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UP TO 28,000 babies are to be invited to take part in a vaccination programme against for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) this autumn and winter.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will today ask Cabinet to approve the vaccination programme for infants born between September 2024 and February 2025.
Parents will be encouraged to vaccinate their newborns before leaving the hospital and the vaccine is expected to be effective for up to five months – the average length of an RSV season. It is understood that protection from the vaccine is immediate once administered.
In an interview with The Journal last year, Donnelly said the vaccine is already in use in Spain and appeared to be “really -effective”. However, due to its cost, Ireland had to negotiate a price with the manufacturer.
Last winter, there has been a sharp spike in RSV, prompting the HSE advise parents to “cocoon” very young babies, who are particularly vulnerable.
Last year there were 1,397 RSV hospitalisations in infants under one year of age, and the majority of these (1,017) were in infants less than six months of age.
In Winter 2023/2024 there were 118 paediatric intensive care unit admissions in infants under one year of age attributed to RSV and adult ICU beds had to be placed on standby for paediatric patients due to the high numbers being admitted to hospital and ICU.
As a result, Donnelly drew up plans for a vaccine programme to start for newborns in September following advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) that vaccines were safe and effective.
NIAC noted that preliminary data from a clinical trial conducted in Europe during winter 2022/23, involving over 8,000 infants, reported an 83% reduction in RSV-related hospitalisations in infants.
Donnelly has been advised that applying the evidence to the Irish infant population could result in the avoidance of up to 453 hospitalisations and up to 48 ICU admissions if there was a 50% take-up among newborns this autumn/winter.
NIAC has also advised that analysis of cost effectiveness and programmatic considerations are required to determine the most appropriate permanent RSV immunisation strategy.
HIQA has been asked to carry out a rapid health technology assessment of immunisation against RSV in Ireland, which will include infants and older adults.
Separately, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien is to update Cabinet on homeownership rates and restrictions around bulk-buying.
He will tell ministers that guidelines issued introduced in May 2021 mean by the end of May, almost 50,000 new houses and duplex units have been ring-fenced for owner occupiers. Apartments were not included in the measure.
Last month, Taoiseach Simon Harris said has said he wants a review carried out into the bulk buying of properties by private investors.
He told reporters he wants a new review to look at both taxation and planning measures that can further prevent the bulk buying of properties.
The standard rates of stamp duty on residential property are 1% on values up to €1 million and 2% on values exceeding €1 million.
A higher 10% rate of duty comes in when someone acquires at least 10 properties during any 12-month period.
In May 2021 the government introduced a 10% stamp duty on the bulk purchase of family homes by investment funds.
However, in July 2021, the Government passed a controversial amendment to allow funds to side-step the 10% stamp duty if they leaseback homes to the State for social housing.
While the government says the measure has proven to be a “significant disincentive”, critics such as Sinn Féin has said the measures do not go far enough.
In addition to the housing and health memos today, Education Minister Norma Foley is bringing a memo to cabinet about the plan to hire 44 therapists on a permanent basis to work with teachers and children with special educational needs in the classroom.
It is understood that it had been very difficult to fill the roles for 39 speech and language therapists (SLTs) and occupational therapists, as well as five behavioural therapists, because they were on a temporary basis.
The Department of Public Expenditure has now sanctioned that the roles can be advertised as permanent positions.
The therapists will work collaboratively with teachers in classrooms to improve learning outcomes for students.
This has been successfully piloted in schools and is known as the School Inclusion Model.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee will also bring a number of updates to Cabinet in relation to immigration, including an update on the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, to which Government has agreed to opt-in.
Approval of the opt-in is required from both the Dáil and the Seanad, with debates scheduled in both Houses for this week. The Pact has been under negotiation at EU level since 2016.
McEntee will tell ministers that a shared European response is needed to better respond to the global challenges of asylum and migration, and that by opting into the Pact, Ireland’s laws on both matters will be fully aligned with the EU for the first time.
New legislation will therefore be introduced to replace the International Protection Act 2015, which is no longer fit for purpose. That legislation will also be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny and will be debated in both the Dáil and the Seanad as normal.
There will also be full debate and scrutiny on how the Pact is implemented in Irish law.
