LAST UPDATE | 5 Jul 2022

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.

Back-to-school costs

1. Campaigners have urged schools to be “extra cognisant” of students and families who are struggling to afford books and uniforms ahead of the new school year, Emer Moreau writes in today’s lead story.

Poverty campaigners and parents’ groups frequently highlight the cost of going back to school every summer, but there are fears that the financial burden on parents will be compounded this year by the cost-of-living crisis.

One parent-of-four in the west of the country, who spoke to The Journal on condition of anonymity, said her children’s school had recently announced a new uniform to be introduced in September.

Budget 2023

2. The Budget 2023 package will be €6.7 billion, an increase in spending of €2.2 billion on the previous year.

Following Cabinet approval, the Government has published its Summer Economic Statement, setting out the parameters of the next Budget.

The details were announced yesterday by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath. The overall package will be made up of additional public spending worth €5.65 billion, and taxation measures worth €1.05 billion.

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has warned that Budget the must be a “delicate balancing act” between protecting the economy and looking after vulnerable families hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis.

Chicago shooting

3. Police have arrested a suspect after a mass shooting left six people dead at a US Independence Day parade in a wealthy Chicago suburb, casting a dark shadow over the country’s most patriotic holiday.

Robert Crimo (22) was identified as a “person of interest” and became the target of a massive manhunt across the town of Highland Park in Illinois, where a rooftop gunman with a high-powered rifle turned a family-focused Fourth of July parade celebration into a scene of death and trauma.

Firing into the crowd, the shooter caused scenes of total chaos as panicked onlookers ran for their lives, leaving behind a parade route strewn with chairs, abandoned balloons and personal belongings. with some in critical condition.

Bankers

4. Legislation that will give the Central Bank more power to tackle individual bankers for wrongdoing has brought forward to Cabinet.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe confirmed recently that after much delay, the Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill will establish the so-called “senior executive accountability regime”.

The Bill aims to give greater powers to regulators to punish individual misconduct.

Dublin Airport

5. The Dublin Airport Authority has said that “significant improvements” made at the airport are “achieving their desired result” to alleviate pressure on the system amid a strong return to air travel.

The authority said that despite the vast majority of flights operating on time, a spike in Covid-19 cases resulted in some airlines and baggage handling crews being “short of staff”, leading to flight cancellations and delays at airline check-in desks and bag drop areas.

Monkeypox vaccines

6. The Health Minister has been given approval by Cabinet to acquire more monkeypox vaccines for Ireland.

Stephen Donnelly will enter the country into a ‘donation contract’ with the European Commission to receive a supply of a monkeypox vaccine called Jynneos.

The vaccines are being donated to EU States based on population size. The first delivery of doses to Ireland is expected in the coming weeks.

Climate change

7. The Executive Vice-President of the EU Commission has often warned that “our children will be waging wars over water and food if we do not act now” on climate change.

But conflict over diminishing water supplies is not just a future risk. It is already happening during times of drought, Orla Dwyer reports from Tana River County in Kenya.

There are fears that more frequent droughts brought on by global warming will lead to more disruption between people with limited access to water.

Metrolink 

8. The Metrolink, Ireland’s proposed underground rail service, is now expected to be operational by 2034, according to the coalition.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan received approval from the Government for the preliminary business case for the MetroLink project as submitted by the National Transport Authority (NTA).

The Government also agreed to issue approval to the NTA to enable a planning application for the project to be lodged to An Bord Pleanála in September.

Forecast

9. And finally, the weather.

Met Éireann says it will be a rather cloudy day with patchy rain at times. Sunny spells will develop in the late afternoon.

Highest temperatures will range from 15 to 20 degrees Celsius, lowest in the northwest and highest in the south and southeast.