Letters to the Editor: Pensioner enjoying a beer should not have to pay deposit return levy
Jim O'Sullivan says 'all the coming and going necessary to retrieve the levy' will effectively penalise those with reduced mobility, including a pensioner enjoying a nice can of draught porter at home.
For many pensioners, living out the twilight years of their lives, one of the great scientific achievements of recent times has been the development of the ability to put a pint of draught porter into a can.
Not only did this negate the need for those whose mobility has become challenging to leave their fireside to enjoy a pint, but the cost of having a couple of pints was put well within their reach too.
But, just as we settled into the comforting notion that all was well with the world, the Government — most likely prodded by the Greens — intervened to upset things. One of their members noticed while on holiday abroad that a refundable levy was attached to the cost of buying a can of beer as a means of reducing inappropriate disposal of the empty. Sounds great, but with all of these things, unless such schemes are well thought through, the innocent end up paying the price. This scheme is no different.
No one asked what happens to the many thousands of pensioners who will struggle with all the coming and going necessary to retrieve the levy.
These are people who never litter and who meticulously ensure that their empty cans are disposed of in the proper bin without any goading required. The net result of this scheme however will see the cost of one of their little comforts increase significantly — which, over a year, could amount to €200 — with zero contribution to achieving the stated goal of the scheme; reducing inappropriate disposal of empties.
CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB
Not many can afford what for them is just another tax.
Working on the assumption that this scheme is well intended, there is a simple solution to ensuring that the lives of the elderly are not negatively impacted: Exempt pensioners. This can easily be done by showing the bus pass at the point of purchase.
And I hardly need to remind politicians that contented elderly constituents tend to let sleeping dogs lie, but woe betide anyone who comes between a pensioner and his can of draught stout.
Education Minister Norma Foley was automatically replaced by a substitute in her classroom once she became a member of the Oireachtas.
The Teaching Council is another body with elected representatives. These representatives are elected by teachers throughout the State. The Teaching Council has the power to dismiss a teacher who has been investigated and charged with gross misconduct. However, the Teaching Council’s members are not automatically released from their schools. They need the permission of their principal, which may not be forthcoming.
From my perspective, this is akin to a juror being withheld from participating in a court of law. In such an instance, the defendant might be acquitted or face a new trial.
Similarly, a Teaching Council decision could be overturned if it transpired that an elected member was excluded from the adjudication. I think Ms Foley should address this issue forthwith and reassure the public that the Teaching Council is not being impeded in its role.
As a lifelong Eurovision fan, the event in May is usually a douze points affair for me. So it was with some interest on December 5 that I spotted Israel on the European Broadcasting Union’s list of countries performing at this year’s song contest. The post included the hashtag “#unitedbymusic”.
Given that Eurovision’s sponsor is the Israeli Moroccanoil company, Israel’s inclusion is no surprise. It will be represented by its state broadcaster whose subsidiary, Kan News, ran into trouble last month for posting on its social media channels a video of Israeli children singing “Within a year we will annihilate everyone, and then we will return to plough our fields.”
This sounds very much like an incitement to genocide. Is it appropriate for RTÉ to be peers with such a broadcaster?
In other news this week, Israel renewed its bombardment of the Gaza strip, with more than 16,248 Palestinians killed. That figure will be higher by the time of reading. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, more than 85% of Gaza’s population has been displaced since October 7.
7,112 children have been killed. Is it appropriate for Ireland to share a stage with a country committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing?
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Eurovision banned the former, stating that the event stands for ‘the basic and ultimate values of democracy.” To quote our 2022 entry, Brooke Scullion, “that’s rich”.
It is most ironic that March 8, International Women’s Day, has been chosen as the date for the upcoming referendums to expunge the words ‘woman’, ‘motherhood’, and ‘home’ from the Constitution.
By outsourcing having babies to the global south, we will only need workers and consumers.
Regarding safety fears around a switch-on ceremony for Cork’s Christmas lights: Simply have an online registration for tickets for the event with a small fee to pay for/contribute to the policing.
In his article — ‘Policing model has disengaged gardaí from their communities’ (Irish Examiner, December 1) — Christy Galligan makes some very contentious claims. He says many problems arise from closing of stations which were mostly one man units. There are still far too many stations open here, numbering 704.
I think gardaí are modern and efficient now.
The first gangland murder of year took place a few weeks ago. Sexual violence and drug issues are addressed, and gardaí are coping with cybercrime and international crime. We have had advice from outside experts in policing fields including Kathleen O’Toole and such is not to be decried.
Commissioner Drew Harris is doing a good job, and I wonder if attacks on him are influenced by the fact he is from the North and is a Protestant whose dad was murdered by the IRA.
What is probably lacking is a presence on the streets, especially in urban areas. Sadly, this is often seen as the poor relation in policing. It is not rewarded, and most members aspire to specialist and less stressful jobs.
There are some leaving the job — about 1% is the normal turnover in a workforce of such size. But there are staff problems in teaching, nursing, construction, etc and it’s not peculiar to gardaí. So let’s get real.