The new legislation will include a number of changes, including “stronger border security, with more collection of fingerprints and photographs of new arrivals; faster processing of all applications, with legally binding timeframes for decision making; and fast-track processing at designated centres for people who arrive with no documents or from countries which are generally free from war and persecution”.
It will also include a greater focus on returning unsuccessful applicants to their home countries, or to other European countries they have travelled through, and a new solidarity mechanism to give greater support to countries such as Italy and Greece that are at the front-line of migration pressures.
The Minister will also seek Cabinet approval to introduce a number of legislative changes in a Bill to be enacted before the summer recess.
These include increasing the current maximum carrier liability fine from €3,000 to €5,000 in instances where they are found not to have upheld their obligations in ensuring passengers have appropriate documentation.
The Bill will also allow certificates of citizenship to be revoked in very limited circumstances. For example, where the person presents a credible threat to the State, or where citizenship has been procured through fraud.
McEntee will also update Government on further investment in the international protection system.
She will tell Cabinet that this will require 400 additional staff to be hired in the next 12 months, which will build on progress to date.
This includes the doubling of staff working in the International Protection Office, which the Department says has led to a corresponding trebling of the number of decisions issued.
The Minister will also increase the current target of 1,100 IPO decisions per month to 1,800 decisions per month and then to 2,200 decisions per month.
International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) capacity will be increased to deliver some 1,000 appeals monthly initially, and subsequently 1,250 a month.
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Jobsbridge is a complete scam.
Exploiting workers for cheap labour = bad
But helping people without work experience gain some = good
How do you suggest that people get work experience? Should the government get out of supporting people to get jobs? I mean, a voluntary scheme, where people get a bit extra to get work experience sounds reasonable – and I don’t think there should be a guarantee of a job at the end.
I’d really love to hear some ideas, rather than just jobsbridge/scam etc.
David, you’ll not win that argument. I started out my career in work experience with no pay, I worked hard and enjoyed it, gained lots of experience then as soon as a job came up I was top of the list. It was the best thing I ever did, it showed the powers that be that I wasn’t driven by money but the love of the job. Anyone who suggests work experience schemes are a scam are usually the sort that joins a union straight away and spend their time fighting for work agreements to do as little work as possible for maximum pay. Jobsworths!! (typically with strong Dublin accents) “bring on the red thumbs now!!”
Ah, hear, now, David. You’re not allowed to say anything positive about JobBridge here.
Reduce the hours to 20 hours a week
That’s essentially a CE scheme
Tinkers toenail.
You’re using a made up, temporary troll Twitter account, what you’ve said is a complete fabrication.
You’re lying here.
Dermot…huh?
Dermot, this is my own account and I’m real.
I started off on an scheme and was paid £1/hour, no dole, just the wage.
I gained valuable experience that has stood me well for the past 20 years.
A friend spent a year on a scheme in NI to gain experience with only his social welfare to support him.
He is now working in finance in Wall Street. Without the experience he gained on the scheme, he wouldn’t have the position he has now.
I’m not saying job bridge is a good scheme, it has been abused by a minority.
But work experience is a good thing if you pick the right job.
@Danny. The scheme in NI is not Job-bridge, peoples issue is with job-bridge and the way its run, eg why 9 months as it should be 6 maximum. There is the issue of using Job-bridge for what is essentially unskilled labour also a general look through a lot of the postings sees not a lot of opportunities for developing proper careers.
a career in stacking shelves or pumping petrol. nice. maybe even slicing meat at a spar deli counter
So I guess we all (bar the usual fake accounts and trolls) agree that yes, the scheme has its benefits, it has some success stories and it also has a fair few abusers. So really its down to the government to turn it into mostly success stories and no abusers. But becuase it massages the employment figures rather that solely creating success stories then it wont be tweaked by this shower of liars, who are by far the biggest abusers of the participants.
Dave, my personal examples were from the mid ’90′s.
These schemes have been around for a long time.
Mine was for 12 months as was my friends.
It’s up to the individual what they get out of it.
If they don’t think they are gaining relevant experience it’s up to them to complain or leave.
I know in my own case, if I hadn’t done this, I would not have been able to start he career I’ve had as early as I did.
There was a recession on at that time too and very little jobs.
The market was flooded with qualified people, but those with experience got the jobs first, as I did.
People from Dublin are more evolved.
abused by the majority you mean
Dave, at any given time during the past 4 years, between 2,000-3,000 people have volunteered to do this course.
