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'Somebody dying on the street outside the Dáil is not acceptable'

Here’s everything you need to know about what’s happening in Irish politics right now…

HERE IS THEJOURNAL.IE’s comprehensive guide to what’s happening in the political world this morning.

Everyone’s talking about

A homeless man dying in a doorway on Molesworth Street, just metres from Leinster House.

A man has been found dead on a street a Leah Farrell / Photocall Ireland Leah Farrell / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

Simon Coveney said the fact that a homeless man died on the street close to the Dáil is unacceptable. The Agriculture and Defence Minister told Morning Ireland it was shocking “that somebody would die on our streets outside parliament”.

He said the Government is “trying” to respond to the homelessness crisis but “there are no simple quick-fix solutions that can be implemented overnight”.

Coveney added that more emergency beds need to be provided quickly to help people in the event of “a deep cold snap”.

The main problem here is the lack of houses, we’ve effectively had no houses built over the last five or six years in Ireland – that needs to dramatically change.

Last week, the Government announced its social housing plan which aims to supply 35,000 additional houses at a cost of €3.8 billion over the next 6 years.

At a meeting of Dublin City Council last night, members backed a motion calling on Chief Executive Owen Keegan to identify unused Council property in the city centre area to be converted into temporary shelters.

The agenda

  • 2pm: Environment Minister Alan Kelly will be answering questions related to his department.
  • 3.15pm: Taoiseach Enda Kenny will have the floor during Leaders’ Questions.
  • 4.15pm: The Health Committee will debate a HIQA ambulance service review (Room 1). 
  • 7.30pm: Fianna Fáil is putting forward a motion that criticises the HSE’s 2015 Service Plan and calls on the Government to fund health services “appropriately and sufficiently”.

What the others are saying

  • Irish Water hasn’t yet started to destroy the PPS numbers it gathered, according to the Irish Daily Mail.
  • The Irish Independent reports that Enda Kenny’s parliamentary secretary Ger Deere has lodged a complaint with gardaí after he received an abusive phonecall from a man purporting to be from Sinn Fein.
  • The same paper states that Ann Lenihan has sought access to the dossier that claims her husband, and former Tánaiste, the late Brian Lenihan Snr held an offshore bank account.
  • The Independent also says that the Government is to delay the introduction of measures aimed at forcing landlords to take unpaid water bills from tenants’ deposits.
  • The Herald reports on former Fianna Fáil minister Mary Hanafin receiving an MA in American Studies at UCD. The councillor said Hillary Clinton inspired her.

In case you missed it

  • Secondary teachers are on strike today, with Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan saying she is opening to further discussions on junior cycle reform – if teachers compromise. 
  • Former Fianna Fáil minister Ned O’Keeffe was given a seven-month suspended sentence and fined €3,500 for using fake invoices to claim expenses totalling over €3,700, between 2002 and 2009.
  • Dublin’s Lord Mayor said it was “a national disgrace” that a homeless man died just metres from Leinster House.
  • Independent TDs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly will be appearing in court tomorrow, following their arrest at Shannon Airport in July.
  • Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said the Taoiseach was “deluded“.
  • Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams is flying to Israel and Palestine to meet with leaders there today.

On the Twitter machine

It was a great goal, in fairness.

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51 Comments
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    Mute Gordon Walsh
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    Oct 14th 2020, 3:02 PM

    It’ll be like all other government reviews – outcome will be a bunch of recommendations without any accountability for the failures

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    Mute Dave Barrett
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    Oct 14th 2020, 3:05 PM

    @Gordon Walsh: And someone will make huge money from carrying out such review.

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    Mute Gordon Walsh
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    Oct 14th 2020, 3:33 PM

    @Dave Barrett: Yes likely one of the well known consultants whose names are acronyms

    51
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    Mute Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa
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    Oct 14th 2020, 2:57 PM

    A review seems like a reasonable idea. I do think we need to stop making out that every LC student this year has suffered more than any human in history, the language used is way over the top and is unhelpful. Many actually liked not having to do the LC – and who could blame them – and more people are in Third Level than ever before so while some have genuine reasons to feel aggrieved, most got what they wanted or better with the bonus of not having to the LC.

    49
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    Mute Gordon Walsh
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    Oct 14th 2020, 3:36 PM

    @Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa: I feel the tactical repeat leaving certs got screwed – you know the ones who aim to repeat so they can drop certain subjects in favour of others that are easier to A1s in or get better bonus points.

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    Mute Anne Marie Devlin
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    Oct 14th 2020, 3:42 PM

    I think we’d all be happy with a ‘simple sorry lads, but we messed up’ than a lengthy and costly review that will yield no meaningful results

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    Mute Padraic O Sullivan
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    Oct 14th 2020, 3:08 PM

    Where did the legal advice for this omnishambles come from in the first place ffs.
    The terms of reference for this review will be carefully crafted.

    16
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    Mute Tom's
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    Oct 14th 2020, 4:16 PM

    I hope there is a proper plan in place for 2021 leaving cert.Already these kids have been seriously disadvantaged missing three full months,sometimes being asked to leave the classroom because there are too many pupils,no parent teacher meetings,having free classes quite frequently,psychologically disadvantaged because they are not able to focus properly because there may or may not be a Leaving Cert exam.So Norma you better start talking about this now before there is another fiasco.

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    Mute Colonel kurtz
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    Oct 14th 2020, 4:03 PM

    Review,commision.will take years.how long are them poor tuam babies left in the tank now since the government know about it

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    Mute Gerard Heery
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    Oct 14th 2020, 5:57 PM

    A shambles comittee investigating another shamble on tax payers money with no accountability on deadline or budget ceiling, give us shout I can do that

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    Mute GClare
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    Oct 14th 2020, 6:06 PM

    Will this included finding out how the contract was awarded?

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    Mute Smokeycarroll
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    Oct 14th 2020, 6:05 PM

    Dog in pearls

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    Mute Paul Kelly
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    Oct 14th 2020, 6:08 PM

    Very suprised there is an independent review while there is ongoing legal action.

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    Mute Fred Frederickson
    Favourite Fred Frederickson
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    Oct 14th 2020, 8:44 PM

    Another waste of time and taxpayers money. Calculated grade system was setup for failure and the result could never have pleased everyone… as a nation we would be better served just to move on and make sure LC 2021 goes ahead. Martin has a reputation of loving to commission a review ( see his time as Min of Health). Accounting firms will be falling over themselves to network for this work.

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