The ongoing expansion of the public sector has enabled some of Ireland\u2019s best-known trade unions to grow membership and revenues significantly since the pandemic despite the challenges faced by the wider movement.<\/p>\n
Five prominent public-sector unions \u2013 the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation<\/a>, the Irish National Teachers Organisation<\/a>, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland<\/a>, the Teachers Union of Ireland<\/a> and F\u00f3rsa<\/a> \u2013 added about 16,000 members between the start of 2023 and the end of 2024, bringing their total combined membership to 224,007 according to their various annual returns. <\/p>\n Subscriptions from members grew by about \u20ac3.5 million between 2023 and 2024, taking them to about \u20ac73 million combined, while the total reserves\/assets of the five unions are put at \u20ac230 million in their respects financial reports.<\/p>\n F\u00f3rsa, which achieved a growth in membership of more than 7,000 over the two-year period, accounts for comfortably more than half of that reserves figure. The union\u2019s accounts for 2024 show it has net assets of more than \u20ac136 million, which includes almost \u20ac50 million in investments, \u20ac37 million in cash and a pension surplus of \u20ac19.7 million. Of the total, almost \u20ac46 million falls under the heading \u201cnet current assets\u201d.<\/p>\n The \u20ac136 million figure is up about \u20ac7.5 million on the previous year, while the union\u2019s cash on hand is down about \u20ac2.5 million but the increase in its investments is almost equal to the overall growth in its assets.<\/p>\n The union\u2019s overall position was helped too by an almost \u20ac2 million decline in general expenditure, which contributed to its surplus for the year after tax, increasing from \u20ac1.9 million to \u20ac6.5 million. <\/p>\n The union employed 140 people at the end of 2024, an increase of three on the previous year, with staff costs increasing by \u20ac835,000 to \u20ac10.94 million. When pension contributions are included, the total came to almost \u20ac12.5 million.<\/p>\n The numbers are less striking at the other unions but the INMO added about 3,700 members over the two-year period, taking it from 44,472 to 48,151, while subscription revenue increased by about \u20ac300,000 to \u20ac11.4 million. Staff costs rose from \u20ac6.48 million to \u20ac7.25 million.<\/p>\n The union had assets of \u20ac21.195 million, including cash of just over \u20ac11 million. <\/p>\n Buildings worth almost \u20ac20 million are listed as being held in trust for it by a separate legal entity.<\/p>\n The INTO, meanwhile, which is comparable in size to the INMO, took its membership from 43,788 to 45,948 between the start of 2023 and the end of 2024.<\/p>\n Its subscription revenue increased from \u20ac16.77 million to \u20ac17.96 million year on year, fuelled in part by an increase in membership fees from 0.75 per cent of income to 0.756 per cent.<\/p>\n Total expenditure increased from \u20ac15.82 million to \u20ac17.95 million, with salary costs up from \u20ac6.36 million to \u20ac7.81 million. The union employed 90 staff at the end of 2024, up from 81 a year earlier, with 36 of them described as management. <\/p>\n Not all of the members listed by the five unions in their annual reports are public-sector employees, although the vast majority are. F\u00f3rsa, for instance, represents thousands of workers in the public healthcare, education and local-government sectors across a wide variety of roles and grades but also organises a substantial number of cabin crew at Aer Lingus and Ryanair.<\/p>\n