A roundup of today's other stories in brief.
CIÉ fares to rise by 2.75% in New Year
Fares on CIÉ bus and rail services as well as the Luas are to increase by 2.75 per cent in the new year, it was announced yesterday.
The figure is considerably less than that sought by CIÉ, which had applied for an increase in fares of up to 10 per cent.
Iarnród Éireann and Bus Éireann had sought an increase of 9 per cent, while Dublin Bus applied for a 10 per cent increase. The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) had requested that fares be increased by 3.45 per cent.
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said that following examination of the applications from the CIÉ companies (Iarnród Éireann, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann) and the RPA, the Government decided the increase of 2.75 per cent in fares revenue in 2007 would be more appropriate.
In coming to the decision, he was conscious of the need to achieve a balance of the impact on customers of CIÉ and the RPA with the need to sustain the financial health of the companies.
He wanted to encourage and support passengers who were choosing public transport as their commuting option.
New health plan from Hibernian
Hibernian Insurance has launched a new private health insurance plan in partnership with Vivas Health.It follows a successful pilot run in early November.
The Hibernian Health Insurance Plan will offer similar benefits to the Plan B product provided by the State-owned VHI.
However, according to Hibernian its health plan will offer considerable savings, particularly for families with two or more children.
Hibernian is also offering its car and home insurance customers loyalty discounts on their existing policies if they sign up for this new health insurance offering.
Finance sector earnings rise 8.8%
Average weekly earnings in the banking, insurance and building society sectors climbed 8.8 per cent to €821.20 in the year to September 2006, according to the latest CSO figures. In the same period, employment in those sectors rose by 1,000 to 56,800.
Bulgarian aviation sector 'deficient'
Bulgaria's aviation sector is to be put into quarantine when it joins the European Union on January 1st after Brussels inspectors discovered "grave deficiencies" in safety procedures.
The country will also be warned that 55 former Soviet aircraft operated by airlines in Bulgaria could be grounded unless they reach European standards.
The European Commission is today expected to back Jacques Barrot, EU transport commissioner, in calling for some of the toughest safety measures ever applied against a new member state. - (Financial Times service)
Wholesale price index drops 2%
The CSO wholesale price index dropped by just over 2 per cent in the 12 months ended November 2006.
However a breakdown of wholesale prices by sector showed that construction and building materials have increased in price by 9.6 per cent since November 2005, while the price of energy products rose by 4.8 per cent. The home sales index dipped fractionally in the last 12 months (0.3 per cent).
Nasdaq shares decrease 5.2%
Shares of Nasdaq Stock Market fell 5.2 per cent yesterday to their lowest levels in over a month after the London Stock Exchange urged shareholders to reject a £2.7 billion hostile bid.
