South Kerry Camhs: Most children affected by over-prescribing now seek compensation
Mary Butler, the mental health minister, will tell Cabinet on Tuesday that, as of June this year, 230 applications had been made to the State compensation scheme set up in the wake of the Maskey report.
Of 83 applications which have gone to mediation, 74 have concluded in settlement.
Ms Butler will bring forward a memo detailing the deficits in care identified in the cases of the 240 young people attending services in South Kerry between July 2016 and April 2021.
A separate lookback review into the care of children in North Kerry is being finalised by consultant psychiatrist Colette Halpin.
New special classes
Helen McEntee, the education minister, will update Cabinet on 400 new special classes to be provided in the coming school year while the vast majority of new special classes for September 2026 is expected to be sanctioned by the end of December 2025.
Trade mission plan
Peter Burke, the enterprise minister, will seek Cabinet approval to make a Team Ireland trade mission an annual event as part of market diversification plans.
This year's mission to Canada will include key political meetings with prime minister Mark Carney.
Future trade missions may include locations such as India, China, and the United Arab Emirates.
State spending report
Jack Chambers, the public expenditure minister, will tell Cabinet that State spending for the first half of 2025 is up on last year by 6.5% and capital expenditure up 22.5%. He will also note an allocation of €1.15bn from the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility, marking 38% of Ireland's overall allocation to date.
Legal processes reform
Jim O'Callaghan, the justice minister, will seek Cabinet approval for the general scheme of a bill to implement the Kelly report recommendations which would see further reforms in discovery, judicial review, and civil procedure in the courts and jurisdiction in the circuit and district courts.
Mr O'Callaghan will also update ministers on draft amendments to personal injuries guidelines submitted by the Judicial Council which propose an across-the-board increase of 16.7% in compensation awards in line with inflation since 2021.
Renewables proposal
Darragh O'Brien, the transport and climate minister, will bring the Renewable Heat Obligation Bill, which will require suppliers of fossil fuels used for heat to demonstrate a proportion of the energy supplied is from a renewable source.
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The Journal
3 hours ago
- The Journal
Minister claims legal case could see asylum seekers entitled to damages, but not homeless people
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The Journal
4 hours ago
- The Journal
War of words breaks out on the airwaves between An Post boss and a minister — what's going on?
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This, in particular, appears to have irked the An Post boss, David McRedmond, who picked up the phone to call RTÉ's Morning Ireland while he is on his holidays in Italy. He told the radio programme that he was furious over what he described as an 'irresponsible leak' by 'a Government minister' relating to the company's finances. 'I'm here in Italy, on my holidays, I'm absolutely furious to read something like that,' he added. 'The results were presented to Cabinet yesterday. They showed the highest revenue we've ever had, over a billion in revenue for the first time. 'They show that we grew our earnings from €38 million to €55 million. They showed that our net profit was €10 million,' he said. So annoyed was the An Post boss, that the organisation released its annual report early, publishing it today. A few hours after McRedmond's radio appearance, O'Donovan, who is responsible for An Post, was out on RTÉ Radio One also, claiming that the leak did not come from him. He added that he is satisfied that An Post is in good financial standing. Advertisement What does the future hold for An Post? Debates around the future of the postal service in Ireland are not new. For over a decade now, the organisation has been seeking more funding to keep post offices open and delivery services operational. Just last month, An Post was before an Oireachtas committee making this very point. Redmond told the committee that he is 'really confident about the future of the post office network'. An Post exceeded €1 billion in revenue for the first time in the company's history, he said at the time. 'There is always difficulty with mail volume decline but we are growing a load of services,' he said. Chairman of An Post, Kieran Mulvey told the committee that he had every confidence in the future of the post office, stating that An Post is 'highly competitive', particularly for parcels. 'That is a significant growth area for us. We operate on a multiplicity of fronts. It is not just about maintaining the post office network and the products that go through it. There is also the centralised delivery of mail parcels throughout the country, including Government services,' said Mulvey. Patrick Neary, Assistant secretary in the Department of Communications, said last month that the decline in mail and financial transactions 'puts pressure' on ensuring that the organisation has new areas of revenue, through Government services and parcel delivery. 