That’s volunteered remember. No one forced them to do it.
Are there unscrupulous employers out there? Yes of course there are.
But they are a minority, otherwise why would people continue to volunteer for the internships?
But let’s not get facts in the way of a rant shall we?
I can’t stand this government, but there is nothing wrong with internships.
They might have made a balls of policing it at the start, but in theory, internships are a good thing for all involved.
Another example of an internship.
The son of a family friend qualified as a civil engineer 2 years ago.
He sent out CV’s to no avail.
He then sent letters to all the companies that were working close to where he lived, mostly in Derry and surrounding counties.
In the letter he said he was willing to work for free to gain experience.
One company took him on and after 3 months he resent his CV out again.
Guess what?
He was offered a job on this round of CV’s.
They recognised his work ethic and drive and he stood above all the other CV’s they were being sent at the time.
Was the company that he volunteered into using him as slave labour or was he using them as a stepping stone?
You choose.
I seen a certain animal rescue advertising for an intern to walk dogs and pick up dog poo! Is there anyone even checking up on the advertised roles? There should be a governing body to ensure people are learning a proper trade/skill.
David ive seen job ad for places looking for shelf stackers under these schemes , also 9 month internship for Gyms where cadidates need the correct qualifications and 2 years experiences !!! Thats call taking the
P!SS !
Interns training interns .
Just shows how ridiculous the whole scam is. There’s so many “internships” that can be mastered within a couple of weeks that they barely count as “work experience”. It’s a con, pure and simple.
A vote for ff fg labour is a vote for cheap labour.protest your discontent tomorrow no point moaning about it.
Job bridge is a convenient design to avoid paying minimum wage! Overseen by the Labour Party, party of the working class and proletairite!
Jobbridge scam, the people who dream up these scams would never let their own kids do them. They just think you should do it “Cos you’re worth it”
If my kid was unemployed and drawing the dole I’d be more than happy they were out of bed everyday doing something until they found work.
Would you have yours parked in front of the TV watching Judge Judy?
Yes, is a good idea, I would prefer to send them on a training course or further education.
yes john, but at lease force the employer to pay more. €50 a week is pretty insulting, and they are getting labour.
@Denis – The employer pays nothing. The extra 50 quid comes from the state.
All the talk and no action. How much or what does it take for the Irish people to say enough is enough. We’re a bunch of lazy Wasters. We let our elected government away with anything. Would you let someone into your home to rob you blind??? Well your letting government inc rob you stupid.Buy hey somebody else will do something about it right???? No they won’t that’s what there hoping you say. Jesus Christ above when is the Irish people going to wake up
Oh won’t somebody please think of the children?
Wake up an do what exactly?
The €110 million from the religious orders to help the survivors of institutional abuse is being managed by jobBridge interns and Caranua are saying that the interns end of “contract” is down to re-employment elsewhere.
The interns are told to tell enquiring public whose personal data and cheques have been sent to the wrong address that they are only employed as temps.
One of the “end of contract” interns/temps has expressed concern.
When those in power deny your freedom the only path to freedom is power.
Nelson Mandela.
That head of HR is to be commended for her refreshing candour!
Rather than allow a scenario develop whereby a person may gamble nine months of their life away, for potentially little reward, the scheme should be tweaked to allow the intern,say, two hours per day to do an online course at “slave driver’s” sorry “employer’s” expense at place of internship.
For example, Khan Academy or Udemy free course offering could be utilised here where the only cost to the employer is time and an internet connection. Such an initiative could provide critical additional motivation to the intern (and improve the national stock of much-in-demand programmers, should the intern be so inclined, by learning a range of the brilliant courses on the various programming languages in Khan and Udemy) and demonstrate to the employer that this internship scheme is a two-way street.
Has anyone here singing the praises of jobbridge ever been on one?
I’d prefer people with real names and accounts replied, trolls are basically full of shit.
I’ve done a similar course Dermot.
See my post above.
I enjoyed my internship, great time and learned valuable experience but not enough to consider a career change.
I done it because construction was quiet and a few weeks sitting at home doing nothing was soul destroying.
Perversely…my stint on jobbridge actually cost me a long term paid job in construction, I met a past employer who said he had work for a few months but never contacted me as he heard I was working.
I think jobbridge has the potential to provide employment options if it was regulated better, there’s way too many taking advantage of it to fill vacancies.
