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The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Pippa Hackett has marked her first full calendar year in office by highlighting her achievement in 2021 and outlining her priorities for 2022.
Looking back at year end, the Minister said:
“It’s been a very productive and busy year. The agreeing of a CAP Strategic Plan to submit to the EU by the end of it, has consumed a lot of
The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, has today (Tuesday) published a Draft Policy Statement on Geothermal Energy for a Circular Economy. The Draft Statement delivers on the Roadmap for Geothermal Energy published in November 2020.
Geothermal energy is not only renewable, it is also secure, reliable and
The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris and Minister for Education Norma Foley today announced the publication of Education Indicators for Ireland 2021 – which presents a comprehensive set of educational indicators for the education system in Ireland.
The indicators in this report cover all levels of education starting with early years and working through school education, further and higher education and through to lifelong learning. In doing so the report provides an overview of the work of both the Department of Education and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
This updated report provides data up to and including the school/academic year
The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for Research and Development, Martin Heydon, T.D., has highlighted the role of science and innovation in the agri-food and bioeconomy sector over the course of 2021.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine supports research and innovation to enable the Irish agri-food sector to deliver greater efficiency, sustainability and the development of a strong bio-economy. Commenting on this, Minister Heydon said
“This year saw the publication of the new ten-year Strategy for the agri-food sector – Food Vision 2030.One of its four Missions is to
Data collected by the Observatory will underpin the development of a carbon farming model that aims to reward actions that remove carbon and store it in our soils
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue announced over €2.7 million in funding for the expansion of the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory (NASCO) today (Monday). This investment will facilitate the purchase of additional greenhouse gas monitoring equipment to increase the range and type of soils and land uses monitored through the Observatory.
Minister McConalogue said:
“Today’s investment of more than €2.7 million funding to expand the
“It is with great sadness that people all over the world will have learned of the death today of Nobel Peace Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
With the passing of Desmond Tutu, the world has lost not only a great spiritual leader but a great advocate for an informed, sensitive and caring society, defined by compassion and kindness.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a man of profound wisdom and as of
Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Patrick O’Donovan TD, today visited Enniscorthy and Bridgetown in County Wexford, meeting with officials and engineers from Wexford County Council, to view and hear at first hand about the extent of the damage caused by recent flooding.
Minister O’Donovan said:
“The Office of Public Works and Wexford County Council have worked closely over many years to develop a robust flood relief scheme for Enniscorthy. When complete, this scheme will protect over 230 properties, including in areas of the town that have been flooded over this Christmas,
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has expressed his concerns at the damage caused to bridges and road infrastructure by the floods in the southeast yesterday.
The Minister said:
"My department will provide full support for Wexford County Council and other councils as they address and repair the damage caused by the flash floods.
"The department will ask Wexford County Council and other affected councils to submit and estimate of the cost of repairs as soon as it reasonable estimates available. An allocation for repairs will then be made from the 2022 Regional and Local Roads fund."
Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD, has said her department will support householders affected by the severe flooding in the South East.
The department’s Community Welfare Service officials are engaging with Wexford County Council and other agencies in response to the recent flooding event.
Minister Humphreys said that the interagency response ensures that
It is important that all of us continue to reduce our contacts and avoid crowded places, to the greatest extent possible, as we see the Omicron variant become the dominant variant of COVID-19 in Ireland.
We know that this variant is more transmissible than even the highly transmissible Delta variant. As such, please do not socialise or meet indoors with people from other households.
Avoid crowded places including retail environments.
Choose to shop online where possible, queue outside and leave
Santa presents a Christmas gift, representing funds raised by the benefit concert, to Linda Shortt Maritza, founder of Caring is Sharing, a charity that provides food and essentials to the homeless and others in need.
Santa joins the Dublin City Ramblers, Sean McGuinnes and Stephen Leeson on stage at the Sharing is Caring fundraiser at the Scientology Dublin Community Centre.
Artists United Against Homelessness Christmas Concert grand finale
Award-winning singer Aoife Duignan traveled from County Roscommon to support the cause.
The Feekers joined the many other talented artists who helped make the fundraiser a resounding success.
The “Artists United Against Homelessness” concert brought together talent from across Ireland in aid of Tallaght community group Sharing is Caring, Dublin 24.
