Comreg blames telecoms firms for national scam text mess
The telecoms regulator says that a nationwide scam text problem is the fault of its technical partners.
Speaking to RTE's News At One programme, Comreg's director of market frameworks, George Merrigan, apologised for the 'confusion' that a misfiring crackdown on scam texts has caused, where hospital patients being told that their appointment reminders were scam texts by the regulator's new system.
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The Irish Sun
26-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
‘It's the end of an era' – Major blow as the only post office in one of Ireland's most scenic spots is set to close
A MAJOR blow is on the way for hundreds of locals as the only post office in one of Ireland's most scenic spots is set to close. The last post office on the Fánaid peninsula in Advertisement 2 Baile Láir Post Office is at risk of closing due to rising costs Credit: RTE 2 The spot is located on Donegal's scenic Fánaid peninsula Credit: RTE Situated on the edge of the northwest coast, Fánaid is a remote stretch of land known for its rugged beauty, golden Baile Láir Post Office has served this tight-knit Gaeltacht community since 1872, operated by the McElwaine Running the post office and attached grocery shop, Wendy and Ronan McElwaine say they can no longer keep it going under the current financial pressures. And after 150 years, the Advertisement READ MORE IN MONEY The area's population has declined over the decades, and the owners said the footfall isn't enough to cover the cost of running the post office year-round. Residents are now faced with a 15km journey to Kerrykeel or Carraig Airt for basic postal services. Local schoolteacher Gráinne Uí Dhubhthaigh told RTÉ that the community is heartbroken, calling the likely closure a huge loss to the area. And with Advertisement MOST READ IN MONEY She said: 'People and business in the area depend on the post office. The heart is being pulled out of the area. "If you get the Local Link bus to Kerrykeel some 20kms away, you will have to wait another 2 hours to return." Celebrity chef closes down seaside restaurant after 16 years Farmer Dónal Ó Siadhail told RTE that Fánaid once had 17 shops and a bustling local economy - a time when his milk rounds included a stop at the McElwaines'. He said: 'Now there are only two or three shops in the peninsula. It is the end of an era, without a doubt. Advertisement "Everything is closing down" Tourism has become more important to Fánaid in recent years, with the local lighthouse drawing thousands of visitors each Grínne Nic Suibhne, who works at the lighthouse, said they depended on the post office to send off visitor packages and merchandise. She said: "Now we will have to bring all that to Kerrykeel to send" Advertisement 'VERY REAL PROSPECT' They said: "Ballylar like most post offices in run by a Postmaster - an independent contractor who provides post office services for the people of that part of the Fanad peninsula. "An Post has been trying to find an alternative contractor to provide post office services here. We have been actively seeking a new business partner to take on the vacant contract, advertising the vacancy and canvassing local business. "No applications have been received to date, and we are in the process of advertising the vacant contract position a second time. Advertisement "We are facing the very real prospect of the post office closing in the coming months. "It is looking like that closure will take place in October and we will transfer customers to Kerrykeel post office which is some 14km away. "The closure, if it happens, is much regretted by An Post but right now we will continue trying to find a new contractor.' "It is not the case, as cited in local media that some action of An Post cased the current situation. Advertisement "Postmasters generate their income on the basis of transactions carried out with customers to the office. Their income is fixed to that level of transactions."
Extra.ie
26-07-2025
- Extra.ie
Electricity bills set to hike for thousands of Irish homes
Thousands of people are set to see an increase in their electricity bills soon with energy company Flogas hiking its rates. Starting on August 25th, the Irish provider is set to increase its variable electricity charges by around 7%. For a typical Flogas residential electricity customer, the changes will mean an increase of around €10.51 a month, or €126 a year, on their bills. Flogas are increasing their rates on August 25. Pic: Shutterstock The energy company currently has about 43,500 residential electricity customers on variable rates. Flogas Energy Managing Director Sean O'Loughlin stated, 'We will support affected customers through our Customer Service team as much as possible and have a range of options, including payment plans, Budget Plan and pre-payment meters.' The hikes come as the government has confirmed that one-off cost of living measures, bonuses and electricity credits will not be a feature in the upcoming budget. In recent years, the public has come to expect energy credits as part of the government's annual budget announcements. For Budget 2025, two €125 energy credits were issued with one in January and another in November. Previous budgets have included a range of cost-of-living supports such as double payments and bonus lump sums. However, these measures will not be included this year. Minister for Public Expenditure, Jack Chambers, stated that while several one-off payments were made in recent years for certain social welfare schemes, this year will mark a departure from that approach. Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers revealed no electricity credits will be in this year's Budget. Pic: Fran Veale Chambers appeared on RTE's News at One to give information on what shouldn't be expected in Budget 2026 and pointed out that the government wants to take decisions that would be 'sustainable with global uncertainty'. According to the Irish Independent, around one in eight domestic electricity customers were behind on their electricity bills earlier this year. Commission for the Regulation of Utilities figures showed that in the three months before April, a total of 286,000 households were in arrears. Pic: Getty Images This is up by 85,734 when compared with the same quarter last year. A total of 175,500 households are behind on gas bills, up around 15,000 on last year. Average arrears on electricity bills is €437, according to the CRU. On gas bills, the average arrears amount is €213. A sobering thought for many as we gallop towards autumn and winter and the colder months ahead.
