Climate action
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said it is not too late to turn the tide on climate change, addressing the Cop26 Climate Action Conference in Glasgow this afternoon.
Mr Martin told the summit that Ireland’s policies reflect the country’s confidence that the aim of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees can be achieved with fairness, adding that legally binding targets will ensure Ireland will reduce emissions and reach climate neutrality by 2050.
The Taoiseach's comments come as scores of countries, including Ireland as part of the EU, joined a pledge to cut their methane emissions by 30 per cent by the end of the decade.
Household savings
Households saved more than €31 billion in 2020, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.
Savings made during the pandemic have brought the financial net worth of households to an all-time high of €312.8 billion, the CSO said.
It is almost triple the level of savings being made prior to the pandemic and has been driven by a combination of higher incomes and lower consumer spending.
New TU
A new technological university (TU) is on the way for the southeast.
Technological University for Southeast Ireland (TUSEI) will be established in May next year - five months later than the original date first mooted.
Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris confirmed the news on Tuesday, adding it was a really exciting day for higher education in the region.
Nurses protest
Student nurses and midwives gathered in Dublin today protesting over pay and conditions.
The INMO are calling on the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to publish an independent report which considers the claims of student nurses and midwives for full restoration of previous pay cuts for those working as part of their internship year and improved conditions for those on clinical placement.
Earlier, it was announced that student nurses in their fourth-year internship would receive a 12.5 per cent pay increase as part of a number of proposals due to be put forward by Mr Donnelly.
Surrogacy legislation
Protesters concerned with the Government's handling of surrogacy legislation also gathered outside the Dáil today, calling for a guarantee that new surrogacy legislation will recognise them as the legal mother or father of their child.
Concerns have been raised that the Government's Assisted Human Reproduction Bill will exclude international surrogacy, leaving families and children without any legal protection.
Advocates have said if international surrogacy is not covered under new laws, it will have a significant impact on families as 95 per cent of Irish children who are born through surrogacy are born abroad.
