondence to the Minister from HSE Chair Mr Ciarán Devane, The HRA hours reversal, which came into effect in July, was equivalent to the loss of a minimum of circa 3,800 WTEs across the HSE, “As a consequence, it also brings further complications to our efforts at resourcing and financial planning for 2022.”.

In other news Ireland has recorded the highest ever temperature for July. Met Eireannn recorded a temperature of 33 degress at its Phoenix Park weather station in Dublin yesterday.

Visa-free travel for refugees into Ireland from "safe" European countries wil today be suspended for a year in a hardening of the State's immigration policy. It means that people who have been granted refugee status in other countries can still apply to travel to Ireland, but will need a visa to do so.

Families could be forced to abandon their second car if higher-level carbon emission targets for the agriculture sector cannot be agreed, senior Government figures have warned. Senior Government sources have told the Irish Examiner that limiting the overall number of vehicles on roads and looking at the second family car would all be in the mix if the higher targets are not reached.

ZEN

On this day in 1941 Tom and Jerry first appeared in their own names in a cartoon named 'The Midnight Snack' by William Hanna and Josephy Barbera. Here's a look at that episode that aired 81 years ago: