625 people on trolleys across Irish hospitals
There are a total 625 people are being treated on trolleys at hospitals across the country.
503 of those are in emergency departments, while 122 are in wards, according to the INMO.
Letterkenny University Hospital is the worst affected facility with 83 patients without beds.
That is followed by 74 at University Hospital Limerick, 70 at Cork University Hospital, and 44 at Tallaght University Hospital.
Hotel energy costs now up to 12% of revenue, compared to 4% in 2019
New analysis from the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has underlined the challenges facing hotels and guesthouses into 2023, with spiralling business costs, reduced forward bookings compared to 2019, and a planned 50 per cent increase in the tourism VAT rate at the end of February 2023.
Despite an uplift in tourism during 2022 following the pandemic, overall hotel room occupancy rates are still significantly down on 2019 for the year to date. For the first 10 months of the year (January to October), average room occupancy levels were 71 per cent nationally and 75 per cent for Dublin.
Over the same period in 2019, however, room occupancy was 80 per cent nationally and 84 per cent for Dublin, "highlighting the extent of lost ground still to be made up".
The economic outlook for the sector is now looking "significantly less certain with pent-up demand quickly unwinding, overseas markets entering economic downturn and consumer confidence reaching decade-lows across key overseas markets".
11 local authorities unable to deliver a single new-build home in 2022
It has emerged that 11 local authorities, including three in Dublin, failed to deliver a single new-build house in the first six months of this year, with just 647 homes directly built as the State’s housing emergency worsened.
As the Irish Examiner reports, the failure of three of the four councils in the capital — where the housing problem is most acute — to build any new homes has been severely criticised.
Overly strict application of the State’s spending code and “bureaucratic red tape” involving officials in the two departments of public expenditure and housing are being blamed for the low rate of delivery.
New figures released by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien’s own department reveal that just 251 homes were directly built in the first quarter of 2022. And, during that time period, 18 of the 31 local authorities delivered no new homes.
One dead following fire at property in east Belfast
A person has died following a fire at a property in east Belfast.
A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland fire service said firefighters were called to reports of a fire in a property in Edenvale Crescent just after 8pm on Sunday.
Firefighters wore breathing apparatus and used two jets to extinguish the fire, however one person was found dead at the property.
In a statement, the spokesperson said: “The thoughts and sympathies of Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service are with the family and friends of a person who died following a fire in the Edenvale Crescent area of East Belfast.”
US burger chain Wendy's set to open in Ireland
Famous American burger chain Wendy's has said it is "actively seeking" franchise candidates as it plans to open in Ireland.
Irish franchise candidates must have "strong operations experience, local development expertise, ambition to grow quickly and a proven track record of growing brands in Ireland to help Wendy’s reach its full potential".
With more than 7,000 restaurants worldwide, Wendy’s is looking to expand using its franchise model, following recent success in the UK.
