A YEAR ago the Institute for Public Policy Research called for care workers to be treated fairly. Now a survey by the Scottish Trades Union Congress finds that one in 10 care workers are still on zero-hour contracts. Care workers deserve a fair wage for work which is difficult, essential and which at times puts carers at risk. The inequality of power between staff and employers has meant that care worker wages are often only at the minimum wage. Workers are not well unionised. Their sense of responsibility towards their residents restricts the range of industrial action they might take. Market forces encourage a race to the bottom in pay. Care workers’ immediate employers are often in financial difficulty because of the exploitative demands made on them for building rental and to meet dividends for owners and shareholders.
SHARING OPTIONS:
Gavin Lynch with some of his Shorthorn herd, combines dairy and sheep farming with hazel growing in this agroforestry section of Hells Kettle Organic Farm, Donard, Co Wicklow.
Forestry is identified as one of the land uses that has “high-level targets for 2030” in the recently launched draft agri-food strategy 2030. The strategy contains a number of positive objectives for forestry to “increase afforestation and double the sustainable production of biomass from forests by 2035”.
Other goals emphasise the role of forestry in enhancing biodiversity and developing “diverse multipurpose forests”.
It also calls for a new forestry strategy, which “will be critical if the sector is to maximise its potential contribution to the economy and to rural communities”.
SHARING OPTIONS:
One of the themes that emerged during Jo O Hara s discussions with stakeholders was land availability and suitability for forestry. \Donal Magner
Minister of State Pippa Hackett has announced the four chairpersons of the Project Woodland working groups, following a meeting with the project board, chaired by Brendan Gleeson. The board oversees the delivery of Jo O’Hara’s Implementation of the Mackinnon Report.
Stressing the need for urgency, the minister said: “The project board agreed that the working groups should convene immediately to agree deliverables and project milestones.”
The working groups examine key issues identified by O’Hara. The groups will be chaired by: Michael Cantwell, former Director of Enterprise Ireland, Dr Matt Crowe, former director, EPA, Professor Thia Hennessy, chair of Agri-Food Economics, Cork University Business School and Michael Layde, former assistant secretary general, Department
WE cannot continue with this general lockdown. There is no end date being given and no plan except the very broad statements about getting the numbers down and vaccinating the vulnerable. For a spell here in Scotland during the summer we got down to very few cases and very few deaths, but we let it slip away. Now here we are with England having the highest death rate in the world and us not that far behind. On Friday you had an article about phone apps and the fact that most people want more enforcement ( Support for app to track virus violators , The Herald, January 22). None of these apps in themselves would be sufficient. We need to get a number of people authorised to go and knock on doors without prior notice and if there is anyone breaking the rules they need to be dealt with harshly. Close monitoring of adherence to the rules is a necessity and there are enough people unemployed to fill the posts.