Dail takes note of the nature of Sinn Fein’s bargain basement ‘win’ in the #EUReferendum…

It’s a bit of a red letter day when Slugger gets read into the record of any of our legislatures. So far we’ve made it into the Seanad, and the House of Lords, now we’re in the official record of the proceedings in Dáil Éireann. This snippet (and it’s exchanges) is worth sharing: Deputy Brendan Howlin: The people of Northern Ireland voted to remain part of the European Union. The largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin, failed to register for …

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Croke Park Agreement targets people over €65,000

Brendan Howlin seems at least to have struck a new CrokeParkAgreement Headline figures are: :: Salary increments will be frozen for those earning over €65,000. :: Overtime for Sunday shifts will be cut from double time to time and three quarters. :: There will be graduated pay cuts between 5-10% for people earning over €65,000. :: A longer working week of either 37 or 39 hours. :: The abolition of Twilight Pay. Howlin has stated these are adjustments to make …

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Austerity in two halves: #Budget2012

Early next week will finally see the introduction of #Budget2012 to the Dáil, in a novel format with two speeches, one by Brendan Howlin on Monday and one by Michael Noonan on Tuesday. The budget has been heavily trailed, with endless kite-flying over the last few weeks. A brief guide to (some) of the proposed changes was given by Caroline Madden in the Irish Times last Monday. For ease of reference, most of the main suggested budgetary changes are given below. It will be interesting to compare the …

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