Unions have accused both the board of CIE and management at Iarnrod Éireann of “aping Oliver Twist” in their “embarrassing” approach to seeking funding from government for Ireland’s rail network.

A leading business group has called for the “blunt instrument” minimum wage to be scrapped to help kick-start the economy, saying the legal pay level is stopping firms employing new staff.

The number of people signing on last month fell to just over 390,000.

ATTITUDES towards business crime needed to be “radically reassessed” as rising break-ins in the recession have devastating effects on small shops and offices and local areas.

The number of people claiming jobless benefits jumped by 71% last year and the total is set to breach the 300,000 barrier in coming weeks, alarming figures showed today.