Category Archives: News

news as it is happening-ish

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has expressed his distress at some of the reaction to the death of Savita Halappanavar. The archbishop challenged assertions that Ireland was not a safe country in which to be pregnant. “The facts show us we have in fact one of the lowest levels of maternal mortality in the world, which means that whatever practices we have are producing the results that we should respect,” he said.

The fact that Ireland had few maternal deaths showed that where conflicts arose over treatment options they have been resolved successfully, he added.

Minister for Health James Reilly said yesterday that a Government decision on providing clarity on abortion was unlikely before the new year.

Dr Reilly said he would be bringing the expert groups report on abortion to the Cabinet on Tuesday week but that consultation would be needed before a decision was reached.

Everyone relax. Bottler and the Bishop are on the case.

Archbishop defends record on pregnancy (Paul Cullen, Patsy McGarry, Kitty Holland, Irish Times)

(Sasko Lazarov, Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)

Minister for Health James Reilly is resisting pressure to commit to the introduction of legislation to clarify the legal situation governing terminations of pregnancy.

Dr Reilly said it would be improper of him to make such a commitment before he considered the report of his expert group on abortion.

He said he had given the report, which he received this week, a “quick glance” but had not had time to study it properly. After he had done this, he would bring it to Cabinet, he said yesterday.

Take your time there, Bottler.

It’s not like the world is watching in horror or anything.

Too soon to commit on abortion legislation, says Reilly (Paul Cullen, Kitty Holland, Harry McGee, Irish Times)

(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)

Above: John McCarthy, Principal Officer of Economic Division at the Department of Finance at yesterday’s technical briefing on the Medium Term Fiscal Statement.

There will be no extra austerity beyond the €3.5 billion already planned for next month’s budget despite a substantial downgrad in the Government’s growth outlook.

In its Medium-Term Fiscal Statement, released by the Department of Finance yesterday, the Government said “all options” were being considered for the budget, including social welfare cuts, a broadening of PRSI and a reduction in the public sector pay bill.

For 2013, the Department of Finance has downgraded its gross domestic product growth forecast by 0.75 of a percentage point to 1.5 per cent, reflecting both sluggish domestic spending and a worrying international economic backdrop.

So, just the social welfare cuts, increased PRSI and public sector pay cuts then.

*Yay*

Budget to bring no further austerity beyond €3.5bn already signalled (Una McCaffrey, Stephen Collins, Simon Carswell, Irish Times)

(Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)

A Cork developer told the High Court yesterday he was “absolutely shocked” by comments made about him by Minister of State Lucinda Creighton.

Michael O’Flynn, chairman and managing director of the O’Flynn Group, alleges he was defamed in a speech by Ms Creighton, then a backbencher and now Minister of State for European Affairs, titled Standards in Public Life and Accountability, at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal.

In her Glenties speech, Ms Creighton had said there could be no room in Fine Gael for “the cute-hoor politics” which she said had tainted Irish public life like “an incurable cancer . . . We cannot be satisfied with low standards in high places.”

She said: “We cannot, on the one hand, condemn Fianna Fáil for entertaining developers in the Galway tent, while on the other hand extend the biscuit tin for contributions from high-profile developers, who are beholden to Nama.”

In her subsequent interview on RTÉ’s News at One, Ms Creighton said what made her uncomfortable was that the golf classic was “supported by a developer who is one of the top-10 indebted developers to Nama in the country”.

Asked if she was referring to Michael O’Flynn, she said “yes”. She said: “That’s the one really that stands out.”

*large popcorn, diet coke, jelly snakes, maltesers*

Developer says Creighton defamed him (Joanne Hunt, Irish Times)

(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

Perhaps not…

Plans for industrial action at Aer Lingus from next Monday remained in place last night.

The planned stoppage had appeared likely to be suspended following the intervention of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) and employers’ body Ibec last Friday. Both organisations had proposed a new talks process in an effort to resolve a dispute over how to deal with a €748 million deficit in the pension scheme that covers workers at the airline and the Dublin Airport Authority.

However, Siptu said that following a meeting yesterday, its shop stewards at Aer Lingus had declined to withdraw strike notice pending clarification on a number of issues.

Fresh attempts to avert Aer Lingus strike (Martin Wall, Irish Times)

(Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)

The prospect of a legal challenge to the result remains in light of last week’s Supreme Court ruling that the State had misused public money on its information campaign.

Constitutional law expert Paul Anthony McDermott said if it could be proved that most people did not make up their minds until they received the Government literature and were influenced by it, a credible challenge might be brought.

But, he said, overturning a referendum result would be “a nuclear remedy”.

Prominent No vote campaigner Kathy Sinnott said she hoped there would be a voter willing to take the challenge.

“I will help them in any way I can. This referendum is unsafe in legal terms because the result does not represent a fair choice on behalf of the people. Rules were broken by the Government and they spent our money on a one-sided and misinformed campaign to ensure a Yes vote,” she said.

Piss-up. Brewery. Etc.

Size of No vote proves shock for Coalition (Stephen Collins, Mary Minihan, Irish Times)

(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

The 15 Ministers of State will have pension entitlements at the end of this Dáil’s term that would cost €19,789,274 if bought in the marketplace today, according to further analysis of the value of the pensions of political office holders conducted by The Irish Times.

Fine Gael Minister of State for Small Business John Perry will have a pension entitlement that pension providers would charge €2.2 million for if he was to buy it at today’s prices. He will also be entitled to a lump sum of €125,107.

The next most expensive pension entitlement is that of Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring, whose pension would cost €2.16 million at today’s prices. He will also be entitled to a lump sum of €139,008.

Nice in theory. Even nicer in practice.

Ministers of State’s Pensions Would Cost Almost €20m At Market Prices (Colm Keena/Pamela Duncan, Irish Times)

Former AIB chief Eugene Sheehy last night bowed to pressure and agreed to a pension reduction after Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the lender’s former managers had a “moral responsibility” to reduce their retirement payments over the failure of the bank.
Mr Sheehy will take a cut in his annual pension to €250,000 from between €300,000 and €325,000, he said in a statement released to The Irish Times.

“I fully appreciate the ongoing difficulties facing the bank and the economy, and this is a personal decision on my part,” said the former chief, who left the bank in 2009 after it was bailed out by the State.

The Government has since pumped nearly €21 billion into AIB and almost fully nationalised it to cover losses due to the property crash.

Bless.

He’ll live with it, somehow.

Former AIB chief agrees to reduced pension of €250,000 (Simon Carswell, Irish Times)

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)

The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation is seeking to have Seán Quinn’s five children put in the witness box so they can be cross-examined about their personal finances.

The State-owned bank is also seeking to have his son’s wife, Karen Woods, and his two sons-in-law, Niall McPartland and Stephen Kelly, quizzed also.

The bank believes the asset-stripping scheme implemented by the family is for the benefit of Quinn’s children and grandchildren, and that the children and their partners have not fully complied with court orders made prior to the summer to disclose all assets and bank accounts in which they have an interest.

Above: Sean Quinn Junior and wife Karen Woods  leaving Mountjoy prison after visiting Sean Quinn Snr.

IBRC wants to see Quinn children in court (Colm Keena, Irish Times)

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)