'We are working very closely with An Post on its strategy and future strategy. We are supported by other Government agencies in that engagement. To say what the future will be beyond five years is probably a little bit of a stretch for us now. I know An Post's strategy, published last year, looked out for the coming five years and we are very much engaged,' said Neary. What does the Taoiseach make of the row? The Taoiseach was asked about the back-and-forth between O'Donovan and McRedmond, stating that there was no discussion yesterday about An Post 'being on the brink or anything like that'. Micheál Martin said that the company turned a profit last year. 'My main message here is we have full confidence in An Post. I have, as Taoiseach. I've witnessed first over the last decade, the manner in which the company has changed. And changed effectively, I believe, and has adapted very well to fairly disruptive change… 'The company has managed that very well and has managed its human resource change very well also. I was disappointed with the thrust of that story this morning because I don't think it reflects the strength and resilience in the company.' What next? Well, any funding An Post is looking for from the Government will be thrown into the pile of asks ahead of October's budget. Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae told Newstalk today that the Government has an 'obligation' to protect communities' and its post offices. 'If we don't use it, we lose it,' he said, adding that everyone should use their local post office. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
An Post chief ‘absolutely furious' at Cabinet leak as Taoiseach expresses ‘full confidence' in company
An Post has insisted its company balance sheet is 'strong, with little debt' following media reports saying Cabinet was briefed this week on a bleak financial situation facing the organisation. The State's postal service has said its finances and business strategy was 'seriously misrepresented' in parts of the media. As a consequence it published its annual results in advance of a planned announcement later this month. The 2024 annual statement shows its revenue exceeded €1 billion, representing a 10.6 per cent increase from 2023. Is debt reduced by €5 million to €34 million. An Post chief executive David McRedmond expressed his fury on Wednesday at an 'irresponsible leak' by 'a Government Minister' on the finances of the company. READ MORE Patrick O'Donovan, who holds one ordinary share in the company as Minister for Communications, later denied he was the source of the leak and insisted An Post is a 'very viable' and 'profitable' business. Reports in two newspapers said Cabinet was told on Tuesday that An Post would have made a substantial loss were it not for significant one-off revenue generated from election-related post last year when general, local and European elections were held. Mr McRedmond said this is 'simply not true'. 'It was an irresponsible leak from a Government Minister, which is wholly unacceptable. These are not the actions of a responsible shareholder. The company is doing really well,' he told RTÉ Radio 1 on Wednesday. 'I'm absolutely furious to read something like that. The company presented its results; the results were presented to Cabinet yesterday. They showed the highest revenue we've ever had, over a billion in revenues for the first time.' [ An Post €3 million branding campaign is first since 2019 Opens in new window ] Mr McRedmond acknowledged that An Post received a boost from the elections last year but said that if it had not been the elections 'it would be something else'. He also denied a claim that the organisation's cash reserves fell to below €1 million. Later, Mr O'Donovan denied he was the source of the leak and he said he agreed with comments made by Mr McRedmond that it was unacceptable. The Fine Gael Minister said he brought An Post's accounts to Tuesday's meeting and would not break 'Cabinet confidentialities'. He added that Mr McRedmond is 'absolutely right' and that 'An Post has been transformed over the last number of years under his leadership'. Asked why someone in Cabinet would brief journalists that An Post is in an 'awful state', Mr O'Donovan replied: 'Maybe if the person who said that put their name in the paper, you should be asking them.' In a statement, An Post said it is a 'self-sufficient' State company, receives no Government subsidy and 'never has'. [ David McRedmond: 'An Post has been brilliant. I've never been remunerated less and enjoyed a job more' Opens in new window ] The company has reduced its debt 'significantly in the past two years' – by €48 million – including the repayment of a Government loan of €30 million from its own resources, it said. 'At December 2024 year end the company had spare cash resources of €38 million and undrawn bank facilities of €30m, ensuring it had working capital facilities for its trading operations.' Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the leak 'wasn't good for the company'. 'I can understand [Mr Redmond's] anger and annoyance at what he read today, and I'm not apportioning blame anywhere, I just simply do not know,' he told reporters. 'What happened is wrong ... There was no discussion around An Post being on the brink, the company turned a profit last year and had improved the situation significantly from the previous year.' Mr Martin said his 'main message' was that the Government had 'full confidence' in An Post. 'So I was disappointed with the thrust of that story this morning, because I don't think it reflects the strength of innovation and resilience that is within the company,' he added.
