One of the country’s largest trade unions is today expected to be urged to ballot its 27,000 health care members to take industrial action.

THE Government’s battered decentralisation initiative was dealt a fresh blow yesterday as SIPTU appeared to win a key victory over the compulsory relocation of State agency staff outside the capital.

There are significant differences dividing trade unions and employers ahead of tomorrow’s resumption of pay negotiations, but it is crucial that they remember the gains can sustain economic stability in the immediate future to the advantage of all.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is expected to face tough questions on decentralisation when he attends the annual conference of the IMPACT trade union in Killarney today.