I did something similar in my past except it was harder work that involved late nights, early mornings and a part time job at nights and weekends and it was done over 120 weeks, not 9 months, and I actually had to pay 1500 a year to do it…
While I don’t agree with the JobBridge program being used to massage the unemployment figures, I do believe that it serves a very valid role in providing essential work-experience to those who may not have the opportunity otherwise.
It is an internship scheme, not a probationary period for a permanent job, and it shouldn’t need to be said.
Librarianship is a skilled position requiring suitable qualification, but also, experience. If libraries are not hiring due to budget cut-backs, jobseekers will not attain the requisite experience to stand out ahead of other competing candidates. JB affords the jobseeker the opportunity to attain such experience when otherwise they might not.
With any job that I have worked, it was my previous work experience that was the key determinant, ahead of mediocre paper qualifications, that secured me that job.
In fairness, the jobs market is changing now with employers hiring again, and when they do, those who didn’t waste their time on the dole but went out and worked on a JB scheme will stand out favourably.
Very well articulated Brian and I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately you are far to grounded in reality for here.
Exactly as you said Brian an internship is not a probationary period for a job. The skills gained doing an internship can be very useful on a CV when applying for a job. People have to be open to perhaps moving outside of their local area to find where jobs matching their learned skills are available.
It’s a fact of life that jobs cannot always be on our doorsteps.
Brian, there are only about 3,000 people on JobBridge, so the effect on the unemployment numbers is minimal. Also, people on JobBridge are still drawing dole, so they are included in the Live Register numbers.
I would suggest that employers should contribute to the payment of people on jobsbridge and give those in this scheme a lump sum at the end of the internship if they had no intention of hiring in the first place.
SF seem to be enthralled with anything thats not abuse related
Patjoe You seem enthralled with Sinn Fein. You like a lot of people seem to be having sleepless nights worrying about how well SF are doing in the polls LOL
Coco 19%? To be fair I doubt anyone in government is lying awake at night worrying about Sinn Fein based on those numbers. Sinn Fein will do well to win 20 seats at the next election.
Ah patjoe/o Reilly, you are back. No sign of you yesterday when the story broke that one of the hooded men passed away. Since there was no political gain from your employers in FG, I guess they would be no pay for commenting on that story
Jobs bridge used in council libraries. The ones they government have not closed all over the country. Pay your property tax and it goes towards local services we were told. Then they gave it to the bondholders and closed a lot of libraries.
If you don’t like JobBridge, then don’t go on it. If you’ve been unemployed and getting free taxpayer money for a while, then get off your ass.
Most of the unemployed have been employed and have paid into the system, what they get is not free taxpayer money. Sending the unemployed to work for nothing is giving employers free labour at the expense of the taxpayer. The lazy, workshy, get off your ass mantra, is the spin used to justify the expolitation of the unemployed. With the added benefit to the government of being able to manipulate the figures to appear to be bringing unemployment figures down. It’s a scam, nothing else.
Tom, are you sat on your arse. Why are you not out there helping to pay for Politician’s advisors and IW bonuses?
I done a jobbridge internship recently and was told beforehand that full time employment would be offered after 9 months, I was assured of this right up to the final week before being thanked and replaced by an intern from jobbridge.
I found out later that I myself had replaced a jobbridge intern who applied for the advertised position prior to the creation of jobbridge, obviously this company has vacancies but prefer not having to pay anyone a wage.
Report them so.
Pointless reporting them now seeing as I finished a while back and they’re not advertising now.
I guess I chose the wrong internship, one which I was considering gave their intern a job after it finished.
The point of my comment is that it is being used unfairly by certain companies, it seems to be widespread which has created animosity towards it.
Take care homes, despite the outrage..(which has expectedly died down)…over under qualified people looking after our elderly and children , homes are still using jobbridge…”No experience necessary”.
are you surprised they let you go dermot? really?
Go away you stinking troll, your opinion is not worth the cat shit I scraped of my shoe earlier.
Let the grown ups talk, you go back under your bridge.
Robbing our private pension funds to pay for such blatant slave labour will go down in history as the most cynical exercise by a so called Irish government, and there is a lot of competition for that award, can’t wait for one of those parasites to ring my bell next year.
