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LAST UPDATE | 16 Jan 2024
THE TERMS OF reference for a new judge-led tribunal of inquiry into how the Defence Forces handled workplace incidents relating to discrimination, bullying, harassment, sexual assault and rape have been approved by Cabinet.
Government also approved the appointment of Ms Justice Ann Power to Chair the tribunal.
The inquiry follows the report of the Independent Review Group last year which detailed a catalogue of abuse allegations.
At the time, the Tánaiste committed to setting up a statutory inquiry to investigate whether there have been systemic failures in the complaints system within the Defence Forces.
The Women of Honour, a group of former and serving members of the Irish Defence Forces who have highlighted allegations of abuse in the military, have previously criticised the terms of reference.
The group said that were also unhappy that the investigation will examine the systemic failures but not individual complaints.
It was announced today that the Tribunal of Inquiry will examine the effectiveness of the complaints processes in the Defence Forces concerning workplace issues relating to discrimination, bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct.
It will also have the power to investigate the response to complaints made regarding the use of hazardous chemicals within Air Corps’ headquarters at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel.
In a statement today, the Women of Honour said they welcome the appointment of Justice Ann Power to chair the tribunal.
“(We) are now focusing on it being a full, comprehensive and transparent tribunal,” they said.
“We have not seen the terms of reference in advance of them going to Cabinet. In fact, we just received the terms of reference from a journalist.
“We have no doubt a tribunal is the mechanism we need for change. We are now going to have to take time to properly assess what these latest terms of reference contained and proceed accordingly.”
Separately, in a further implementation of the IRG’s recommendations, the Tánaiste has announced the appointment of Mr Kevin Duffy as the independent Chair of a new Working Group to develop a complaints process for civilian employees and civil servants who work with the Defence Forces.
The IRG report made 13 significant recommendations and since publication a number of measures introduced include a new bill to give gardaí sole jurisdiction to investigate alleged sexual offences committed within Ireland by personnel subject to military law.
Speaking after today’s Cabinet meeting, the Tánaiste said:
“Government will now seek the approval of the Oireachtas to formally establish the Tribunal, and get work underway as early as possible this year.
“I am particularly grateful to all those who have engaged in the process that led to the drafting of the Terms of Reference, and to the Attorney General and his staff.
“I also want to express my gratitude to Ms Justice Ann Power for agreeing to Chair this very important Tribunal. She brings a wealth of experience to the role.”
He went on to say that the appointment of Kevin Duffy is another important step in implementing the recommendations of the Independent Review Group.
“I am very grateful to Kevin Duffy for agreeing to Chair this Working Group. He brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this role, which I have no doubt will prove invaluable to the Group in its deliberations.”
The Tánaiste will also bring forward legislation to establish an independent external complaints system.
An External Oversight Body has already been established to drive culture change, increase transparency and accountability within the Defence Forces.
Separately, Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has received approval of government policy on student accommodation.
The policy commits investment in three key areas – the construction of on-campus housing for students, the repurposing of vacant and derelict properties into housing, and the continuation of support for homeowners renting a room to students.
The first phase has been to activate planning permissions already secured by third level universities, with the department stating that it is currently supporting the development of up to 1,000 student beds across DCU, Maynooth University, UL and UG with €61 million in funding approved by government.
The department will now engage with UCD, which has planning permission for 1,254 student beds, Trinity College Dublin, which has permission for 358 beds and the second phase of DCU, which has permission for 830 beds to progress each project.
In return for State investment, universities must offer a certain percentage of the accommodation beds to disadvantaged students at a below market rate.
For example, if the State funds 30% of the beds, those beds must be offered at a reduced rate to students whose household income is less than €100,000.
If the State funds 100% of the beds, all beds must be offered to students at a reduced rate.
The aim is that by rolling out student accommodation projects it will reduce the number of students competing with families for private rental accommodation.
An annual grant of between €20 and €40 million is also to be made available to help universities repurpose buildings which are unoccupied. The size of the grant is dependent on the successful conclusion of capital negotiations.
