Category Archives: News

news as it is happening-ish

Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte has attacked media coverage of politics, criticising it for “all-pervasive negativity” and for refusing to “give a damn” about the consequences of its reporting.
In an interview with The Irish Times he suggested that relentless denigration of politics had adverse effects on society.

“You are dealing with a very cranky media who advocate tough decision-making and when they get tough decisions they start piddling around at the edges trying to unravel it.

“There is an all-pervasive negativity in the media that is not helping the mood of a people that is in distress and difficulty. I don’t think the media give a damn about where this is going to bring politics. It is worthy of some thought of where the constant denigration of politics is going to bring us,” he said.

Oh, be nice.

Rabbitte accuses media of damaging democracy by ‘denigrating’ politics (Harry McGee, Irish Times)

(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

Time to lower those expectations…

Middle-income families would lose €640 a year for each child if the Government decided to tax child benefit at current income tax rates, figures provided by the Department of Finance have disclosed.

The cut for families paying income tax at the higher rate of 41 per cent would be five times higher than the cut of €120 in yearly benefit per child announced in last month’s budget, if that measure were proceeded with by the Government.

It works out at a €55 cut in the monthly benefit for each child and would mean a family with three children would lose almost €2,000 in annual income to the household, or €166 a month.

Well, that’s a kick in the Pampers right there.

Taxing child benefit may cost families €640 a year (Harry McGee, Irish Times)

(SaskoLazarov/Photocall Ireland)

(Above: Luke Ming Flanagan at a press conference in Buswells Hotel where extracts from a dossier of evidence referring to tens of thousands of fixed penalty notices being cancelled were presented.)

A motorist who was caught driving at 155km in a 100km zone and had his speeding ticket quashed was later involved in a crash in which another driver died, according to data released by four TDs yesterday.

A second motorist, who was killed in a crash in 2012, had a speeding ticket quashed by an inspector a month earlier. A third motorist, who had been speeding at 135km in a 100km zone and had his ticket “terminated” by a Garda inspector, was later involved in a hit and run and killed a pedestrian.

The 20 examples released by TDs Clare Daly, Mick Wallace, Joan Collins and Luke Ming Flanagan were from a dossier put together by two Garda whistleblowers. The TDs said they had been warned by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner not to release the full dossier, which included names, locations and specific dates.

In six of the examples, motorists who had speeding offences quashed by gardaí were later involved in fatal crashes.

‘Quashed ticket’ motorists in fatal crashes (Fiona Gartland, Irish Times)

Previously: Why The Points Matter

(Wanderley Massafelli/Photocall Ireland)

(Above: Seana Stafford and her 13-week-old son James and Stephanie McNamee outside the Dail during a Pro Life Campaign vigil last night)

Minister for Health James Reilly last night emphasised that “legislation supported by regulations will inform us to ensure that suicide will not be abused as it is perceived to be in other jurisdictions”.

Up to 20 Fine Gael TDs have raised doubts in recent months about the inclusion in any legislation of the threat of suicide as a ground for abortion. They include minister of state Lucinda Creighton; John O’Mahony; James Bannon; John Paul Phelan; Regina Doherty and Patrick O’Donovan.

Concerns of Fine Gael TDs were fanned by the Labour Party issuing six press statements from its TDs following the Government announcement, one of which claimed it represented a “victory” for the party. Fine Gael issued no statement.

Dr Reilly dismissed the contention that it was a victory for Labour, asserting there had been consensus around the Cabinet table. “What we are looking for is a victory for the women of Ireland,” he said.

Indeed.

Archbishops urge free vote on abortion as Kenny moves to reassure FG TDs (Stephen Collins, Patsy McGarry, Harry McGee, Kitty Holland, Irish Times)

(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

(Above: Justine Murphy and Katherine Foyle perform re-worded C Case Carols outside the GPO in Dublin on Sunday)

The Cabinet will announce today that a combination of legislation and regulations will be required to comply with the Supreme Court decision on abortion in the X case.

