1. Public service to return to its ‘peak’ size next year
The public service will return next year to its “peak” size last seen before the economic crash in 2008, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe told Cabinet colleagues on Tuesday.
In a detailing briefing to Cabinet at its weekly meeting, Mr Donohoe also said the public pay bill would surpass its 2008 levels in 2018.
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2. Trump’s transition team roiled by tensions, departures
Donald Trump’s ascent to power is involving having to navigate internal tensions as the US president-elect met to consider top cabinet appointees amid departures from his transition team and warnings about his foreign policy.
The next president met US vice president-elect Mike Pence at his Manhattan skyscraper headquarters on Tuesday to consider senior officials to run his new administration – chief among them former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a favourite to be named his secretary of state, despite his lack of foreign policy experience.
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3. Pregnant women are not getting vaccines over ‘baseless’ concerns
Up to 40 per cent of Irish health professionals say they lack the confidence to recommend vaccines to pregnant women due to safety concerns, a survey has found.
This is despite the fact the vaccines to protect against flu and whooping cough are safe and are recommended by the HSE for women who are pregnant.
Unfounded concerns about vaccine safety are also rife among pregnant women, according to a separate survey of patients at the Rotunda Hospital, with up to one-quarter saying they were discouraged from getting the jab by worries about the risks involved.
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4. Garda officers are considering legal action in promotions row
The Government is facing the prospect of a legal challenge from a group of senior Garda officers who secured promotion in recent months but who may now have to reapply under a new system about to be introduced.
The problem has arisen for a group 17 officers who were entered onto a list of 32 personnel set for promotion by the end of the year.
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5. Iarnród Éireann faces insolvency, report claims
Less than one-tenth of those who commute into and around Dublin travel by rail, according to a major report on Ireland’s railways which warns that Iarnród Éireann could face insolvency unless it gets more State money.
The National Transport Authority’s review was considered by Cabinet on Tuesday and later published – it declares the semi-State needs an extra €103 million a year over the next five years to ensure its survival.