Arts Minister Catherine Martin, in association with Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, also sought Cabinet approval today for a roadmap that seeks to support Ireland’s Digital Creative Industries from 2024 to 2026.
The sectors being targeted include industrial design, product design, visual, communications, user interface/user experience interaction design, service design and strategic design.
Content creation including advertising and branding, commercial social media content, multimedia content for mobile apps and content for emerging immersive technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) will also be centre to the proposed plan.
The roadmap seeks to address higher and further education training needs for the sectors and give access to enterprise supports especially for micro-enterprises and SMEs.
Government Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton also brought the legislative priority list to Cabinet for approval today, which prioritises 24 pieces of legislation, along with the drafting of 22 new laws. The legislative programme will be published later today.
With reporting by Press Association
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Teachers eagerly awaiting another week off.
@Butch Francis: Ok if the kids are off they are off but can the teachers not do the administration work they often moan about that they have to do. We keep been told that they are over burdened with work not just teaching. They shouldn’t need any time off they can go to their place of work like any other working adult.
@Butch Francis: if you were a teacher you would too…
@Butch Francis: I really resent your comment. Speaking as a Deputy Principal in a Sec School I can tell you that it’s quite the contrary. Teachers remain back to take classes almost every day, some coming in at week ends and on their holidays, no teacher I know wants to miss time with their classes, esp exam classes. Mocks, Aurals, Orals, practicals are all looming. Teachers spend lunch breaks, evenings and weekends marking papers, far and above that of others who’s “free time” is actually free time! Please show some respect and educate yourself as to what a teachers job actually contains and remember you too were privy to what is our wonderful education system and all it can offer to our young!
@John Hartley: john the reason the teachers will be off as far as im aware is if there is a Red Alert which will mean it is unsafe for anyone to travel unless necessary.
@Cora Fagan: I’ll tell you what I do know Cora. Facts ->
Teachers have a huge amount of time off compared to society and no amount of extra admin covers that.
The GAA see it as a good vocation for inter county players. Says it all really. Take a long hard look at yourself Cora
@Cora Fagan: well said. Hidden work goes unseen and unappreciated until such time as it fails to be done. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind
@Chris Finn: catch yourself on Chris and go and educate yourself. Your reply to Cora’s factual comment was embarrassing. Maybe you should go back to school.
@Aidan Mitchell: Nicely put. Judging by his poor grasp of grammar I would say he needs to return to the classroom.
@Chris Finn: If it’s such an easy job then I presume you are doing your post-grad in education so you can take advantage of all that free time. Just because you went to school as a child, doesn’t mean you know anything about the profession. But your comment does indicate you are quite a bitter individual.
@Chris Finn: it’s a shame that you’ve no clue what you’re talking about..always easy standing on the outside looking in and thinking you know it all ..
@Cora Fagan: of course not every teacher should be tarred with the same brush , but please no need to glorify the bit of hard work that teachers have to do , you make it sound like we all should be so grateful , they have a pretty privileged role in society actually , they are well paid for their work ( compared directly with teachers in other European countries like The Netherlands – they are !! ) , they have great job security regardless of how bad our economic recessions , they have no issues getting mortgages (for the same reason ) they have very generous holidays and leave – many have second holiday homes in Spain etc , they are paid for these long non- working periods – mid terms , summer and Christmas , they can avail of ‘career breaks’ and despite the fact that they have so many weeks per year that they do not have to work they STILL can avail of EXTRA days off paid leave – for example when they choose to get married ( which of course they may do not during the summer holidays ) – I KNOW there are many hard working teachers and that the job is stressful and demanding – as is the life of anyone in the country trying to make a living in the private sector -with a whole different set of challenges – many where if they don’t work for a week they don’t get paid ! and finally , whats with the attitude that we were ‘privy’ to the great education system and should be grateful – get off your high horse – taxpayers fund the schools and education system and pay your teachers wages – So enjoy your week whatever happens , I am pretty sure you will be paid either way.