Irish Times
24-07-2025
- Irish Times
Landmark ruling against RTÉ as tribunal finds Fair City photographer was not a freelancer
RTÉ has failed to have employment rights claims by the former on-set photographer for Fair City thrown out, after the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled, for the first time, that a supposed freelancer at the national broadcaster was actually an employee. The statutory complaints were brought by photographer, Beta Bajgart, who was previously the subject of commentary at the Public Accounts Committee when it emerged the national broadcaster was paying €60,000 per year for promotional images of the Dublin-based soap opera. Ms Bajgart's case against Raidió Teilifís Éireann under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 and the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 will now proceed to a full hearing, following a preliminary ruling on Thursday. It is the first WRC case where the principles of a major Supreme Court ruling in 2023 on the distinction between employees and contractors have been applied to the position of a worker at RTÉ. READ MORE The alleged misclassification of media workers as freelance contractors by RTÉ is a major legacy issue at the national broadcaster. She claims her job as a photographer on the set of RTÉ's flagship soap opera was terminated without notice on December 15th 2023. The broadcaster's lawyers had argued Ms Bajgart was not an employee, but a freelance contractor – giving the employment tribunal 'no jurisdiction' her complaints Adjudication officer Catherine Byrne noted that Ms Bajgart suffered 'negative commentary' in September 2023 after attention was drawn to Ms Bajgart's role following a hearing of the Oireachtas Public Accounts committee, which had been scrutinising RTÉ's finances. In the wake of the publicity, Ms Bajgart's solicitors wrote to RTÉ asserting that she had acquired a contract of indefinite duration and was an employee, the tribunal noted. The broadcaster's director of human resources replied that RTÉ's relationship with the photographer was 'not an employment relationship' but that she was 'a supplier of services'. Ms Bajgart was first engaged for the work as an independent contractor for a year starting in June 2011 at €750 a week. There were repeated renewals of the contract and Ms Bajgart won tender competitions in 2017 and 2019, with the rate for the job rising to €980 a week over that period, the tribunal noted. However, Ms Bajgart did not apply when the work was put out to tender again in September 2023, and ultimately ceased working on the Fair City set on December 15th 2023, when the tender process was readvertised, the adjudicator noted. Ms Bajgart gave evidence that she was interviewed for the job in 2011 and 'got the contract', with 'no discussion about the legal implications'. She explained that she set the rate for the job based on her previous work for another production, Off the Rails. Addressing a gap in her contracts between October 14th 2018 and January 21st 2019, Ms Bajgart said she 'simply continued to work' and got paid. Her barrister, Michael O'Doherty BL, who appeared instructed by Conor McCrave of Setanta Solicitors, asked if she had 'consented to doing the job as an independent contractor. Ms Bajgart replied: 'I wanted the job,' and added that it was 'never offered' to her as a position of employment. Under cross-examination from RTÉ's solicitor, Louise O'Byrne of Arthur Cox, asked Ms Bajgart whether she had done other work while engaged for Fair City. Ms Bajgart said she ran her freelance business around the Fair City shot list and that it was difficult to look for clients because she never knew when she was due on set. Ms O'Byrne also referred to a letter sent by the complainant to the Irish Times and the Irish Independent in September 2023 following remarks by Fine Gael senator Micheál Carrigy about Ms Bajgart's, in which the complainant had stated: 'The photographer on RTÉ's Fair City is an independent contractor.' Ms O'Byrne argued this showed the claimant 'did not consider herself as an employee' of RTÉ. Mr O'Doherty said she had described herself as an independent contractor 'because she did not want to upset her employer and potentially lose her job by publicly describing herself as an employee'. Adjudication officer Catherine Byrne wrote that the 'day-to-day reality' of Ms Bajgart's working relationship with RTÉ was 'not consistent with how she was described in her contract as 'a supplier' and 'not an employee''. Byrne noted that Ms Bajgart had been working 20 hours a week, part-time, for 12 years on 'a series of fixed-term contracts' in a role which 'contributes to the promotion and success' of Fair City. The worker had had a desk on set, 'no discretion' about her level of attendance there, and could only work elsewhere three or four hours a week, and performed the work personally 95% of the time, Ms Byrne added. 'The authors of the agreements… may have genuinely believed that the working relationship with [Ms Bajgart] was that of an independent contractor, at least in the early years,' Ms Byrne wrote. 'However, it seems to me that the sustained nature of her job and the sole reliance by the respondent on the complainant to do the work, means that the legal basis of the agreement evolved from a supplier's agreement to that of an employee,' she added.
