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Unions opposed to cuts are subject to law, says KennyTeacher unions and others that remain opposed to €300m public sector pay cut proposals will be subjected to laws cutting higher salaries and other work changes, Enda Kenny said yesterday.
UCC plan will save taxpayers millions University College Cork intends to be largely self-funding within five years, saving the Irish taxpayer millions of euro a year.
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Woolwich terror killing: Security services face probeThe British parliament is to investigate if security services could have done more to prevent the murder of a soldier hacked to death in a London street after it emerged that his suspected killers were known to intelligence officers.
Woolwich killing: Further arrests as spotlight turns on security servicesBritish police arrested two more people yesterday in a hunt for accomplices of two British men of Nigerian descent accused of hacking a soldier to death on a London street in revenge for wars in Muslim countries.
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Noonan examining ways to capitalise banks It is believed the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan told the IMF that he will look to Contingent Convertible Capital (CoCo) Notes if the banks need additional capital buffers following the stress tests.
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O’Brien out for final as Schmidt takes issue with Gatland Joe Schmidt has opted against speculating whether Sean O'Brien will miss the opening weeks of the British and Irish Lions tour after omitting the injured flanker from his squad of 23 for today's RaboDirect Pro12 decider.
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A woman of mettle: how Iron Lady rose to powerFirst volume of Margaret Thatcher's authorised biography is predictably flattering, but not a hagiography, says Shaun Connolly
Best of the Week's TV (Saturday, May 25 - Friday 31)Highlights include Colin Stafford Johnson's new series on the Shannon, and highly-rated new spy drama The Americans.
Breaking stories
Ireland one of EU worst for waste management
By Niall Murray
Low increases in recycling rates and high volumes of rubbish still being landfilled have seen Ireland ranked worse than most other EU nations for waste management.
Although more than 30% of domestic waste is being recycled, the rate at which it is increasing is one of the poorest in the EU, at below 5% a year.Ireland scored 19 out of a possible 42 points for results on 18 criteria, lower than 14 of the 27 countries for waste management performance.
The country has also been red-flagged for poor waste prevention policies, being listed as one of several EU member states where the European Commission says it is not yet on the political agenda.
Ireland scored a zero for access to waste collection services, the rate of biodegradable waste that is unnecessarily going to landfill, and for being one of just three countries where there were at least five infringement procedures in 2009 concerning non-compliance with the EU waste legislation.
The commission said Ireland still has a long way to go. “The Irish results are remarkably poor in areas such as decoupling of waste from consumption, access to waste collection services, and the rate of waste going to landfills.”
It pointed out that Ireland’s score is only one ahead of countries with the biggest gaps on implementation of waste laws and directives.
“Failings include poor or non-existent waste prevention policies, a lack of incentives to divert waste from landfills, and inadequate waste infrastructure. Heavy reliance on landfilling means that better waste management options such as re-use and recycling are consistently underexploited. The outlook is accordingly poor,” the commission said.
Ireland scored maximum two points on criteria for landfill charges, being in a group with the highest charges, and for forecasting waste generation in its waste prevention programmes. It also got two points for all landfills for non-hazardous waste being compliant with the EU landfill directive, seen as essential to provide for environmentally safe disposal of waste.
The Department of the Environment said Ireland had made considerable progress, and that 1998 targets have been exceeded, with 38% of municipal waste recycled in 2010 and the landfills in operation falling from 126 to 28.
A spokesperson said the Government’s new waste management policy, which acknowledges “unsustainable dependence” on landfill, contains initiatives to further drive recycling and recovery, and to reduce landfill.
The commission report shows that Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden had the most comprehensive waste collection systems, landfilling less than 5% of waste. Austria and Netherlands each scored 39 points out of 42, but four countries (including Greece with just three points) got less than 10.
Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said many countries are still landfilling huge amounts of municipal waste despite better alternatives, meaning valuable resources are being buried, potential economic benefits are being lost, jobs in the waste management sector are not being created, and human health and the environment are suffering.
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