@Dave Hammond: teachers in Ireland are so badly paid. The two saving graces are the time off and the pension. Leave both alone. These guys half raised us… I for one am grateful.
@Shane McGrath: fair play I respect your position on that but I am sorry Shane but thats just not true about being badly paid – – ireland is among the top 10 best countries for teachers pay – thats the fact of the matter .
One can only hope that the government and local authorities have a plan in place to home those sleeping rough throughout the week with such severe weather on the horizon. Shelters will undoubtedly be filled to capacity once the temperatures begin to dip, and we all know there isn’t near enough beds for all who need it
@John: I doubt it very much
@John: ‘We’ ?? My understanding is there is enough beds for rough sleepers
@John: some rough sleepers have dogs and other animals and I’m not sure if any shelter allows them. So many of them naturally won’t want to go to the shelters for this reason. I know I wouldn’t want to leave my dog. There should be something put in place to allow for animals in some way. No living being should have to suffer
@John: There are more than enough beds available for rough sleepers.
We know you have a political agenda, but maybe try not to mislead people with blatant lies?
Cannot wait for Tuesday, that’s the day after tomorrow.
@Sam Cairns: i c what you did there, n,ice… :)
We should be warned about all these warnings…
Meanwhile temperatures at the poles are 10 degrees higher displacing the polar air south. Climate change deniers next week is dedicated to you.
@Deborah Behan: The sudden stratospheric warning phenomena was first measured in 1952…It happens from time to time…Causing the polar vortex to split and jet stream to move north…Not connected to CO2 levels and global warming….
@John003: as with every other event, it’s not the event itself that’s worrying, it’s the increased frequency
@Deborah Behan: We are entering a mini Ice Age as the North Atlantic Oscillation moves into negative phase. You dont understand even 0.00000001% of how the climate works. The jetstream is not influenced by CO2. Climate change is a scam and next week will bring it home to everyone. I feel sorry for older and poorer people who wont be able to afford to put on their heaters because of high energy bills.
Our bills should be very very low since 2014 but because of carbon taxes and wind energy levies our bills are very expensive. But this is what the left want – old and poor people suffering.
@Owen M: lol, you’re funny. Watch out though, they’re turning the freaking frogs gay
@Deborah Behan: please explain how CO2 affects the jetstream ?
@Owen M: how is it a scam? Who is profiting? So you are seriously saying that 99% of climatologists are involved in a organised conspiracy to fake the overwhelming evidence of climate change brought about by rising co2 levels. Really?
@Dave O Keeffe: Frogs gay is Not an argument Dave.
@Dave O Keeffe: increased frequency of what ? we havent had an event like this since 2010.
@Keith Bines: there are many making millions out of our electricity bills which incidentally we should have had very very low prices since 2014 when price of oil and gas hit rock bottom.
If that people that brainwashed you really cared about “sustainability” they would stop govt debt and the welfare state. Straight away. This proves its a scam. Met Eireann published a report that showed a 90% correlation between the AMO and Irish temperatures. Bet you didnt hear about that did you ?
http://irishenergyblog.blogspot.ie/2015/09/met-eireann-recognise-major-impact-of.html
@Deborah Behan: People like Deboarah and Dave should not be allowed access to fossil fuels which includes mains electricity, it’s 50Hz frequency is incidentally maintained by fossil fuel generation and more often undermined by wind energy.
Anybody who advocates for green energy and believes climate change to be real should be prevented from using fossil fuels. I would pass a law tomorrow to effect it, people like Dave would have to sign up to it or if not we could publish the names of who signed up and prove Dave to be a hypocrite by not living by his principles.
@Owen M: and the ESB are getting great profits out of it and a lot goes to the government but mostly ESB employees.
@Deborah Behan: There must have been Shi load of diesels around Ireland in the last ice age to melt all that ice back then too.
