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US President Donald Trump Jacquelyn Martin
Winners and Losers
Here are the winners and losers of the political week
A big blow for Trump this week, with a few others back home getting knocks too.
EVERY WEEKEND, OUR political team casts an eye over the events inside and outside Leinster House that have people talking.
This week, the Dáil returned from its Halloween break, the US mid-term results were revealed and there were bomb threats issued to media outlets.
Here is our rundown of the political winners and losers of the week.
Winners
The Stripe brothers and other billionaires
A one-time tax on billionaires in California didn’t get the support many expected in the mid-term election.
Proposition 40 seeks to impose a one-time, 5% tax on individuals and trusts with over $1 billion (€887.55 million) in assets, and allocate the revenues to fund healthcare, food assistance and education.
It is something Irish billionaire Patrick Collison campaigned heavily against, having stumped up more than $300 million (€266.26 million) to defeat the proposal. A good day for billionaires.
Hildegarde Naughton
Some positive news from Education Minister Hildegarde Naughton who announced this week that she is expanding the free period products scheme to include upper primary, post-primary and special schools in the free education scheme.
Naughton has confirmed that the scheme will be expanded to all upper primary (4th, 5th and 6th classes), post-primary and special schools participating in the free education scheme from the 2027/28 school year.
Schools will receive annual grant funding from the department to provide free period products for students who may need them during the school day.
Funding allocations are calculated based on the number of students in each school who, based on age, are likely to have started their period.
The scheme follows consultation with students, teachers and school leaders, who expressed strong support for the provision of free period products in schools and highlighted concerns about rising costs and the impact of period poverty.
A good news announcement.
Losers
Donald Trump
Well, what can we say.
After a brutal defeat for the Republicans, there is no doubt about it that the US president is on the losers list this week.
The Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in the US in a dramatic landslide.
Not one to be too comfortable losing, Trump said: “If I were on the ballot, we would have won.”
Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Sinn Féin’s Aengus Ó Snodaigh made a request to Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy this week for time to make a statement before the Dáil regarding the controversy surrounding Liberty Recycling.
The TD is chairman of Dublin-based Liberty Recycling, a social enterprise focused on clothes recycling, but the entity has been embroiled in a money laundering investigation.
However, the request was refused.
The Sinn Féin TD released a statement about the money laundering investigation concerning the charity on Wednesday evening, hours after he was prevented from making a statement to the Dáil on the issue.
The TD said he was shocked and horrified by the very serious allegations that have emerged.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on his part and the Dublin TD is not under criminal investigation.
“I fully support the investigations by An Garda Síochána and the Charities Regulator. The facts must be established and anyone responsible for wrongdoing held accountable.”
He added that he had got involved at the charity some 20 years ago on the back of work in drug addiction services and that his role was entirely voluntary with no remuneration.
Jim O’Callaghan
Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan has had a bit of a bruising week after a verdict handed down in the High Court found that some of the key elements of his criminal legal aid reforms were “grossly unfair” and “illogical”.
While it did say the minister had the right to set down an omnibus fee for lawyers, it also said the new regime had exceeded his powers as minister.
The minister has been in a battle with the solicitors since the summer, with O’Callaghan stating repeatedly that he wasn’t for turning on the issue.
He has the backing of the Taoiseach and his government colleagues, but the new ruling has made the situation more complicated for the minister, with pressure on him to find the appropriate tweaks to his new scheme to put the issue to bed once and for all.
What do you make of the chosen winners and losers this week?
Poll Results:
I agree with all the selections (3)
I agree with most of it (1)
I only agree with some of it (1)
You're all so wrong (1)
I don't care (1)
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