Neasa Hourigan (top left with Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan), has said the Programme for Government does not do enough in terms of housing and deprivation.

One of five Green TDs chosen by her party to steer programme-for-government talks, she said she was unable “to square the circle” of reducing the deficit and allowing tax breaks while investing in climate action and services over the five weeks of talks between the three parties.

…Explaining her position, Ms Hourigan said: “We worked really, really hard over the last few weeks, and did our best to get as good a deal as we could. Now it is for the members to decide.

“Myself personally, I have concerns on housing, around the provision of public housing, affordability and the idea that public land should remain in public hands.”

Green Party negotiators at odds over merits of goverment deal (Irish Times)

Yesterday: Losing Saoirse

Meanwhile…

Last night.

Rollingnews

 

From top: Leinster House has extended a privacy decision by the Information Commissioner relating to pensions paid to former Taoisigh, Presidents, and Ministers to now include TDs and Senators: Ken Foxe

Do you want to know exactly how much was paid in lump sums, pensions, or termination pay to your former TD or Senator?

Ken Foxe writes:

Well, some bad news – you can no longer find out using Ireland’s hopelessly broken Freedom of Information laws:

Leinster House has decided that a decision made by the Information Commissioner relating to pensions paid to former Taoisigh, Presidents, and Ministers should now apply to TDs and Senators:

This fundamentally reverses over a decade of transparency and is the latest salvo in the slow evisceration of our Freedom of Information Act by the State. Projects – like this one I did in 2015 – will no longer be feasible.

In their decision, Leinster House have said that the public interest in knowing how/where public money is spent does not outweigh the privacy rights of former public representatives – even though this has never caused an issue for over ten years.

The Oireachtas have said they will now only provide figures in aggregate. So we can know €838,710 was paid out in pensions in March but not to whom. We are allowed know €1.56 million in lump sums were paid out this year but not who received them.

Leinster House helpfully sent me a copy of the decision in the ultimately futile case I had already taken about the pensions of officeholders. If you want to depress yourself, you can read it in full here

Right To Know

Rollingnews

RIP

Any excuse.

Willie Thorne: Snooker star dies after being placed in induced coma in Spain (Sky)

Pic: BBC

Pubs must serve meals costing at least €9 to reopen this month, under new Covid guidelines

If you want pints in June you must eat
A large pile of veggies and meat
Because Covid dies
Around burger and fries
But infects those who drink on their feet

John Moynes

Rollingnews

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile…

“Government sources indicated they [draft guidelines] refer to a maximum length of stay for customers of up to 90 minutes in a food service premises including pubs serving food and it would also be necessary for customers to pre-book before turning up at a restaurant or a pub serving food.

Now that might sound like progress for such businesses in the sense that the two-metre rule would become one metre which is what they wanted.

But there’s likely to be some major practical difficulties there. Like, for example, establishments that rely heavily on walk-in trade only, like hotels perhaps, would there business disappear?

And for pubs, for example, would 90 minutes be sufficient for most customers? Certainly it would involve a change in behaviour for many people I think…”

Journalist Will Goodbody on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland earlier.

Behold: the CityHawk eVTOL – quite possibly, the electric flying car of the future.

The vehicle, currently in development by Metro Skyways, features a car sized six passenger cabin capable of vertical take off and landing with a hydrogen powered dual fan turbine engine.

No release date as yet but we want to believe.

hiconsumption

Anyone?

Also: name those jammers?

Broadsheet.ie