Readers like you keep news free for everyone.
More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.
For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.
Readers like you keep news free for everyone.
More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.
For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.
DO YOU WANT State of the Nation delivered to your inbox every morning at 9.30am? Sign-up to our email alert at the bottom of this story.
Everybody’s talking about…
When a deadline isn’t a deadline.
As midnight’s deadline approached, close to 900,000 customers (about 60% of those eligible to pay) had returned their registration packs to Irish Water.
There was a media offensive yesterday with Environment Minister Alan Kelly and Irish Water spokesperson Elizabeth Arnett making a number of appearances to encourage last-minute registration.
Confusion reigned supreme early in the day with Labour Senator Lorraine Higgins telling Morning Ireland there was “no clarity” on whether people would face financial penalties for non or late registration. Irish Water was forced to quickly release a statement clarifying her remarks and stressing that people will not be fined.
Kelly again reiterated that yesterday wasn’t a complete deadline, noting that a future one will be set for people to apply for the €100 water conservation grant.
This begs the question: When will the final, final deadline be?
The Government’s softly-softly approach seems to have backfired somewhat, with four in ten households yet to register. However, it has emerged that debt collection agencies may be used to collect the charge from people who fail to pay their bills over a prolonged period.
The next large-scale protest against the charge is planned for April, when bills are due to arrive. Mass non-payment would lead to another massive headache for Fine Gael and Labour.
Watch this space.
The agenda
Inside Leinster House
Fianna Fáil is due to meet at noon today to discuss tabling a motion of no-confidence in Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett.
Yesterday Barrett released a statement clarifying remarks he made last week during an interview with RTÉ. Barrett said TDs were entitled to question his decision to block a Dáil debate on the establishment of a Commission of Investigation into Garda malpractice.
However, he failed to withdraw his remark that opposition TDs are trying to undermine him.It was reported that Barrett was due to contact Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin last night or this morning in a bid to resolve the issue.
The Ceann Comhairle has had a number of run ins with Opposition TDs in recent times, leading several to state they have no confidence in him. If Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil join forces over the issue, it could spell serious trouble for Barrett.
What the others are saying
In case you missed it
On the Twitter machine
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site