- NEWS
Martin wades into abortion debateAs the Dáil committee hearings continue on the abortion bill, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has waded into the debate saying it is important that Christian believers "be, and seen to be, on the side of life, especially when life is most vulnerable".
Payment cuts see families pay rent shortfallLimits on rent supplement payments set by the Government are forcing thousands of families to make undeclared top-up payments to landlords to secure places to live.
- WORLD
Anger as North Korea launches another missileNorth Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast, a day after launching three more of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said.
How Star Trek predicted the futureWHEN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first dreamed up the concept of a television show based in the unexplored universe of Outer Space in 1964, the world was a very different place.
- BUSINESS
Warnings over future of eurozoneThe eurozone is heading towards a break up unless there are moves towards much closer political and fiscal union, according to chief economist with State Street Global Advisers, Chris Probyn.
Bruton defends corporate tax rateIreland will be able to maintain its current corporation tax code in the face of international pressure to prevent multinational corporations avoid paying their fare share of tax, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton said yesterday.
- SPORT
Mayo’s statement of intentGalway 0-11 Mayo 4-16 Five minutes to go in Salthill yesterday and James Horan was still cajoling his men to sew it into Galway.
Wilkinson inspires Toulon to gloryASM Clermont Auvergne 15 Toulon 16 Not for the first time this season, a matchday performance and the result have made a mockery of the statistics.
- LIFESTYLE
What Lenny did nextLENNY Abrahamson has directed three feature films: Adam & Paul, Garage and What Richard Did.
Clothes maketh you madTrying on clothes, said Ewart, produced "sensations which bring deep peace and perfect contentment" to the female mind.
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Breaking stories
Health retirements ‘won’t hurt patients’
By Evelyn Ring
Health Minister James Reilly says patients should not suffer as a result of staff exiting the health service.
He accepted, however, there could be problems if too many people left the service and if the situation was not properly dealt with. “That’s self-evident. It doesn’t mean it is going to happen and I am going to make sure it doesn’t happen,” he said.Mr Reilly, who was speaking to reporters in Dublin yesterday, said the HSE had assured him it had a contingency plan. “We have a dynamic contingency plan — it has to be dynamic because the information changes,” he said.
While his department was aware of the current number of people that had applied to retire to date, he accepted it could fluctuate.
During a Dáil debate on Wednesday, the minister pointed out that by the end of February, 3,700 people will have retired.
Mr Reilly told the House the exodus from the service represented a significant challenge for the health system but it would still have more than 100,000 staff.
Yesterday, he criticised a senior doctor at the Mid-Western Maternity Hospital in Limerick who warned of fatalities if the HSE failed to replace the 47 midwives leaving the hospital this month. Mr Reilly said according to the figures he had, the jobs affected were 16.5 whole-time equivalents — the number of working hours that represents one full-time employee over a fixed period.
He said the hospital had a contingency plan to deal with midwives leaving the hospital and it had been outlined to him by its manager, Ann Doherty.
He said the plan that was there was to deal with the current situation at the hospital but accepted that it might change.
“I am very comfortable that we can replace the people who are leaving and there is a plan there to do it,” he said.
Mr Reilly reiterated comments by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin that it was up to each hospital area manager in the public sector to have the contingency plan for his or her area.
Independent Waterford TD John Halligan said there was concern about the future of Waterford Regional Hospital that served half a million people across the South-East.
He pointed out that the hospital faced cuts of up to €14 million, the departure of up to 70 nurses, the closure of three of its eight operating theatres, a surgical ward and a number of in-patient and out-patient beds.