No agreement on emissions targets at last Cabinet meeting before summer recess
The Government has failed to reach an agreement on what emissions targets to assign to key sectors of the economy during the last scheduled Cabinet meeting before the summer recess.
Talks on Tuesday night ended without agreement between the three coalition leaders, leading to an expectation that the targets would not be ready for sign-off at the Cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan told reporters on his way into Cabinet that he was hopeful they could “close the difference” on emissions targets, though admitted the talks had been “tricky”.
After Cabinet ended, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, Mr Ryan and Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue stayed behind for further discussions.
Legislation changes on consent will encourage rape victims to come forward, says Minister
The Minister for Justice is hopeful that measures to strengthen the law on consent in rape cases will encourage more victims to come forward and report cases.
Helen McEntee told RTÉ radio’s News at One it was important that victims felt they could come forward and know that they would be supported.
The changes in legislation in relation to consent had been called for by advocacy groups and victims “for years,” the Minister said.
There would now need to be “an objective test” where the accused would have to show that they had gone to reasonable lengths to determine that the person with whom they were about to have sex had given their consent.
It could no longer be the case that they thought the person had consented, Ms McEntee explained. Alcohol could no longer be used as an excuse for not seeking consent, she added.
“I am making it absolutely clear that that cannot be used as a defense.”
New town named Clonburris to be built near Dublin city centre
A new town for more than 20,000 people is set to be built near Dublin city centre and named Clonburris.
Government Ministers signed off on a €186 million funding package on Wednesday to help build 8,700 new homes in the south Dublin area located between Lucan, Clondalkin and Liffey Valley.
The funds will be used to provide the housing for some 23,000 people, along with transport, water, community and public park infrastructure.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, said the development will be “the first project of its kind in a generation”.
“This funding will make it possible for a whole new town to be built in west Dublin, the first project of its kind in a generation, one which was strongly supported by the Taoiseach and the wider Government,” he said.
Family of 21-year-old who died of blood poisoning settles case against HSE
The family of a 21-year-old man who died of blood poisoning, after being discharged from a hospital emergency department (ED) the day before when he presented with headaches and vomiting, has settled a High Court action over his death.
Adam Mulchrone, the High Court heard, was deteriorating by the hour and by the time he returned to Mayo University Hospital he was in a state of health that could not be reversed and died within 12 hours.
An inquest into the death of the student from Westport, Co Mayo later gave the cause of death as multi-organ failure due to, or as a consequence of, meningococcal septicaemia with neisseria meningitis infection an antecedent cause.
Counsel said he was examined in the ED after waiting but was discharged four hours later without a second evaluation of his case.
Passenger jet with 252 people makes emergency landing at Shannon Airport
A transatlantic passenger jet was diverted to Shannon Airport on Wednesday afternoon after the crew declared an emergency shortly after taking off from Edinburgh.
United Airlines flight UA-37 took off from the Scottish airport shortly after 11.00am and was about 75 kilometres north of Donegal when the crew levelled off at 25,000 feet and declared an emergency.
It’s understood the Boeing 767-400 (ER) jet suffered pressurisation issues. The flight, with 252 passengers and crew on board, was bound for Newark, New Jersey in the US at the time.