Shhhhush……
While doing a part-time Masters degree I did two internships in the private and public sector. At times it seemed incredibly unfair that I was not getting paid for doing the same amount of work that paid employees were getting. On top of this I was holding down a weekend part-time job so I was working 7 days a week with 40 hours a week the unpaid internship.
It is only after I finally found paid work (having to move abroad) did I realise that the internships really were worth it as the experience on my CV really worked in my favour.
So my attitude really changed about worthwhile internships but I am saddened and struggle to support these nonsense slave labour like Jobsbridge internships. How can companies and the government justify internships in Subway sandwich making, tyre fitting or car washing?
@gahan. Sorry what’s Judge Judy ??
@gahan’s favourite Muppet Show
No SF abuse claims this week opps the week ain’t over yet
Bluemist thought thus article was about jobs scam but don’t worry you just keep repeating “abuse, abuse” in the hope of damaging a party that really look like they might form the next government and that scares the s••• out of ya. FG right wing Bankster buddies have had their day. get over it
I would prefer young people to work in libraries than to blow them up, or be blown up in them.
Schools are doing the same thing as well – teachers, Classroom Assistants, secretaries, cleaners etc. – with no chance whatsoever of gaining employment. It’s a disgrace and its exploitation at its very worst.
89,300 people on the minimum wage of €8.65
Over 300,000 people earning below the living wage of €11.45
80,000 on activation schemes including job bridge.
300,000 people emigrated in four years.
Congratulations to the government on this seismic recovery with a special thanks to the “Socialist” Labour Party
Under-25s who snub JobBridge offers face dole cuts
” there is no compulsion on any job seeker to participate in JobBridge”.
More lies from this government and carried by media without contradiction or question. Maybe the journal needs a few researchers on jobbridge just to get the true facts before rushing to publish this spin.
The largest individual “employer” using the job bridge scheme is the government and their agencies. It helps manipulate the live register
with all the libraries they are closing I don’t why they aren’t doing something similar to this everywhere to keep services like this open the only reason jobsbridge a scam to me is it’s voluntary everyone on the dole should have to work in public services and do something for their money
I’m surprised shiners know what a job is
Or the function of a library,
No comment yesterday on the hooded men patjoe ????
Take it easy lads – O’Snodaigh knows what a scam is – a PRINT SCAM.
They say it is voluntary and you don’t have to take part. But the fact is that this scheme is deterring employers from actually hiring staff and therefore adversely affecting the jobs market.
Fair play dermot
Dermot the other possibility is that you were not suitable to be taken on. After 9 months the might have said actually we don’t want this guy as a full time employee, or possibly they were using/abusing the people on the scheme. Maybe you were a great asset but I imagine that some people who go on job bridge would not make good full time employees. I’m not trying to insult you, just saying it is not always one way
Point taken, I put in the hours…sometimes extra hours…done what was expected, got good reviews and was told that there was work at the end.
I got a reference too.
I didn’t really mind not getting a job out of it, it was nine months of doing something.
If the need arises I’ll certainly do another.
well they wouldnt need nine months to figure that one out/
and if he was the second of 3 interns then it is more likely he was being abused
“No compulsion to do an internship” but if ya don’t we’ll just out you on TUS or gateway etc.
The idea of these schemes is correct..The execution is poor. As many have suggested..The employers should have to contribute something other than a job placement.. The whole thing is left wide open for exploitation.
In a statement, the council said: “The programme provides the participants with an opportunity to put into practice skills they have learned during training and/or education, in a workplace setting, to enhance those skills, understand the workplace environment and context and to benefit from a mentor or supervisor’s experience and advice.”
the above quote is what appears on a jobbridge.ie advertisement when the employer doesnt bother filling in the description field. this has been copied and pasted from there.
I’m currently doing a tus scheme another work for your dole idea anyways I’ve been trying to get into barbering easier Said than done as jobs bridge has buried apprenticeships and has been replaced with internships.
Positive note if I get an internship in a barber shop I will get the experience I need to kick start my new career. TUS Is the real slave bridge that every ones labelling jobs bridge as.
Not just libraries either…
It seems some of the hospitals have doctors who seem not to know anything, so they must have grabbed some off the street to stick them into some hospitals, sounds like jobbridge to me lol.
Just done 8 months as a medical scientist in one of the HSE’s totally under staffed but still no chance of a job. Jobsbridge sucks its a complete scam
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