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The Public Accounts Committee returns, and is already making headlines

The Public Accounts Committee returns, and is already making headlines

Irish Times16-05-2025
Jack Horgan-Jones and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:
The
Public Accounts Committee
returned on Thursday and already it was making headlines with revelations about former
Children's Health Ireland boss Eilish Hardiman
's salary. PAC is apt at generating headlines with leaked opening statements and TDs eager to make their name a staple for the Dáil committee.
A move towards fiscal caution as
Fine Gael's Neale Richmond
signals planned tax cuts may have to be abandoned unless a trade deal with the US can be agreed. Will
one-off cost-of-living payments
be absent from Budget 2026?
The plan to introduce
mandatory alcohol warning labels
could be reconsidered amid the potential impact of US tariffs on the sector. And a
ban on the sale of energy drinks
to under 18s won't be a reality until the 'necessary evidence-gathering, research and examination of appropriate policy options and stakeholder engagement' is achieved.
Plus,
Minister for Housing James Browne
backed out of meeting with Dublin Lord Mayor Emma Blain to discuss issues relating to the tenant-in-situ scheme.
Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:
What can Dublin learn from
San Francisco's regeneration
?
Collapsing cottages
, dereliction and
land hoarding
, and should people in
Northern Ireland get to vote in Irish presidential elections
?
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