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‘SIGNIFICANT’ STAFF SHORTAGES at the HSE’s Pest Control Service in south Dublin led to delays dealing with reports of infestations in August of this year, Health Minister Simon Harris has confirmed.
Rat infestations in a number of areas around the city made the headlines over the summer – with residents of Raheen Park in Ballyfermot amongst the many callers to the local council, reporting sightings of the rodents.
Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South-West Sean Crowe said there had been an increase in problems with rats in his constituency during the summer, and he observed back in August that “massive rodents are swarming the area” in Ballyfermot.
There had been problems in the nearby suburb of Clondalkin too earlier in the year, Crowe said.
Letter
In a letter to the Dublin TD Health Minister Simon Harris said that the HSE Pest Control Service on the Southside of Dublin had had “a significant reduction in available staff in recent months due to retirements and resignations and this situation was compounded during the holiday period”.
The letter added:
This current pressure on resources has in turn resulted in some delays in the provision of treatment services for rat infestations in August.
All vacant posts have now been approved for filling, Harris said – pointing out that the “HSE is endeavouring to expedite” the permanent filling of the vacancies as quickly as possible. They may be filled temporarily in the meantime, he said.
Harris’s letter pointed out that – according to the Rats and Mice Destruction Act 1919 – it is the legal responsibility of the owner/occupier of the land to eradicate pests, including on land owned or managed by local authorities and other State agencies or departments.
The HSE Pest Control Service does not therefore have statutory responsibility to treat such infestation but instead acts as a support service where possible.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Crowe said he was “a bit surprised” the HSE team did not have ultimate responsibility for dealing with infestations, and “maybe that’s part of the problem and the lack of urgency”.
“The worry I have is that this staff shortage seems to have been allowed drift and drift along,” the TD said.
“While I of course welcome the fact that the jobs are now going to be filled, there is clearly a public health element to all this.
“In my experience of dealing with problems like this during my years as a public representative, it’s quite clear that when someone has a problem with a rat infestation it is an immediate issue and they want them urgently removed, not weeks or months later.
There was clearly no urgency to fill these positions and the fact that they are only now considering all options will hardly reassure anyone.
Responding to reports of problems dealing with infestations back in August, the HSE said its pest control service had dealt with almost 2,000 complaints in the first six months of the year.
“This service is provided within limited resources and all complaints received are assessed and prioritised accordingly,” a HSE spokesperson said.
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And who knew claire foy before this show?not many i guess compared to matt smith.its an agent, doing his job, negotiating more money for the project’s biggest name star.non-story
@Brian Gregan: Yup. Also, the girl with the Dragon tattoo got paid more than the Dragon itself.
@Brian Gregan: I’d seen her in stuff long before he hammed up Dr Who. But you’re not going to listen, just keep justifying this sh*t every time it happens.
@Brian Gregan: She should get a better agent.
@dearg doom: I saw him in stuff before he was ever announced for doctor who. This is the first I’ve ever heard of her.
Not interested in the crown, tbh.
@Brian Gregan: I’ve never watched The Crown – I already knew and loved Claire Foy in other series (White Heat, Upstairs Downstairs) but I’m not surprised in the least that Matt Smith got paid more – he’s simply far better known among the public.
@dearg doom: but she wasn’t as famous as Matt smith was Netflix’s point, nothing unusual happened here
@Brian Gregan: 100% correct but the fembots will not agree. I have to say Claire Got was brilliant in the series, as was Matt Smith.
@Brian Gregan: Jordan Peterson was both their agents actually…
“However, critics say this could only explain the first season – before Foy won a host of awards and nominations for the role”
Did she sign a one year deal with a chance to renegotiate at the end of the first season or did she sign a multi-year deal? Seems an important question.
@Brad Carmichael: all down to her agent signing a good deal or not
@Brad Carmichael: how is it we never hear about the difference in pay when it’s the woman paid more than the man. For instance Julia Roberts shot loads of movies where she was paid more that her not so well known co star. So has Jennifer Anniston. It really just comes down to how marketable you are and how good an agent you have.
@domas1507: because salary discrepancies that favour the men are SYSTEMIC and not voided by 3 exceptions.
He still remains more famous than her and that is how the entertainment field w/o. Marlon Brando got paid multiple times what Christopher Reeves got for Superman.
@Kal Ipers: in the reboot of superman, amy adams was paid significantly more than henry cavill who played the lead. I think superman has consistently had bad agents.
@Gulliver Foyle: She was more famous than him and that is the way these things go
@Kal Ipers: And to top it all off Brando didn’t even bother trying to remember his lines – in the film he was reading them off the baby’s nappy.
@Harry Whitehead: he did that in a lot of films, Robert Duvall had Brandos lines stuck on him, when his back was to camera
@johnp: Slightly different he didn’t even read the script for Superman
@Kal Ipers: wasn’t trying to argue
@Gulliver Foyle: Superman isn’t motivated by money, he just wants to do good and keep the earth safe.
the Wahlberg/Williams case is a non-story. she chose to do the re-shoot at the minimum fee as did all the other male members of cast. Wahlberg for whatever reason wasn’t doing the reshoot without getting paid.
also, I am sure there are cases of where there are 2 leading men, that one gets paid more than the other due to better negotiations – it happens all the time.
And so what? Any examples of women getting paid more than men in the entertainment industry because they are better known? Oh you don’t know because you’ve never looked and it doesn’t suit your agenda. People negotiate, some people get paid more than others welcome to the real world!
@joe: that sums it up neatly and absolutely in a nutshell.
These tiresome articles are so slanted, blinkered and curated.
Take note Cliodhna Russell – write something innovative and challenging instead of this clichéd no news nonsense.