The decision to follow this route – the fourth option from the expert group on abortion – will result in a legislative framework that will adhere to the key 1992 ruling, a senior source confirmed yesterday.

This is expected to allow the fear of suicide as a ground for abortion but may not provide for rape or sexual abuse, neither of which formed part of the X-case ruling. On foot of the decision, the Government is also expected to repeal provisions in the Offences against the State Act 1861, which criminalises abortion.

State to use mix of law, guidelines to deal with X case (Harry McGee, Deaglán de Breadún, Irish Times)

(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

The Government is set to survive a crucial vote in the Seanad over welfare cuts as the threat of a Labour Party revolt recedes.

Last night it appeared the support of just one Labour Senator remained in doubt after days of speculation that the Government could face an embarrassing defeat.

At least four Labour Senators had expressed reservations about supporting the Social Welfare Bill which gives effect to the welfare changes announced in the budget.

Debate on the Bill will begin in the Seanad tomorrow and will continue until Thursday…

However, one of the doubtful Senators said yesterday he would back the Bill; two others who declined to comment are believed to have assured the party leadership they will vote for it; and the position of one remains in doubt.

 

Coalition Set to Survive Seanad vote on welfare reductions (Stephen Collins, Michael O’Regan, Irish Times)

(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)

…to give money to the people we borrowed money off in order to spend money.

The Revenue Commissioners paid almost €90 million to the management consultancy and technology services company Accenture for contract work over recent years, it has emerged.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan told the Dáil the company had been one of a number of firms which provided IT-related work for the Revenue Commissioners in recent years. A total of 39 companies and organisations received more than €131 million between them to carry out IT-related work for the Revenue Commissioners between 2008 and 2011. Accenture received €11.69 million in 2011, €25.436 million in 2010, €22.466 million in 2009 and €28.927 million in 2008.

Nice work, fellas.

Revenue paid €90m to management consultancy (Martin Wall, Irish Times)

(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)

(Above: The Defend Our Homes League protesting in March outside Ulster bank in support of Lee Wellstead who was evicted from his home in Laois along with his daughter)

The Government has agreed with the EU-IMF troika that it will fix the legal loophole preventing banks seizing the homes of defaulting borrowers, raising fears of a wave of repossessions in the new year.

The commitment was made in the latest review of the State’s bailout programme, published yesterday. The Government has said the Personal Insolvency Bill, which is due to come into effect before the end of the year, will provide “adequate protection” for the family home.

David Hall, director of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, said there was an absence of stringent conditions in the Bill to give adequate protection to the family home. He said that while the personal insolvency arrangement provided for in the Bill was designed to protect the family home, it was subject to the agreement of the bank involved. He said the bank effectively had a veto.

“There’s a lottery there. You can avail of it but the bank controls the process,” he said.

 

And if they don’t now, they soon will.

Coalition to fix loophole to enable banks to seize homes (Harry mCGee, Eoin Burke-Kennedy, Dan O’Brien, Irish Times)

(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

Aha.

The point is that much of what the Taoiseach had to say was inarticulate drivel and all of it was waffle.

He was starting sentences without knowing where they were going to end. He was using random verbs with no relationship to their objects. (In what language can “progress” be “put” or “grown on”?)

He was making claims, such as low interest rates being a sign of Irish confidence, that it is terrifying to think he might actually believe. He was half speak-your-weight machine, half Alan Partridge.

We pay this man €200,000 a year plus a €3.2 million pension pot.

The inner eejit.

Outed.

Kenny’s Dead Words Fail To Convince (Fintan O’Toole, Irish Times)

(Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)

Oh, wait now…

The proportion of households without a working adult in Ireland is the highest out of 31 European countries and more than double that of the euro zone average, according to a report published by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) this morning.

In 2007, before the recession began, Ireland also had the highest proportion of jobless households in the zone.

In 2010, 22 per cent of households in Ireland were jobless compared to the euro zone average of just over 10 per cent. A jobless household is defined as one in which its adult(s) spend less than one-fifth of their available time in employment.

 

Ireland tops European league of jobless households (Dan O’Brien, Irish Times)

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)