LAST UPDATE | 11 Jan 2022
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. Christmas printing
In our main story this morning, Stephen McDermott reports that Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins spent more taxpayer money using an Oireachtas service to print Christmas calendars and cards than any other TD ahead of the festive season.
Figures released to The Journal under the Freedom of Information Act show that Collins, his party colleague Willie O’Dea, Sinn Féin’s John Brady and the Healy-Rae brothers all had Christmas material printed for them at a cost of hundreds of Euro late last year.
Overall, 51 different TDs and senators used the Oireachtas printer in the run-up to Christmas at a cost of €6,428.96, but the five TDs above were responsible for more than half the total cost between them.
Collins, the Minister of State for Skills and Further Education and a TD for Limerick County, was the only deputy whose Christmas material cost more than €1,000, after ordering 36,000 A4-sized calendars in October 2021 at a cost of €1,194.31 to the taxpayer.
2. Covid-19
EU experts will today discuss Genrui antigen test kits after a high number of reported false positives raised questions about the tests’ accuracy.
The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) last week advised that retailers in Ireland should remove the Genrui antigen tests from sale until further notice.
The HPRA issued the advice after receiving over 550 reports of false positives from people who used the test kits.
3. Climate
Members of the Climate Change Advisory Council will come before an Oireachtas Committee this afternoon for the first of three days scrutinising the carbon budgets proposed for Ireland.
The Committee on the Environment and Climate Action, the first Oireachtas committee to return after the Christmas break, is meeting three days in a row this week to hear from scientists, campaigners and trade representatives on Ireland’s plans to cap emissions.
At today’s meeting, TDs and senators will examine the work of the Climate Change Advisory Council’s Carbon Budgets Committee in preparing the budgets for the Council to consider.
4. Downing Street lockdown drinks
In the UK, police are in contact with the Cabinet Office over claims Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s aide organised a “bring your own booze” Downing Street drinks party during the first lockdown.
Following political calls for officers to investigate allegations relating to May 2020, the Metropolitan Police confirmed it is liaising with the Whitehall department over the latest claims.
Martin Reynolds, the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary, sent an email to more than 100 Downing Street employees asking them to “bring your own booze” for an evening gathering, ITV reported.
5. RIP
The President of the European Parliament David Sassoli has died early this morning in hospital in Italy, his spokesman said.
The 65-year-old Italian had been seriously ill in hospital for more than two weeks due to a dysfunction of his immune system.
6. North Korea
South Korea’s military has said North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea, ratcheting up tensions less than a week after Pyongyang reported testing a hypersonic missile.
The early-morning launch came as the UN Security Council met in New York to discuss last week’s test of what Pyongyang called a hypersonic missile, although Seoul has cast doubt on that claim.
7. Ukraine
The United States and Russia locked horns over Ukraine and other security issues yesterday, with no sign of progress from either side at highly anticipated strategic talks.
Low expectations from both Washington and Moscow about the high-stakes session in Geneva appeared to have been met as senior diplomats from the two countries emerged without offering any hint of success.
8. A medical first
US doctors have transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life.
A Maryland hospital said that he is doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery.
While it is too soon to know if the operation really will work, it marks a step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants.
9. Novak Djokovic
Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic trained at the Australian Open venue in search of a record 21st Grand Slam – while the government pondered cancelling his visa again.
The world number one had scored a surprise courtroom victory the day before, overturning the Australian government’s decision to cancel his visa on Covid-19 vaccination grounds.
But the immigration minister said he may annul Djokovic’s visa once more.
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