Reply from Commission for Energy Regulation this morning @ 9.12 am: “Dear Mr Cassidy & Ms Shorthall, Thank you for contacting the Commission for Energy Regulation. The CER is currently progressing a revised water charges plan and associated decision with a view to publication in early January 2015.”
Analysis of Irish Water Figures
An analysis of Irish Water figures provided to me and raised in the Dáil tonight… Click here to view “The Cost of Collecting Water Charges” document as a PDF http://issuu.com/roisinshortalltd/docs/the_cost_of_collecting_water_charge
The Government’s plan for Water Charges – Does it stack up?
Photo Credit: Nic McPhee (flickr) Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ One of the outstanding questions yet to be answered by the Government is just how much it will cost to run the overall water charging scheme, including collecting charges and paying grants – and if these costs render the whole project unviable. A member of the public contacted me over the weekend, and produced the following figures. It is truly shocking that our Government Read More
Budget 2015 – Information Newsletter
Click here to view as a PDF
Benzodiazepines & Z-drugs
Today I raised in the Dáil the ongoing issue of the over-prescribing and street-trading of Benzodiazepines. (Copy of speech below) In my remarks I made the following key points: It has been three years since a review of the use of Benzodiasepines and z-drugs was initiated in the Department of Health. New controls were to be introduced via new regulations under the Misuse of Drugs Act by January Read More
Government and Irish Water fail test of fairness, reform, and competence
The game is up for water charges. The bottom line is that the public has simply not accepted them and if the Government does not accept that fact, it is even more out of touch than I thought it was. The public has not accepted water charges for a number of different reasons – some because they object in principle to water charges, some because they simply cannot afford them, Read More
Water Charges – How things currently stand
The introduction of water charges has been an absolute shambles. Instead of recognising this and halting the introduction of the charges in the Budget, the Government has done yet another u-turn and decided to introduce a series of reduced charges. The new water charges are as follows: For a single adult a standard charge of €160 has been set. For households with two or more adults a standard Read More
Dáil Reply on Bank Bonuses 4/11/2014
Dáil Reply on Bank Bonuses 4/11/2014 QUESTION NO: 306 DÁIL QUESTION addressed to the Minister for Finance (Deputy Michael Noonan) by Deputy Róisín Shortall for WRITTEN ANSWER on 04/11/2014 To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of revenue raised and the number of persons through the imposition of a 45% USC rate on bank bonuses with a breakdown by year. REPLY. Section 531AAD of the Taxes Consolidation Act Read More
Budget 2015 – The more you earn, the more you gain
Budget 2015 was yet another regressive Budget where the richer sections of our society gained much more than those on low and middle incomes. Here are just some examples of how Budget 2015 will operate in practice…. Maura compared to Laura Maura Maura is in part-time work on a salary of €9,000. Maura gains nothing from the Budget – counting water charges she will be worse off in 2015. Read More
Minister White should not endorse RTE Board Nominee
Statement issued today, Sunday 5th October, 2014 Minister White should not endorse RTE Board Nominee Independent T.D. Róisín Shortall has called on Minister Alex White not to endorse one of the Oireachtas Committee’s nominees to the Board of RTE. Ms. Shortall was responding to media reports that the Committee on Transport and Communications had included the Chief Executive of MEAS (Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society) among its four Read More