DAA promise 10% more staff will be working this weekend
There will be 10 per cent more staff working this weekend compared to last weekend, the Dublin Airport Authority (Daa) has said.
They will be expecting thousands of passengers to pass through the airport seeing as it is the June bank holiday.
In a bid to avoid the chaos of last weekend, the Daa said a “holding area” may be needed for passengers who arrive earlier than the recommended time during extremely busy periods this summer.
Daa chief executive Dalton Philips told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that this protocol is in place in order to “triage access” to the terminals during busy periods, but that they do not expect to have that in place this coming bank holiday weekend.
Cost of living
The Government is “painfully out of touch” on the mounting cost-of-living pressures facing families across Ireland, Sinn Féin has claimed.
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty criticised Taoiseach Micheál Martin for failing to bring forward further mitigation measures ahead of the next budget in October.
In heated exchanges during leaders’ question in the Dáil, Mr Doherty called for the Government to produce a “real and comprehensive plan” in a mini budget.
On Tuesday, Mr Martin said Ireland was facing a “new era” of higher fossil fuel prices after EU leaders agreed to ban most Russian oil imports.
The Taoiseach said higher prices were the direct consequence of the war in Ukraine.
‘Urgent implementation’ of climate plans needed
Urgent implementation of all climate plans and policies, plus further new measures, are needed for Ireland to meet a 51 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said.
In a new report, the EPA said total greenhouse emissions are estimated to have increased by 6 per cent in 2021.
The EPA said that data shows that planned climate policies and measures, if fully implemented, could deliver up to 28 per cent (4 per cent per annum) emissions reduction up to 2030.
This would indicate that Ireland could only comply with its 2030 EU emissions reduction target if all committed measures were implemented and delivered as planned and with full use of the permitted flexibilities.
Hiqa disability report finds non-compliance
Problems with infection control, staffing and fire safety measures have been identified in 10 centres for people with disabilities, the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has found.
A report, published on Wednesday, found the centres to be non-compliant with regulations and standards following the inspection of 24 designated centres.
Improved infection control measures were required at three centres.
At Tralee Residential Services, a centre operated by Kerry Parents and Friends Association, Hiqa said the centre had not ensured all staff had undertaken required infection control training and a centre-specific infection prevention and control policy was not in place.
Two more cases of monkeypox detected in Ireland
Two additional cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in Ireland, bringing the total to four.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) says Public Health is following up with those who had close contact with each case, while they were infected.
The cases here come after the reporting of more than 500 other confirmed cases of monkeypox in Europe, North America and many other countries worldwide over recent weeks.
The HPSC said in order to maintain patient confidentiality, no further information about the cases will be provided.
The vast majority of cases do not have a travel link to a country where monkeypox is endemic.
