Farm organisations protest in Dublin over possible CAP changes
'Flash action' planned in opposition to mooted proposal to move CAP budget to a once-off funding model
Farming organisations are to stage a 'flash action' at the EU Commission offices in Dublin today, warning against plans to strip away the CAP budget in favour of once-off funding to be divvied out by member countries.
The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) and Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) protest outside EU Commission offices in Dublin at 9.30am will coincide with a flash action organised by Copa Cogeca, the largest representative union of more than 22 million European farmers in Brussels.
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Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Government fined €550,000 by privacy regulator and warned over facial scans for Public Services Card
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Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Three killed in Ukraine as Russia continues drones offensive
Russian forces pummelled Ukraine with drones and other weapons on Thursday, killing three people and injuring scores of others despite international pressure to accept a ceasefire, officials said. According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched a barrage of 63 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight. It said that air defences destroyed 28 drones while another 21 were jammed. Ukraine's police said two people were killed and six were injured over the past 24 hours in the eastern Donetsk region, the focus of the Russian offensive. One person was killed and 14 others were also injured in the southern Kherson region, which is partly occupied by Russian forces, police said. A rescue worker evacuates a woman from a building which was damaged by a Russian strike in Kharkiv (Ukrainian emergency services via AP/PA) The head of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said 15 people, including four children, were injured by Russian drone attacks overnight. Kharkiv city mayor Ihor Terekhov said Russian drones targeted residential districts, educational facilities, nurseries and other civilian infrastructure. 'Kharkiv is holding on. People are alive. And that is the most important thing,' Mr Terekhov said. The Russian military has launched waves of drones and missiles in recent days, with a record bombardment of almost 500 drones on Monday and a wave of 315 drones and seven missiles overnight on Tuesday. The recent escalation in aerial attacks has come alongside a renewed Russian battlefield push along eastern and north-eastern parts of the 600-mile front line. While Russian missile and drone barrage have struck regions all across Ukraine, regions along the front line have faced daily Russian attacks with short-range exploding drones and glide bombs. Ukraine hit back with drone raids, with Russia's defence ministry saying air defences downed 52 Ukrainian drones early on Thursday, including 41 over the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine. Rescue workers put out a fire of a building which was damaged by a Russian strike in Kharkiv (Ukrainian emergency services via AP/PA) Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said three people were injured by Ukrainian attacks. The attacks have continued despite discussions of a potential ceasefire in the war. During their June 2 talks in Istanbul, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators traded memorandums containing sharply divergent conditions that both sides see as non-starters, making any quick deal unlikely. Speaking at a meeting of leaders of south-east European countries in Odesa, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the European Union to toughen its latest package of sanctions against Russia. He argued that lowering the cap on the price of Russian oil from 60 US dollars (£44) to 45 dollars (£33) as the bloc has proposed is not enough. German defence minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv on Thursday on an unannounced visit, noting that the stepped-up Russian attacks on Ukraine send a message from Moscow that it has 'no interest in a peaceful solution at present', according to German news agency dpa. Pistorius said his visit underlines that the new German government continues to stand by Ukraine. 'Of course this will also be about how the support of Germany and other Europeans will look in future – what we can do, for example, in the area of industrial co-operation, but also other support,' he said.
The Journal
5 hours ago
- The Journal
PSO levy reduction expected but it won't make much of a dent in energy bills for households
A REDUCTION IN the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy that appears on electricity bills of households and small businesses is to be announced this week. The PSO levy is charged to all electricity customers in Ireland in a bid to support the generation of electricity from sustainable, renewable and indigenous sources. The annual charge is currently €42.25. It is expected that the a reduction in the PSO levy for both households and small commercial businesses will result in savings of around €23 per year for households and €90 per year for small businesses. Government sources state that this is just one small item in a suite of measures being examined to bring the the cost of bills down for consumers. 'This Government is committed to tackling high energy costs through a wide range of measures while continuing to accelerate the decarbonisation of Ireland's energy system,' they said. The measure comes as it emerged yesterday that electricity bills will actually increase by at least €83 a year to pay for a major upgrade of the country's power system. ESB Networks has asked the energy regulator to approve a price increase that would enable it to fund investment of over €10 billion in next five years, investment that a conference heard yesterday is badly needed in order to meet the growing demands on the power grid. The government has come under increasing pressure to assist homes and businesses with electricity and gas costs, with Irish people paying some of the most expensive bills in Europe. A new group, tasked with driving down the cost for businesses, met yesterday for the first time. The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke established the new group with the aim of reducing the cost of running a business. Advertisement The forum brings together business owners, retailers, tourism operators, accounting professionals and representative groups—alongside regulators and state agencies—to look at the structural issues that are driving up costs and the steps that could be taken to mitigate them. However, for every day households, little assistance is on the horizon this year, with government stating that there will be no across-the-board energy credits this year. Irish customers do pay more, says minister Energy Minister Darragh O'Brien told The Journal this week that Irish customers, in comparison to our EU colleagues, do pay more when it comes to energy. 'We're probably the third most expensive when you average it out,' he said. The minister said he had set up an affordability task force within his department that he will be chair next week. The group is looking at options on how to drive affordability, said O'Brien, but added that how electricity prices are struck is the main issue impacting Irish householders. The cost of electricity for Irish customers is still linked at European level to the wholesale gas price, said the minister. O'Brien said he has raised the matter with the European Commission on how to break that link, but said it is a 'medium term' body of work that is needed before any changes will be seen. 'More EU states like Ireland are now producing more renewable energy, yet the energy cost itself is still linked to the wholesale gas prices. So that's something that at an EU level, I can't change that independently for Ireland, that's something that we will be having discussions on at an EU level,' said the minister. The minister said the matter will be raised again at the Energy Council in Luxembourg next week. 'There are other EU partners who would be in agreement with us that we need to reflect in our pricing the fact that we've more renewables year-on-year coming on stream, that we're becoming less dependent on gas and on fossils. So why should the base price be stuck on the basis of the wholesale gas price. I think that's a bigger discussion that we need to have,' the minister said. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
