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FactCheck: Updates and corrections

Your point of reference for any changes or fixes to FactCheck articles.

ONE OF THE guiding principles behind The Journal‘s FactCheck is transparency and accountability.

So it’s only right that we apply that principle to ourselves.

This page contains our policy on corrections and updates to FactCheck articles, and a list of corrections and updates that have been made to previous fact checks.

It will be updated on a rolling basis.

Updates and Corrections policy

Occasionally, we will get things wrong. When that happens, we’ll say so.

If any significant information has been added to an article, that update will be briefly described at the bottom of the article. If there was a factual error, the error will be fixed and the correction will be briefly described at the bottom of the article.

If we change a verdict (either due to the discovery of an error or new information), we will explain that change in the article.

Updates and Corrections (last updated May 2025)

2 May, 2025

FactCheck: Are there really more teachers in Ireland than ever before?

Correction: The original version of this article said the figure of 126,821 registered teachers included some teachers counted more than once. That figure is actually the number of unique teachers on the register. The total number of registrations is 134,569.

The article was amended following a clarification of these figures from the Teaching Council.

27 November, 2024

FactCheck: The final debate of the campaign, with claims on housing, inflation and manifestos

Update: This article was amended on 27 November to reflect Sinn Féin’s view that the 5,000 hospital beds it would provide with Apple tax money are a form of capital expenditure. On the same date, a correction was also made to a figure referring to the use of income from carbon tax; the original figure misplaced a decimal point and stated incorrectly that just €82.96 million was put towards environmental schemes.

11 November, 2024

FactCheck: Has work begun on nearly 60,000 new homes in the last 12 months?

Correction: An earlier version of the article stated that the levy waiver exempted developers from paying a €30 per unit fee usually charged when filing a building commencement notice. The article was updated on 11 November to clarify that the levy waiver was actually for development contributions. 

13 May, 2024

Debunked: The number of illegal immigrants in Ireland last year was not 10 times the EU average

Update: An earlier version of this article incorrectly included a percentage sign on the figure 0.28 in the tenth paragraph.

26 March, 2024

Debunked: ‘Ireland will change forever’ conspiracy meme is contradictory and nonsensical

Update: This article was amended on 26 March 2024 to confirm that Direct Democracy Ireland was in the process of re-branding to Liberty Republic.

16 October, 2023

FactCheck: Misleading claims about sex education found on leaflets about the SPHE curriculum

Correction: An earlier version of this article said that the words “pornography” or “consent” were not included in the Junior Cert curriculum, based on documents available on the NCCA website. The article has been updated to reflect that both words are included in an updated specification.

8 May, 2023

FactCheck: Is the Govt correct to claim that 400 people are buying their first home every week?

Correction: Following the publication of this article, the Taoiseach supplied The Journal with more detail about his statement.

The Taoiseach’s office said his figures came from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland report for 2022 which showed first-time buyer drawdowns were over 400 per week average in the final quarter of 2022. The quarter one 2023 report also shows similarly strong data, with a weekly average of 426 drawdowns of mortgages by first-time buyers during the first three months of this year. 

After publishing, the verdict was changed in light of evidence available and the definition of ‘MOSTLY FALSE’ was changed to ‘TRUE’.

23 May, 2022

FactCheck: Is 10% of Ireland’s healthcare budget spent on diabetes?

Correction: Several hours after publishing, this article was edited on 21 May to correct a sentence which gave an inaccurate figure for the percentage of the HSE budget which was spent on health service use by people with diabetes aged 50 and over, according to some research on the subject. The error was introduced during the editing process. The correct figure is far less than 1% of the overall budget. 

19 November, 2021

FactCheck: Are vaccinated people are likely to transmit Covid-19 as non-vaccinated people? 

Correction: After publishing, this article was edited on 19 November to correct a sentence which gave inaccurate statistics for the likelihood of someone getting infected from a household contact. The correct figures are 25% for the secondary attack rate in fully vaccinated household contacts and 23% in unvaccinated contacts, not 25% and 38%. 

3 February, 2021

Debunked: Several claims about Covid-19 in a video featuring Dolores Cahill are false or misleading

Update: After publishing, a study on the effectiveness of an mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 in children was added to the US National Library of Medicine database. Lines at the bottom of ‘Claim 2′ were changed to reflect this, and to clarify that no such study was visible on the database at the time of publication. 

