Siptu have accepted an invitation to attend a preliminary hearing at the Labour Court tomorrow morning to discuss the dispute involving 10,000 health service workers over the implementation of a job evaluation scheme.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s suggestion that any comparison between pay increases granted to judges and the HSE support workers strike is “bogus and misleading” is, as Boris Johnson might harrumph while waving his arms, poppycock.

There was no rest for Joan Costelloe, a cook employed at University Hospital, who awoke before dawn to prepare “special meals”, for patients unable to eat or swallow hard food.

Staff at University Hospital Limerick fear the crisis could escalate even further this weekend after experiencing a record number of patients on trolleys for a hospital yesterday.

A bottom-up approach is needed in addition to senior academic posts open only to female applicants to redress gender imbalance in the third-level sector, various stakeholders have said.

The outgoing director general of the HSE was warned more than a decade ago that outsourcing the analysis of cervical cancer screening results could lead to the type of crisis which has now engulfed the system.

An independent report has recommended that neither of RTÉ’s two orchestras be closed, despite the severe financial constraints faced by the public service broadcaster.

The Government has said it will take “weeks to assess” the impact on the Irish economy of Donald Trump’s trade sanctions on Russia as 650 jobs at Aughinish Alumina in Limerick remain under threat.

The “completely unacceptable” treatment of Section 39 workers who have not had their pay restored is to be debated in the Dáil today.

An internal review has started at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, where the radiologist at the centre of the scans recheck at University Hospital Kerry also worked, it has emerged.

Upcoming rail strikes have been suspended to allow unions consider a Labour Court recommendation to resolve a pay dispute.

THE dispute between the country’s rail unions and Irish Rail shows no sign whatsoever of being moved towards a settlement: the unions — four of them — have started their one-day strike programmes, and warned that they are thinking about action that will close the network during the Christmas and new year holidays. And there’s talk of walk-outs hitting bus services early in the new year.

If the Government is serious about reducing the gap, it will require a systemic effort across a number of departments, writes Siptu economist Marie Sherlock      

Thousands of homes and businesses across the country remain without power and thousands more are without water as the cleanup operation after Storm Ophelia continues.

Siptu has warned that the Iarnród Éireann pay dispute is the “new frontline” in the battle to ensure adequate funding for public transport.

In his final presidential address to his union’s biennial conference, Siptu president Jack O’Connor has said it is “obscene” the major political parties are promoting a tax-cutting agenda when so many children are homeless.

The Government is to be advised to consider introducing a city tax after large hotels failed to pass on lower Vat rate benefits to customers.

The two largest driver unions at Irish Rail have said it is within the gift of Transport Minister Shane Ross to intervene and stave off strike action which could cripple services by the October bank holiday weekend.

Today is the last chance for Irish Rail to put a pay deal on the table before unions ballot for industrial action, according to Siptu.

Call-centre workers who answer 999 emergency calls are threatening strike action over wages and working conditions.

Maintenance on roads in Co Cork could grind to a halt later this month after trade union Siptu announced that it had served notice of industrial action on Cork County Council.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin has insisted his party will run “independently” at the next election and will not be “beholden to anyone” after delegates ruled out any pre-vote pact with rivals.

As passengers this morning face into a 20th day without Bus Éireann services, there is a possibility the Labour Court could produce a recommendation which will stop the strike spreading to day 21.

The public will have no Bus Éireann services for a 13th successive day in spite of worker unions entering talks this morning to end the dispute at the Workplace Relations Commission.

Bus Éireann workers have vowed to hit train, Dublin Bus and Dart services with further unannounced wildcat strikes again next week disrupting the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of commuters each day.

Once again, the public play a waiting game to find out when our travel plans are to be thrown into chaos by a full-blown and probably indefinite Bus Éireann stoppage.

Talks that have led to the deferral of an all-out Bus Éireann strike have given passengers some relief but there is no certainty the dispute can be quickly resolved.

Hundreds of thousands of commuters are set to be left without a bus service from next week as workers stage an all-out strike.

The board of the company announced their cost cutting plans within the past hour and confirmed that immediate cost savings would be implemented from Monday.

Hospital support staff who were due to go on strike on Monday have called it off after an agreement was reached with the HSE.

There has been a breakthrough in the Dublin Bus dispute.

The National Bus and Rail Union has said that it will attend talks over cutbacks at Bus Éireann if the company withdraws previous correspondence setting out the cuts.

Siptu have confirmed that nurses and midwives from their union are "more than likely to ballot for strike action" in their dispute over recruitment and retention.

Here's your evening update.

Siptu’s general president Jack O’Connor has thrown his hat in the ring to become the next chairman of the Labour Party.

Bus Éireann and trade unions were on a collision course last night after workers criticised immediate cost-cutting measures introduced by the state-owned company, which includes a ban on unrostered overtime and an embargo on recruitment.

UPDATE 10am: The Dáil debate on the government's new housing strategy has been postponed - amid signs the scheme could be abandoned.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has urged Independent News and Media (INM) pension fund trustees to appeal the company’s plan to close its defined benefit pension scheme to the High Court.

The pressure to meet mounting public sector pay demands stepped up a gear yesterday as junior doctors confirmed they will ballot for strike action.

Bord na Mona workers who fear they may lose their jobs want an urgent meeting with the Environment Minister, Denis Naughten.