“One actor gets paid a bit more than another – shocker!” The fact you highlight gender is comically sexist in itself ffs!
Oh dear I’m sure she’ll starve. Any instances of working class men a women doing the same job and being payed differently? Nah.
@John Mc Grath: yup, BBC gender pay review led to more men getting pay rises than women. Funny how there was no article on it here. We saw a few articles about the top male hosts getting paid more than the top female hosts and taking pay cuts but nothing about the results of the actual overall review.
@Jeffrey McMahon: it’s not like there was a secret man society that ensured the men got more raises. More likely, more men (and I’m sure some women who are left out of the story as it doesn’t fit the narrative) demanded more raises and got them. I’ve worked in at least two female dominated careers so far and in both I can say that women tended to be better at the job but also put up with more crap whereas men were typically quicker to risk being fired by demanding more pay increases.
It’s like if you have two investors, one who take risks and one who plays more careful. Then one day you see the risk takers get a big payout for making a risky move and “to be fair” you make them share their winnings with the other guys.
Then why didn’t she turn down the role?
@Stephen Duffy: She wouldn’t have known at the time, men don’t like to admit they’re being paid more to the counterparts. And if every woman turned down lower paid jobs or quit in the face of sexism at work, there would be noone around to pull your heads out of eachothers’ asses.
@dearg doom: nonsense. None of the actors knew. They didn’t negotiate together. This is a total non story. Anything Hopkins was paid more for Thor than Chris Hemsworth – the title character.
This “controversy” makes all sorts of daft assumptions – the title character is the most important, all actors are equal, all agents are equally skilled etc etc.
@Stephen Adam: it’s the world we live in now. People are no longer demanding equal opportunity, now they want equal outcomes. It’s crazy
Was it not a 2 year contract they signed at the start, he had alot more name value going in and a massive cult following.
Pffft…. reasons… who cares about reasons. This is obviously just sexism and nothing else.
@PutinBot 5001: Also interesting that you chose to publish the Telford article late last night and publish this one at lunch time, when more people will see it. Nice to see you’ve got your priorities in order. This site frankly sickens me at times.
@PutinBot 5001: Why not go elsewhere – where you feel you don’t have to tell us?!
@Vigo the Carpathian: I notice you can get around the naughty word filter. One of the perks of being a paid shill I presume.
@PutinBot 5001: One of the advantages of not being as dumb as a bag of hammers..
@PutinBot 5001: you’re seeing through the conspiracy. You must be quite the intellectual. Have you a YouTube channel I can subscribe to?…… Or are you just another moaner
@PutinBot 5001: Who’s defending who ? Why are you constantly bringing it in unrelated articles ? The actual article on the case is still open so go there and comment to your hearts content. After all you wanted it written in the first place and there’s over 100 comments for you to reply to. Why aren’t you there giving your view on the case ?
It also got nearly 18,000 hits.. more than most articles here today.. It’s not “hidden away”… 18,000 readers managed to find it perfectly well..
Boo hoo my heart bleeds for her
No such issues in my job with regard to equal pay. We let the women work longer hours so they can get paid the same as the men.
Experience and negotiating skills are important for salary. Your lack in either affects your salary, regardless of sex.
@Andy K: I think the message here is that Claire Foy is a wonderful actress, and should probably stick to that and get a better agent.
The extras should also be paid equally with the leading stars. It is time to end this discrimination.
Claire Foy shoes will be hard to fill, she played the part down to a T. Not that I ever met the Queen
@Dominick Lodola: Everyone in the entertainment industry is expendable.
@Daddy Long Legs: EVERYONE! Looking at you tubby…
It does raise an interesting question on “star power” though… I don’t see too many arguing that say Toni Duggan should be paid the same as Lionel Messi despite them basically doing the same job…
what a joke of a story. look at her IMDb list before The Crown. nobody knew her. This is called her big break and will.command a larger payout from here out. anything to push the female male agenda .
Paul Pogba gets paid more than both of them. That’s the real crime.
Man negotiates better pay than originally offered…
Woman doesn’t negotiate and takes first offer….
Sexists ? No
@Alan Byrne: Fair and just? No.
Getting fixed? Yes.
The world is moving on and getting better without you.
Cmon, everyone know Prince Philip is the brains behind the throne.
@David Sinclair: I doubt Prince Philip is the brains behind Prince Philip…
So many comments here that are anti women – it is depressing. I get that Matt Smith was better known initially but it should have been in her contract that salary could be renegotiated up wards after Season One. A comment above that Clare Foy and Matt Smith had the same agent so the agent certainly knew. It feels like pushing a boulder up hill when you see this wave of anti feminist attitude. So fed up of this – papers with obituaries of all men, radio dominated with male voices, tv and films with far more men in front of camera and behind, deeply sexist political parties where there is hostility to women. The world needs more justice and equality.
@carodeer: “should have been in her contract that salary could be renegotiated up wards after Season One“
Who’s fault is that?
Joke’s on him, he gets paid with pictures of her on the mula!
Empire of misogyny exists in other places .. in BBC
@Bernadette Purcell: what?
@Bernadette Purcell: is that why more men got pay rises than women after the gender based pay review?
@Bernadette Purcell: in RTE it’s an “Empire of Misandry” jfgi
“he negotiated a better deal than Foy because of his starring role on the BBC’s Doctor Who.”
Says it all here. He got more because he (or his agent) fought for more, and he was a bigger star. As for her becoming a bigger star after season one then why didn’t she demand more and then walk away when it wasn’t given? They aren’t working a minimum wage job, their pay is the point between what the studio offers and what they settle for. If some actors want more, they should refuse to work for less.
its like saying stephen ward is on less the messi . Silly stuff here
have your say