17 December, 2020

“FactCheck: Was Micheál Martin right to say that the banks were not bailed out in 2008?”

Correction: After publishing, a line which said the bank guarantee in 2008 was popularly known as the ‘bank bailout’ and which put the cost of the guarantee at €64 billion was changed to reflect the fact that this money was borrowed by the State by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in 2010.

Lines in the introduction and in the initial outline of Martin’s claim, which suggested the bank guarantee and the subsequent recapitalisation of Irish banks were the same thing, were also corrected.

22 July, 2019

FactCheck: Trump’s false claims about Congresswoman Omar in continuing feud

Correction: The verdict for ‘CLAIM 1: Omar was married to her brother’ has been changed from UNPROVEN to FALSE. 

After publishing, the verdict was changed in light of evidence available and the definition of ‘UNPROVEN’.

30 April, 2019

“FactCheck: Was there a plan to close the Luas Green Line for up to four years to construct the Metrolink?”

CorrectionThe verdict for this fact check has been changed to Mostly TRUE, having originally been TRUE. 

Following the publication of the article, the National Transport Authority (NTA) released a report which had not yet been published when the article was written.

It added context to quotes provided by a spokesman for the NTA, showing that the four-year figure was based on the cumulative amount of time that parts of the line would be closed.

The article has been amended to include the relevant aspects of the report, including information about the closures, which contextualises the four-year claim.

24 March, 2017

“FactCheck: Are Catholic schools more socially diverse than other schools?”

CorrectionThe verdict for this fact check has been changed to Mostly TRUE, having originally been Mostly FALSE. 

After publication, Maria Steen contacted FactCheck with concerns about this article, many of which we agreed with, on reflection. 

She pointed out that pre-publication, Maria Steen had clarified that her claim about diversity was limited to three specific measures of diversity, relating to pupils: from lower socioeconomic groups; lone-parent families; and the Traveller community.

In its original format, this article also insufficiently examined 2016/17 Department of Education data on the proportion of Catholic and multi-denominational schools designated as DEIS schools. 

We re-examined that data, which shows that a greater proportion of Catholic primary schools are DEIS schools, and a comparable proportion of Catholic school pupils and multi-denominational school pupils are in DEIS schools. 

7 February, 2017

“FactCheck: Are Michael O’Leary and Ryanair right about Dublin Airport charges increasing?”

Correction: This article previously stated that “Since the DAA’s passenger charges are levied per passenger, an increase in passengers will inevitably equate to an increase in charges paid”.

An increase in charges paid is not, in fact, an inevitable consequence of an increase in passengers, but rather a likely one. The article has been amended to reflect this.

29 December, 2016

“FactCheck: You asked, we answered – how does Irish politicians’ pay compare to Europe?”

Correction: Previously, the first two charts in the article described data as relating to the salaries of “upper house” members of parliament. In fact, the data related to the salaries of lower house members of parliament, as was made clear in the body of the article itself.

27 November, 2016

“FactCheck: Are motor insurance claims and legal fees going up or down?”

Correction: Previously, this article in one instance named the President of the Law Society as Shane Gilhooly. The President of the Law Society is Stuart Gilhooly, as was correctly stated in another instance, elsewhere in the article.

5 November, 2016

“FactCheck: Does this year’s Budget include the biggest ever investment in health?”

Update: This article was revised to add an analysis of population change and per capita spending. 

6 October, 2016

“FactCheck: Does every other country in Europe have water charges?”

Correction: Due to an error, the verdict on this article was previously stated as ‘Mostly FALSE’. It is, in fact, Mostly TRUE.

27 September, 2016

“FactCheck: Did the last government cut payments to lone parents?”

Correction: This article previously stated that Leo Varadkar was interviewed on Morning Ireland by Cathal Mac Coille. It was, in fact, Gavin Jennings who conducted the interview.

21 September, 2016

“FactCheck: Has no government minister ever gone before the Public Accounts Committee?”

Update: This article was updated to reflect the fact that Michael Noonan had, by time of publication, agreed to come before the Public Accounts Committee on 6 October. 

12 September, 2016

“FactCheck: No, the reported side effects of the HPV vaccine do NOT outweigh the proven benefits”

Update: This article was updated to include the fact that the cervical cancer rate among women in Ireland is one in 115, according to the latest figures (2013).

