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THE DEPARTMENT OF Transport could be set to follow the lead of the UK in issuing a ban on drivers wearing the new Google Glass product before it is launched to the public next year.
The new wearable technology is currently being trialed by Google with a small number of developers testing the glasses which provide smartphone-like information in handsfree format via voice commands.
Already, the government in the UK has this week indicated that it will seek to ban the use of technology on the roads there, issuing penalty points to those who are in breach of the ban.
Only a small number of people the UK are thought to be currently using the device. It is not known if any Irish developers have the glasses though a number have tested them in recent months.
In response to a query from TheJournal.ie, the Department of Transport here said that it is concerned about the use of the new technology.
A spokesperson said: “The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport considers all such issues in terms of their impact on road safety.
“The Department is concerned that the use of this technology in its current form would distract motorists and therefore could represent a safety hazard.”
It said it is now in consultation with the Road Safety Authority, gardaí and “other key stakeholders” ahead of issuing a formal policy decision.
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Greece is a democracy. They have had loads of elections, and continue to elect politicians who don’t collect tax, and provide soft state jobs. Tick Tock.
Doesn’t Ireland provide soft state jobs too!!!!
This makes the EU sound like a Mafia organisation. Once you’re in you can’t get out again or we’ll get your family and destroy everything that’s important to you. Talk about holding a gun to someone’s head !
Any family would change into Mafia, once you splash your own cash all over the place, then borrow billions and demand that it’s being forgotten …
Hm bankers issuing warnings? Where were they when Greece was digging themselves into this pit?
The head of the Greek Bank was taken in to the ECB after the digging of the hole, then under pressure from Brussels he was made PM of Greece’s technocratic Govt.
No mention of rains of fire or the four horsemen of the Acropolis?
Very daunting and scary for the people of Greece. Some might say it’s scaremongering and propaganda but sadly it may be true? If they could get the terms of the EU-IMF brought down it may help.
Good luck everyone with your voting tomorrow. A scary day for us! Everyone should use their vote, whether it’s a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’. Either way, whoever doesn’t vote can’t bitch and complain or have an opinion!
Unless of course you work 200km away from home. Then you could probably bitch a little about having it on a Thursday.
@ Rob Power
Agree with you. Typical of every Government to have it on a Thursday. I believe one of the reasons for that is, that people counting and sorting votes take most of Friday and Saturday to count and re count votes. By Saturday, supervisors should have an idea of how the votes are going.
This is true of a general election, but one would imagine that it being a referendum of a “Yes or No” shouldn’t take so long so a Referendum should take place on a Friday.
Well, it’s not typical of every government, as it was only started during this govt term (with Aras11).
I don’t think any consideration should be given to counting of votes when deciding when to set polling day. The overriding concern should always be how to allow the maximum number of people get to the booths on the day.
Home is where you live, not where you were born. It’s very easy to update the register of electors, I’ve done it several times. Voting has almost always been on a Thursday, it’s a hangover from British elections which are also on a Thursday. They should be at the weekend though so as to avoid school closures, added inconvenience for parents and those who for some reason choose to vote 200km away rather than filling out a form in their local council office to move their vote to a more convenient location.
Actually it seems to me that the day varies with the issue. Younger people/students are less likely to vote on a Thursday, so it seems to me that politicians choose the day depending on how they think it will impact on their chance of success.
There is merit in picking a particular day and just sticking with it.
So what % of the Greek population would have emigrate into the euro zone and send back part of their weekly wages?
Also tourism accounts for 35% of the Greek economy, how much would this increase by if they cut their prices in half?
Who knows, the only choice in front of Greece, is out now, hard 6 months and start to grow again next year or have another decade of decline, which will leave them alot worse than the figures given above.
By the ECB’s own targets, they will be at 120% debt to GDP in 2020. So they’ll need a bailout. They are dying economically in the Eurozone, and unless the payments to bail them out, grow in size and are permanent.
The lay citizen taking the blame for others mistakes again being made scapegoats.
Can you explain that point? Do you mean Greece are the lay citizens of Europe?
Did I say they were the lay citizens of Europe?! No.
Wow, touchy. I just asked you to clarify as I didn’t understand the point you were making in relation to above article.
No not touchy just able to interpret basic English.
Then interpret the stability treaty correctly and you will see that your pic “Bail out people not bank VOTE NO” is totally irrelevant to the issue being voted on :-)
You obviously don’t understand the treaty yourself. With that comment.
Hard to see how the EU would survive Greece exiting the euro. The currency would lose too much credibility. And if the euro goes, it would a failure from which Europe would probably not recover.
wow, Europe would probably never recover? Europe has survived two world wars…..
I’d much prefer the Iceland method than the Japanese one.
The bank forgot to mention that an exit would also trigger a banking collapse across Europe.
Greece is going nowhere. Bank statements, either your personal one on a monthly basis, or grand public statements like this should be taken with a huge dose of scepticism.
It is hardly surprising that a Greek bank would paint an apocolyptic picture of what would happen if Greece leaves the Euro. Self-preservation is a natural instinct.
There are two ways forward. Neither route is painless.
Greece (and Ireland) can choose the Icelandic route of a sharp painful correction with a return to growth in the short term.
Or Greece (and Ireland) can choose the Japanese route where over decades an anemic economy exists to support zombie banks. Ultimately, these banks will fail anyway.
The fiscal compact is designed to support the later route. Governments will be required to place the burden of any corrections on their own citizens, while protecting banks at all costs.
New York Times:
LONDON — Is Europe the new Japan?
Parallels abound between Europe’s current debt crisis and Japan’s so-called Lost Decade, when the Asian country’s economy imploded in the 1990s.
Both regions experienced real estate booms ahead of their financial crises, consumers took on large levels of debt and domestic banks built up unsustainable loan-to-deposit ratios as they sought to feed local demand for borrowing.
Recently, analysts at Barclays examined whether Europe’s debt crisis would affect local banks the same way that Japan’s economic downturn hurt that country’s financial institutions.
Their conclusions are not happy reading for European banks, which are trying to pare back lending, increase capital reserves and reduce risky trading activity in investment banking units.
Many of the Continent’s largest financial institutions have recently reported weak first-quarter earnings. Last week, Deutsche Bank of Germany announced a 34 percent drop in net profit, to $1.85 billion, while the Swiss banking giant UBS said on Wednesday that income for the first three months of the year fell 54 percent, to $911 million.
The only solution is a good old fashioned war! Best job creation scheme ever!!!
The people if Iceland would disagree I’m sure. The worst mob to take advice from are bankers and politicians, remember that tomorrow at the polls.
Vote No 1 the Bankers Party – just like Ireland so.
They may get their freedom by exiting.
Sometimes freedom has a price, but that price is worth paying.
who said the illumaniti is fiction
the bankers will get themselfs out of this euro mess at a cost to the tax payer.
Dan Brown sucks.
Reality strikes home here. Very serious situation on exiting Eurozone . Tax take in Greece low uncollected taxes 60 Billion could go a long way in alleviating poverty traps in welfare. They need our support in maintaining eu aid.
have your say