The €5 reduced septic tank inspection fee allows Government to suck people into the system
Rural householders are to be offered a reduced septic tank inspection fee of €5 if they register within the first three months of the new scheme.
In an apparent move to quell disquiet over proposed charges, Minister for Environment Phil Hogan today announced what he described as an “incentive for owners to register early”.
Under the proposed regulations, householders who do not avail of the incentive scheme will have to pay a registration charge of €50 to facilitate inspections of their tanks.
Speaking at a public meeting on the new scheme in Dundrum, Co Tipperary this evening, Mr Hogan said: “To act as an incentive for owners to register early, I have decided to set the registration fee at €5 instead of the proposed €50 for the first three months.
He encouraged householders to register before June 30th to avail of the lower fee.
“This legislation has been deliberately framed to minimise the impact on householders who can be assured that if their systems are working properly and are being maintained the impact of the new system will be minor,” he said.
Mr Hogan said he would formally announce the guidelines for the new scheme in two weeks which will be followed by a four-week public consultation period.
The Government has consistently argued that the proposed Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 is required to ensure Ireland complied with a 2009 European Court of Justice ruling, and to improve water quality and protection of the environment.
However, the regulations have been criticised by opposition TDs and rural groups who claim many rural householders have already paid large amounts on septic-tank construction and maintenance at personal, rather than taxpayers’ cost.
Shortage of senior doctors in Ireland’s emergency departments
A survey suggests that there is an ongoing shortage of senior doctors in emergency departments of eight hospitals.
A survey has found there is an ongoing shortage of senior doctors in emergency departments.
The survey, which was completed last month, by the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine suggested that eight hospitals have emergency departments where more than half of all registrar posts remain unfilled.
The IAEM said while all Senior House Office vacancies have now been filled, mostly by the recruitment drive from India and Pakistan, just four registrar posts were filled by the same drive.
It said 108 of 152 positions have now been filled, meaning almost a third still require locum staff.
According to the review, there are eight hospitals where half or more registrar posts remain unfilled.
They are Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street, Dublin; Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown; Galway University Hospital; Limerick, Mayo, Naas and Letterkenny General Hospitals; and Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan.
It also found that three hospitals, Navan, Letterkenny and Naas, have no permanent registrar.
The association said continued reliance on locum senior medical staff is not only expensive but is potentially detrimental to patient care.
It said it will also place in jeopardy the recent success of the reforms undertaken by the Special Delivery Units.
IAEM has urged an immediate Government focus on potential strategies to ensure that the medical staffing of emergency departments is secured.
In the longer term, this is dependent on significant consultant expansion to ensure that patients receive the best possible emergency care.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Health has said that some elective surgeries may have to be delayed while the HSE absorbs staff changes.
Around 8,000 public sector staff will leave their roles in the next month.
James Reilly was speaking at the opening of new patient facilities at Mount Carmel Private Hospital in Dublin.
Dr Reilly also said that some elective surgery may have to be delayed while the HSE adapts to the loss of workers who are retiring before the end of this month.
He said he expected productivity in non-emergency surgery to be increased again once the HSE adapts to the loss of staff.
The new breed of ‘piranha women’who are preying on rich men to get them pregnant
Wealthy men are being tricked into bed by single women who deliberately get pregnant because they view a baby as a career option, a top lawyer warned. Soaring numbers of men are being forced to part with their money once they have been ensnared in this way by pretty young females.
They are seen as easy prey by devious women who have no desire to work and equate a baby to a trophy and a meal ticket to a gourmet life for the next 18 to 21 years.
These predators – namely man-eating women intent on securing a cushy lifestyle – have been dubbed piranhas.
It is a term that has been borrowed by lawyer Diane Benussi to describe women who flaunt themselves in the hope of snapping up a high-flying gentleman, whether he is married or not.
They will then lure the unassuming man into having unprotected sex, under the pretence they cannot become pregnant or are on the pill.
Last night Mrs Benussi said increasing numbers of women were shying away from work and marriage and looking instead for easy financial sources.
She said: ‘Marriage doesn’t seem to have the same resonance it once had. Instead women want a baby. Babies are becoming a lot more fashionable – they are becoming trophies.
‘For some women having a baby is a career move. They are paid to stay at home and look after their baby.
‘It is a meal ticket for the next 18 years of their life.’
Mrs Benussi runs a large matrimonial law firm in Birmingham specialising in high-value divorce cases and has over 30 years’ experience.
Last night she warned how a one-night stand or fling could leave men with a long-term financial hangover if it leads to pregnancy.
Her company is dealing with an increasing number of cases involving single women falling pregnant and chasing the fathers of their children for financial support.
Mrs Benussi said she has seen a huge hike over the last five years in ‘canny’ women using the courts to gain financial support for 20 years or more.
She said piranhas, which she described as a ‘flesh-eating, man-eating creature’, ‘want a high-earning, high-flying, high-virility man’.
They can attack at any time, whether it is in the workplace or at a bar in a posh hotel. ‘They know exactly where to find their targets’, she said.
‘Middle-aged men who are boring, with a receding hairline, bulging waist line and of course, a fat wallet, are approached by younger, beautiful women.
‘They get suckered in and don’t see it coming,’ said Mrs Benussi.
The single woman will fall pregnant and exploit her target through a legal loophole which could result in her landing a house, suitably furnished, a car and nursery, school and university fees.
They can also obtain a monthly allowance for their child – £4,000 in not untypical in these cases – and money for holidays.
Quite often, this represents a settlement that will cost the man upwards of £2m for what might have been a one-night ‘adventure’.
But she does not put the blame solely on the woman. She added: ‘Any man that has unprotected sex is stupid. He is asking for a big dent in the pocket.’
Galway Airport staff stage a sit-in
Staff at Galway Airport are staging a sit-in protest until they receive assurances they will be paid their statutory redundancy entitlements.
Most of the airport’s 61-strong workforce were let go before Christmas following Aer Arann’s decision to withdraw its flights for the winter.
The regional airline had been the sole scheduled flight passenger operator at the Carnmore airport.
Since Christmas a group of 14 remaining employees have been operating the airport which continues to be used by a number of private planes.
Last month, however, Bank of Ireland withdrew €1.1 million from the bank account of the company which operates the airport to set it off against the company’s loans.
As a result, the company told the employees today that it was unable to guarantee money would be available for redundancy payments.
Spokesman Seán Adair said the staff had informed management of their decision to stage a sit-in until the situation is resolved.
The airport will continue to operate as normal while the protest is ongoing, he added.
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