Fórsa Members concerned about reactive actions from senior management.
Statement from the Pobal Early Years Specialist Group:
For the past 3 months, Pobal Early Years Specialists (92% of whom are Fórsa members) have been undertaking phased industrial action. Since December 3rd, Pobal senior management made the decision to fully remove the Specialist Team from a funding appraisal process.
We believe that this unnecessary action is an attempt to undermine the role of the Early Years Specialist (EYS). We also believe this is an attempt by Pobal to undermine our present Industrial Action.
For over 3 months, EYS have participated in a phased form of industrial action which has included: no participation in out of hours activities such as voluntary tutoring/training & meetings (evenings/weekend work); withdrawing from certain administrative tasks; and participation at team meetings.
Yet during this, our work with children, Early Learning and Care (ELC) staff, and parents remains a priority.
In this period, children with additional needs have always been prioritised and all funding requests for extra preschool staff have been actioned by the Early Years Specialist team with minimal delays. The removal of the Specialist Team from the funding appraisal process could have serious impact on the children we’re supporting.
Funding appraisals requires in-depth knowledge and information, yet the Specialist Teams will now no longer have the authority to support services with funding applications. Instead, Pobal plan to implement a ‘desk-top’ style approach using a different team of Pobal employees. EYS are concerned that this will lead to significant confusion and complications for ECCE providers and parents.
We are dedicated to improving equality in Irish society and go above and beyond our work, which is more than just a job for many of us. We continuously upskill as our roles expand, and are being denied the pay raise we are due and the grade correction we deserve. We are a strong group of Fórsa members, who are determined to keep going until there’s a full resolution to this long-standing dispute.
Background to the Industrial Action:
This is part of long-standing issues ongoing since 2019, with extensive engagement with management and multiple consultations with the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
The ongoing industrial action by Early Years Specialists is in response to the employer’s failure to address their claim regarding a pay grade issue, which has not been resolved despite multiple WRC talks. Also, during the period of talks, Pobal have refused to pay a 3% wage increase since March 2025. Pobal Management is refusing to address both matters.
Following talks at the WRC in September, the employer proposed to grant staff one extra day of annual leave to address the grade dispute and to pay the 3% increase due to members. This was contingent on staff accepting additional duties as a mandatory part of their work, though many of these tasks are currently voluntary and not specified within their job descriptions.
Members unanimously rejected the proposals. As a result, the industrial action escalated from the end of October