Correction: This article was amended with the correct spelling of the HPV vaccine Cervarix. We previously wrongly referred to it as “Cervatrix”.

10 September, 2016

“FactCheck: Who got it right on “abortion up to birth” – Cora Sherlock or Ivana Bacik?”

Update: This article was updated to include Ireland among those countries where abortion is legal at any stage in a pregnancy, albeit under strictly limited circumstances.

This is consistent with the criteria applied in the inclusion of certain other countries. 

The charts were also updated to reflect this addition, and we added the fact that in half of the jurisdictions studied, abortion is legal any stage only to protect the life or health of a woman.

Send your FactCheck requests to factcheck@thejournal.ie

TheJournal.ie’s FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here.

For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader’s Guide here

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    Mute Harry
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    May 16th 2016, 9:05 AM

    He sounds like great craic

    196
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    Mute ray.farrelly
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    May 16th 2016, 9:11 AM

    He must be a blueshirt.

    61
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    Mute David Conroy
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    May 16th 2016, 10:08 AM

    I wonder could we get him over here ? Savings of about €150k on salary and he will clean up crime as well !

    90
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    Mute GameOverMan
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    May 16th 2016, 10:18 AM

    This geriatric tosser wont stand up to any real criminals. Hes just another dictator who’ll be hard on citizens while he lives off backhanders from organised crime. Where are all the assassins gone?

    64
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    Mute Keelan O'neill
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    May 16th 2016, 11:00 AM

    They’re off making a film with Michael Fassbender.

    31
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    Mute ktsiwot
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    May 16th 2016, 11:05 AM

    Makes Donald sound like a pinky left liberal.

    46
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    Mute Anton Friendo
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    May 16th 2016, 12:28 PM

    Hillary can supply him with the arms and ammo from her ISIS stash

    32
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    Mute James Costello
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    May 17th 2016, 9:53 AM

    Could do with him in Ireland !!

    2
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    Mute postman pat
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    May 16th 2016, 9:32 AM

    Snipers should be brought in here to sort out the gangland problem

    71
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    Mute John Judd
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    May 16th 2016, 9:25 AM

    Sounds more like a dictator!

    59
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    Mute Davy Boy
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    May 16th 2016, 9:21 AM

    Interesting approach good luck with that

    58
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    Mute Mark Andrew Salmon
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    May 16th 2016, 9:52 AM

    Just rhink about this for a minute. If parents let their kids out at night he will jail the parents. So who will look after the kids then? The State? Who will pay for that? It just demonstrates the kind of knee jerk red neck thinking of this moron. He doesn’t fight crime he just gets the State to commit crime instead of the “private sector”. Murders become state sanctioned executions and robberies become “contributions”. He is definitely a dictator in the making and the people of the Phillipines will dearly regret electing him.

    57
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    Mute Mark Ryan
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    May 16th 2016, 3:20 PM

    Or maybe it will stop parents allowing their children out at night..

    18
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    Mute Khyn Yap
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    May 17th 2016, 6:07 AM

    he has been doing this for 20 years in davao. we have a Penal code. laws of the land that protects minors from abuse and neglect. before we assume lets read the facts first.

    4
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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 16th 2016, 11:37 AM

    People on here seem to forget he was freely elected with a massive majority of the vote. I know many are opposed to the Death Penalty. But look at what crimes he is proposing to introduce it for. Murder, Terrorism, Rape, Child Molestation, Armed Robbery and Drug Smuggling/Dealing. All crimes many on here have said should be dealt with in the most draconian manner. And how many times have we read stories of feral kids here roaming in packs, attacking frontline emergency personnel and have read comments about making the parents pay. As for his shoot to kill policy. Simple solution, don’t resist being arrested.

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    May 16th 2016, 12:33 PM

    And it’s that simple is it?

    24
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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 16th 2016, 12:51 PM

    Yes Deborah, it is that simple.

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    Mute Malachi
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    May 16th 2016, 1:11 PM

    Do you really think drug dealers/smugglers should be hung?

    23
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    Mute Ross Stewart
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    May 16th 2016, 1:41 PM

    Yes Mick, you are that simple

    16
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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 16th 2016, 3:05 PM

    I never pretended to be complicated Ross. Only the pretentious try to be.

