There are proposals to bring the pay-and-file date forward to as early as June next year so the Department of Finance has all the data needed ahead of the October Budget.
Budget 2014 hit the most vulnerable elements of society – not the young, the sick, the old, or pregnant alone. We need to show intergenerational solidarity and stand together against this injustice, writes Peter Kavanagh.
Health Minister James Reilly has been under increasing pressure since confirmation last Tuesday that a further €666 million is to be taken out of the Health Budget in 2014.
Cuts to medical card allowances and social welfare payments have a direct impact on peoples’ the mental health – I know because I am one of those affected, writes Kate Bellamy.
Not all families NEED help in sending their children to a GP – but the Government is ignoring that in a cynical ploy to curry favour with the electorate.
The alliance of Fine Gael rebels will not be taking a collective stance on the Budget but have already sharply criticised some measures being introduced by the government.
“Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart”… Well, different groups in our society have had to endure different levels of sacrifice, writes Colm Keaveney.
The plan is a further step towards the political disillusionment of young people, a drastic slash in living standards, and an even more polarised society, write Dan O’Neill and Fiona Dunkin.
THEIR THREATENED STRIKE drew fears of a ‘black Christmas’ fraught with electricity blackouts, but unions reached an agreement with the ESB yesterday.
The dispute centred on the company’s pension scheme, and the resolution means that it will be protected as a Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.
However, today it emerged that unions and the company disagree on whether the deal will add any liabilities to the ESB’s balance sheet. Management say it will mean any further liabilities but unions believe it will add at least €369 million.
The dividends from the scheme will continue to be paid to the government.
We ask: Are you satisfied with the resolution of the ESB strike threat?
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