@Owen M: energy companies make millions because there is an ever increasing demand for energy. Energy companies don’t need a climate change conspiracy to increase profits. Climatologists and energy companies are mostly at odds with each other. Can you hear just how insane your arguments of a conspiracy are?
@Owen M: and secondly you have taken one study that shows that one very particular climate variation is within the natural bounds. This in no way disproves that in general the pattern of climate change is not being accelerated due to rising co2 levels. Nobody argues that climate change is a natural phenomenon and that there are many cases of micro climate changes that are within the norm. But to suggest that a huge global conspiracy of climatologists faking evidence to increase the profits of some energy companies exists is just pure lunacy. Just think about it. Even if such a conspiracy did exist do you really think it would have any success when stacked against the trillions in the vested interests of the oil and motor industries?
Ok so we are warned about snow and cold conditions, therefore EVERY council should now be stocked up with salt and the ploughs on standby, can’t be any excuses, all roads should be clear and safe.
This winter has been looooong. Roll on spring weather.
Great,I finally get to try out my new double insulated long Johns.
@Dj: go wan we know you secretly wear them every day!
Thanks journal . I’ll file this one with the 3 weather warnings you gave us last week.
Snowmegeddon
@Keith Flood: 22c here, still no sign of snow…l
@Gus Sheridan: Turn the central heating off Gus
Loved this type of weather as a kid. We lived in a cul de sac on a hill and when the snow and ice arrived we made the mother of all slides on the road the kids would spends hours sliding with every contraption they could get there hands on especially the mothers basin. Pity I don’t see much of stuff anymore I’ll just have to make my own one.
I for one am not looking forward to being penetrated by a severe frost
@Fergus Murphy: oh behave
CLIMATE CHANGE is a scam. Anyone who has done any research into feedbacks, the Atlantic M/Oscillation, jetstream, cloud formation can explain to you how the climate works, CO2 can only play a tiny part in this. So next week poor people should have no problem turning on cheap electricity but instead the lefties/greenies demanded we have very expensive electricity so their pals could make a fortune of us.
Since 2014, the price of oil and gas has been very low, we as consumers were entitled to benefit from that but we were not allowed thanks to the nutjob greens and lefties.
@Owen M: Thats why yesterday in the coldest part of Earth its 6.7 c degrees in the North Pole- over 44 degrees f above normal. The Arctic has lost 80% of its ice volume and will be virtually ice free in a few years and without Arctic to cool Earth down what do you think happen then. Its not rocket science go figure. One of the reasons for cheaper oil is because of more and more renewable energy.
@Owen M: You’re just peddling ignorance. “Anyone who has done research” are the very people who are telling us that man made climate change is a scientific fact. You on the other hand are just a keyboard warrior who is peddling dangerous unscientific opinion. Have you done any research? Published any peer reviewed papers? Didn’t think so.
@Paraic McDonagh: With respect the claim that 90%+ of scientists surveyed believe in man made global warming is an inconvenient mis understanding. Anyone, scientist or not once they have a basic understanding of thermodynamics will know that man can influence the climate, however there is absolutely no consensus among scientists about how much the effect is. Otherwise known as climate sensitivity. Measured data is telling us that it’s several times less sensitive than the assumption been made by Governments and the propaganda being spread by those who rely on the myth for a living.
What really bugs me is no matter what happens to weather now, people like GoGreen blame it on mans activity. They would lead one to believe that there was no weather pre industrialisation, now that’s a scam
@GO GREEN: Yes renewables energy production is increasing significantly which is a good thing for all, but energy from oil is not reducing it is instead increasing and is likely to do so for another 10-15 years. Oil has dropped in price due to better exploration and production technology.
As regards your claim that the Artic will be Ice free in a few years, this claim was made 20 years ago and now shown to be wildly alarmist. Frighten the people to make them conform, oldest trick in the book, yet the measured data is telling us that global sea ice is at worst constant.