    14
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    Mute theresa marie
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    May 16th 2016, 3:40 PM

    Hi Mick, I am from the Philippines it is very sad to think my people forgot that they got rid of Martial Law and what the call a dictator only to go back to this. I wish and pray it works for their benefit and future.

    12
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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 16th 2016, 3:58 PM

    As I said Theresa the vast majority of your countrymen voted for him in free elections knowing full well what his policies were and his history as mayor. People must have seen no alternative in the other candidates when it came to tackling crime.

    12
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    Mute Ross Stewart
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    May 16th 2016, 5:02 PM

    Hitler, Mugabe, Al bashir, lukashenko and most importantly for this story, Ferdinand Marcos were all elected and look how their ruling turned out.

    7
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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 16th 2016, 5:40 PM

    Ross. We got Enda. Nobody is claiming that a Free Democratic election is perfect but it is the Peoples choice. And in this case he was elected by a vast majority of the Filipino people. He made no attempt to hide his policies, his history as Mayor of Davao city was there for all to see and yet still they voted for him in their millions.

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    May 16th 2016, 9:18 AM

    And we think we are hard done by with Enda in charge

    38
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    Mute Ross Stewart
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    May 16th 2016, 9:48 AM

    Just a different type of dictator

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    Mute Jimmy Murphy
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    May 16th 2016, 9:15 AM

    What a nice fellow.

    37
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    Mute Stiofán Na Mara
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    May 16th 2016, 9:24 AM

    They should fear the IMF mafia more and the march of aggressive neo liberal capitalism which has been destroying them. Watch this documentary.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79bZ71fUZRU

    32
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    Mute Jason O Neill
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    May 16th 2016, 10:16 AM

    oh a good crack down on drug dealers, rapist and murders sounds like a great idea. and for parents who let their kids walk the streets at night in such a dangerous place should not be allow look after kids.

    28
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    Mute Robbi Cairdiúil
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    May 16th 2016, 12:20 PM

    Extra-judicial killings are not the way forward no matter what. And I have always been perfectly safe in the Philippines.

    19
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    Mute Mark Ryan
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    May 16th 2016, 3:20 PM

    It’s an interesting case study all the same.

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    Mute Brian Lynch
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    May 16th 2016, 7:33 PM

    I was in Davao last year and the people there love him. It was extremely safe by day and night although there is a very visible police force on the streets all fully armed. Smoking is banned literally everywhere and bars close at 1:30am. People in the city all seemed very happy and say it’s a god send from the days when Davao was the murder Capitol of the Phillipines. Whether such draconian ideology work across the nation remains to be seen but with so many phillipinos sick of crime and corruption you can see why they voted for him….

    19
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    Mute Robbi Cairdiúil
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    May 16th 2016, 12:19 PM

    The majority of my friends here in Belfast are Filipino and I’m surprised by the support for him given the votes they cast in our recent election in the north. Why Miriam Defensor Santiago’s polling was so low is staggering – a highly intelligent, able, socially liberal academic and former International Criminal Court Judge. She may be mouthy but she was more than able. For Duterte to win, and for Marcos to poll astronomically higher than Miriam is completely and totally beyond me. It’s American-style cult of personality madness!

    12
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    Mute Mark Ryan
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    May 16th 2016, 3:22 PM

    Or maybe the country want a serious change

    12
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    Mute theresa marie
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    May 16th 2016, 4:08 PM

    Robbi, Mirriam was the only deserving candidate, if not for her being very sick ( granted she said her stage 4 cancer is in remission) people are in no doubt would have voted for her. Marcos is running for VP and Merriam is for President so their votes don’t connect.

    4
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    Mute China Photo Daily
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    May 16th 2016, 6:12 PM

    This article perfectly encapsulates how bad the AFP is. Duterte is a plague and is a step backwards for The Philippines, it’s literally the easiest honest hit piece in the world to write but they just can’t help themselves. “He claimed Davao is one of the safest cities in the Philippines” well is it or isn’t it? How hard is it to quote the figures to us? Are they that afraid of admitting he may have been successful at one thing? God just report the facts and leave out the spin.

    7
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    Mute prouesse f
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    May 16th 2016, 11:23 AM

    He must be Muslim…

    5
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    Mute June Rose-Sommer
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    May 17th 2016, 1:01 PM

    He sounds absolutely crazy!!! I fear for the country!!!

    1
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