- NEWS
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.
- WORLD
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.
- BUSINESS
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.
- SPORT
The magic is in the anticipationULSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL:Donegal v Tyrone For too long, we've been decrying the anti-climactic starts to thevarious provincial championships. Now we have a genuine no-holds barred contest in Ballybofey.
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.
- LIFESTYLE
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
Government has given limited real attention to job creation, says group
By Mary Regan, Political Correspondent
The Government’s record on job creation has been strongly criticised by Social Justice Ireland, which said it has given “limited real attention to the issue”.
The social policy campaign group has said it is “unjust and indefensible” that Irish people have had to bear the debt burden of banks “caused by the reckless gambling of German and French banks”.It has launched a report, Shaping Ireland’s Future, which looks at the impact of economic policies on areas including health, education and housing.
Fr Sean Healy, director of Social Justice Ireland, called for more taxes to fund services.
“Our current crisis cannot be rectified fairly by prioritising expenditure cuts so as to keep taxes among the lowest in the EU.”
The report says there are 700,000 people living in poverty in the State, including 200,000 children.
“Ireland can increase its tax take and still remain a low-tax economy,” it says.
“The Government should move toward increasing the total tax take to 34.9% of GDP and do so by broadening the tax base.”
More than 180,000 people have been unemployed for more than a year, according to the document, which calls for a large-scale investment programme to stimulate job creation.
“It remains a major policy failure that Ireland’s level of long-term unemployment has been allowed to increase so rapidly in recent years. Furthermore, it is of serious concern that Government policy has given limited real attention to the issue.”
Pointing to statistics that show unemployment at 14% and youth unemployment at 30%, it says the Government and society must remember that “each of these numbers represents people who are experiencing dramatic and, in many cases, unexpected turmoil in their lives and their families’ lives.”
The report also criticises efforts to reduce illiteracy.
It also argues that those who can pay for third-level education should and calls for a student loan system.
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