Delegates at F\u00f3rsa\u2019s biennial delegate conference in Killarney supported a motion to develop strategies to protect members against the risks of \u201cdisruption\u201d driven by the technology on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
It said potential issues include \u201cjob displacement, deskilling and surveillance\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, it said the union should pursue opportunities for productivity gains including a shorter working week.<\/p>\n
Ashley Connolly, head of F\u00f3rsa\u2019s health and welfare division, said public services are not production lines and members are not costs on a spreadsheet.<\/p>\n
She urged members to get in touch with their branch and union officials when they hear a \u201cwhisper\u201d that something new is being introduced in their workplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must make sure we have the protections,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
“But we must make sure we get the gains. This isn\u2019t a one-way street.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said AI cannot be used as an excuse to cut staff, undermine professional judgement, or strip away the human contact people depend on in public services.<\/p>\n
One delegate noted that the public service pay agreement is set to expire soon and the motion enables AI to be included in upcoming talks.<\/p>\n
AI would mean a major overhaul of how public servants work and should be central to the government\u2019s plans, she said.<\/p>\n
She said it could be the next industrial revolution and is coming at an extraordinary speed.<\/p>\n
The delegate said they can shape how AI is introduced or decisions could be made over their heads. \u201cThis is a moment for leadership,\u201d she said, adding that the union must make sure workers and society benefit, not just big tech billionaires.<\/p>\n
Another delegate spoke of her concerns that jobs will be replaced and low paid staff, women and those in customer service roles will be most at risk.<\/p>\n
The motion noted that the government published a national digital and AI strategy in February this year.<\/p>\n
It sets out 90 actions and commits to digitalising 100pc of key public services by 2030 as well as providing AI training for public servants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt contains no framework for worker voice, collective bargaining, benefit-sharing, or negotiated protections for workers affected by AI adoption,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
It noted that the current public service pay agreement expires next month.<\/p>\n
The motion said this creates \u201cboth an immediate strategic opportunity and urgent need for F\u00f3rsa to advance a clear, credible position on AI in the forthcoming negotiations\u201d.<\/p>\n
It said AI adoption has profound implications across the union. This would affect how services are delivered, roles are structured and public resources allocated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistory shows that productivity gains from new technology do not automatically benefit workers,\u201d it said. \u201cPrevious waves of innovation increased efficiency while real wages stagnated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout deliberate intervention, AI-drive productivity gains risk following the same pattern\u201d.<\/p>\n
It said recent ESRI research found that Ireland has Europe\u2019s biggest gender gap in advanced digital skills.<\/p>\n
A total of 44pc of men use them at work compared with 18pc of women.<\/p>\n
It said this gap is nearly double the EU average, signalling a digital glass ceiling that AI could deepen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Delegates at F\u00f3rsa\u2019s biennial delegate conference in Killarney supported a motion to develop strategies to protect members against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,61,60,898,80],"class_list":["post-450300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news-ticker","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}