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Tánaiste to seek Cabinet approval on bonus scheme to keep specialists in air corps

Tánaiste to seek Cabinet approval on bonus scheme to keep specialists in air corps

Irish Examiner2 days ago

A bonus scheme to incentivise highly skilled specialists to stay in the air corps is to be rolled out amid serious shortages that are impacting operations.
Tánaiste and the minister for defence, Simon Harris, will seek Cabinet approval to immediately extend a service commitment scheme — which currently includes annual bonus payments of around €22,000 to air corps pilots — to air traffic control personnel.
It comes amid reports that Irish military flight operations at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel are to move to part-time hours, and may soon have to cease entirely due to severe staff shortages. The cuts could impact rescue, medical, and policing services.
Mr Harris will tell Cabinet that there is a worldwide shortage of air traffic control personnel and proposed measures are needed to help return the air corps to a 24/7 service.
Key worker support
Separately, ministers will sign off on extra funding to expand the number of training places for key workers in health and social care, disability, and education.
This funding will support the creation of 461 additional annual places in these priority professions, with the majority of new places commencing this year.
This immediate expansion will be in nine key areas: Physiotherapy; occupational therapy; speech and language therapy; radiation therapy; radiography; podiatry; social work; medical science; and dietetics.
Higher education minister James Lawless is also examining graduate entry programmes, further education models, and apprenticeship-type routes to increase the output of healthcare and therapy professionals across the system.
Meanwhile, social protection minister Dara Calleary will bring his department's annual report to Cabinet. It shows that there were 2.78m people in employment in the final quarter of 2024, an increase of almost 72,000 annually.
Overall expenditure in 2024 was €26.99bn, which was 26% of the Government's total spending.
Updating Cabinet on a potential trade war, Mr Harris will tell colleagues that discussions on a possible deal between the EU and the US are advancing with technical talks taking place in Washington in recent days.
The EU's position, however, remains that if no mutually acceptable solution is reached, both existing and additional EU counter-measures could take effect on July 14.
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Government rejects motion calling on it to stop sale of 'Israeli war bonds'
Government rejects motion calling on it to stop sale of 'Israeli war bonds'

The Journal

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  • The Journal

Government rejects motion calling on it to stop sale of 'Israeli war bonds'

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Government will be on 'the wrong side' of history over Israeli bonds decision, opposition says
Government will be on 'the wrong side' of history over Israeli bonds decision, opposition says

Irish Examiner

time17 minutes ago

  • Irish Examiner

Government will be on 'the wrong side' of history over Israeli bonds decision, opposition says

The Government has been warned it is on the "the wrong side" of history after rejecting a motion to prevent the facilitation of Israeli war bonds. Opposition parties united behind a motion demanding the Government enact emergency legislation to explicitly force the Central Bank to stop facilitating the sale of Israel bonds. The Social Democrats motion, supported by Sinn Féin, Labour, and People Before Profit-Solidarity also called on the coalition to advise the bank that "by acting as the enabling cog in Israel's fund-raising machine in the EU, it is putting the State at risk of a charge of complicity in genocide". However, the Government's countermotion stated that it had "received advice from the Attorney General that recently proposed legislation to introduce 'restrictive measures' was not compatible with our obligations as members of the EU and in conflict with Article 215 and Article 63 Treaty on the Functioning of the EU". The motion with the amendment put forward by the Government was then passed by 85 votes to 71. Speaking in the Dáil ahead of the vote, finance minister Paschal Donohoe said: "Despite the human feelings I have and the determination of the Government to respond to this, I have to recognise the law with regard to the EU and the law that recognises the independent operation of the Central Bank of Ireland." But Social Democrats TD Cian O'Callaghan claimed that the Government was "hiding behind technicalities" and could act on the matter if it wanted to. Let us be clear about this. Genocide is taking place and is being part-funded by the sale of Israeli bonds including in Europe, which is being facilitated by the Irish Central Bank. Sinn Fein's Pearse Doherty described Mr Donohoe's response as "shameful", adding: "History will show that the minister is on the wrong side of this issue. He has used carefully constructed words to tell us what we cannot do. "However, the reality is that if Government wants to initiate national measures that will ensure that the Central Bank does not sign off on a prospective and therefore, not facilitate the sale of these war bonds in Ireland, then it can do so."

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