@Seamus Hughes: With respect, the actual figure is 97% and that figure comes from peer reviewed data. I’m positive all 100% of those have a firm grasp of thermodynamics, being climatologists and all. https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/ Everything you said after that is based on your initial false statement and is muddled babble anyway, so I won’t even bother. At least offer a scientifically grounded counter argument and not a conspiracy theory.
@Seamus Hughes: The previous high price of oil was in large part due to speculators and very little to do with demand. The current price is close to the actual demand price. The low demand price owes a lot to American fracking.
@Owen M: I suggest you get yourself up to the Arctic and see the glaciers that have lost 4 metres in depth and the permafrost thawing out and releasing methane to add to the problems. Then come back and tell us warming isn’t happening.
@Seamus Hughes: Yes fossil fuels are increasing which spells doom for the planet. Just last week in the mist of Winter a non ice breaker ship sailed through the Arctic. 80% of Arctic ice volume is gone Look at this video to see the reality of what is happening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh3oakgxZ9w This is not frighting people – this is the reality of what is happening right now.
@Seamus Hughes: So as not to frighten people – In fact it is a lot worse than even scientists are admitting or the IPCC http://arctic-news.blogspot.ie/2018/02/ipcc-seeks-to-downplay-global-warming.html?spref=tw
@Owen M: this type of illl informed, irrational and paranoid thought process is a danger to society.
I knew having a huge 4×4 in south Dublin would eventually pay off !
As Eamon Dunphy says,yeah can’t get good snow in this town anymore baby
What Met Eireann says: the Ice Age cometh
What actually happens: small flurry, bit of frost, sunny but cold.
Yawn. Usual overreacting nonsense.
>Air and ground temperatures will be five to 10 degrees below normal
surely normal is relative? why cant they give a precise figure?
@Rear Admiral: I guess they are just guessing as well.
If they do have a red warning then make sure employers aren’t forcing employees to come in. When Ophelia was here people were told to go to work or else. It’s completely unacceptable.
This will all be blamed on our cars now…
It’s the hottest summer ever recorded in New Zealand, with 3 days of summer to go. The US is experiencing drought conditions and temperatures of 26C in New York and Washington today (hotter than most days in Ireland in peak summer). It’s February! The temperature in polar regions have shot up alarmingly this week,for the second year running…. This is just today’s news. Something is very wrong with our planet. We need to wake up!up
@Paraic McDonagh: There is nothing surprising about this – most of us predicted this many years ago. Things are so bad now that even the IPCC is downplaying the threat for obvious reasons http://arctic-news.blogspot.ie/2018/02/ipcc-seeks-to-downplay-global-warming.html?spref=tw
Go to space weather.com for some real science. If the sun continues its current trend for 2018 then next winter 2018/2019 will be savage.
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 25 Feb 2018
Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 8 days
2018 total: 26 days (47%)
2017 total: 104 days (28%)
2016 total: 32 days (9%)
2015 total: 0 days (0%)
2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
2013 total: 0 days (0%)
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Updated 25 Feb 2018
Look on the bright side. If it really is that bad then we’ll go into the summer with record low homelessness and a massively reduced pension bill.
I see met eireann and Joanna Donnelly gave us a heavy snow warning rte only gave her the bare 3 minutes to let us know what’s going on so it not that serious
Blown out of all proportions again.
@Dave barrett: This is based on your clairvoyant ability to see into next week presumably. Maybe save your comment until after you dig your car out of the snow drift.
@Paraic McDonagh: met eireann dont know what is happening this week. The wind could shift from the west. ACU have already predicted snow Tuesday. Now its pushed back to Thursday or later in week. It makes no odds anyway for this backward country as the slightest hint of ice and we grind to a halt as we dont have the proper machinery for dealing with badweather. So there …bsck in yr box
@Dave barrett: Zzzz
It’s spring not winter
I can see the sci-fy channel making a film here in Ireland.
KFC lost a shipment of chicken it closes its stores. Ireland gets a baby storm and life as we know it is over….
have your say