DUBLIN, IRELAND, December 26, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Artists from across Ireland came together on the night of 17 December to raise funds in aid of Sharing is Caring Dublin 24, enabling the Tallaght community group to continue looking after the homeless and people in need.
“Artists United Against Homelessness," the first fundraiser held in aid of the voluntary group, raised 3,145 euros with donations still coming in. The musical and dance fusion was produced by the Scientology Community Centre in Firhouse and was featured as part of The Stephen Leeson Show.
The highlight of the night was a personal interview with Linda Shortt Maritza, the Aylesbury woman who, seven years ago, started taking care of one person in need and expanded this gentle gesture of humanity to a community initiative now helping over 140 people on a weekly basis.
Since March this year, Linda and her team of volunteers have been on the streets of Tallaght every week providing hot meals, packaged foods, toiletries and warm clothes to people in need.
Talking about the work of her team in 2021,
Minister Eamon Ryan has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating at home. The Minister is following all HSE protocols. He has advised the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Secretary to the Government.
Minister Ryan attended Cabinet remotely on Friday, so members of the Cabinet are not close contacts.
The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, has today (Sunday) announced the introduction of an annual grant of €2,000 for employers who employ apprentices in one of the 37 apprenticeships which have been established since 2016.
This extends financial support to all apprentice employers for the first time, addressing a key barrier to employer participation in apprenticeship.
Speaking today, Minister Harris said:
“Throughout 2021, my department has placed a real focus on
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 5,124 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
As of 8am today, 436 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of whom 107 are in ICU.
Possible Omicron cases can be identified by the number of PCR results with ‘S gene target failure.’ Using this methodology, we estimate that approximately 52% of reported cases are now due to the Omicron variant.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman ,T.D., has today announced a suite of new Covid-19 measures to support the early learning and childcare sector, including:
The objective of this once-off exceptional Grant Programme is to support
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has today (13 December 2021) announced the payment of a minor works grant totaling €45m for primary schools and special schools as part of additional support in the context of COVID-19. Once-off COVID-19 minor works funding of €17m is also announced for post-primary schools.
Given that each school setting is different, individual schools are best placed to decide how best to use this funding to address their particular needs.
Arrangements are now being made for the payment of these grants to
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD has today (Monday) announced that €6.85m has been granted to provide funding to support educationally disadvantaged learners in accessing and participating in community education under the Mitigating against Educational Disadvantage Fund (MAEDF).
The fund was first made available in 2020 and is managed by SOLAS, with
The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for Research and Development, Martin Heydon, T.D., has taken the opportunity to highlight the significant focus on climate action and the environment in the recent awarding of research funding by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Referring to the announcement of over €20m in research funding to the
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is advising organisations to urgently assess their web servers for exposure to a new vulnerability, and to take measures to address the risk of compromise. This issue only affects organisations operating web server infrastructure and not users operating home or personal devices.
The NCSC has been working with partners across Government and the private sector to address a serious vulnerability that has been identified in Apache Log4j (CVE-2021-44228). This is an open source java logging library used by many
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, and Minister of State for Sport and Gaeltacht Affairs, Jack Chambers TD, together with Sport Ireland, have announced almost €80m for the sport sector under two separate support programmes.
Some €73.6m in COVID funding is being allocated under five separate streams to help sports organisations to recover and grow post pandemic, support our
Today, the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly formally launched new facilities at the Rotunda Hospital, including two new operating theatres, additional delivery suites, as well as an ambulatory gynaecology unit.
These facilities were developed as part of the new three-storey extension on the Parnell Square campus, notwithstanding the pressures of the COVID-19
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD today announced a wide-ranging consultation process as part of the development of phase two STEM Education Implementation Plan under the STEM Education Policy Statement 2017-2026.
Minister Foley said:
"It is important that our children and young people have real opportunities for high-quality STEM experiences at a young age. We know that having this access can have a lasting impact and can set the stage for their later
Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler TD, has today confirmed the details of €10 million in additional once off funding for mental health, that was announced on Budget Day.
Minister Butler stated that:
"It was of huge importance to me to ensure that as many individuals as
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, and the Minister for Land Use and Biodiversity, Senator Pippa Hackett, today launched a major investment of €5 million in a pilot Farm Environmental Study (FES). This pilot will establish a framework to generate a database of baseline habitat and biodiversity data at the farm-level and will provide the scope for an inventory of farm habitats and biodiversity present and a baseline for future targeting of agri-environmental schemes and measures.
The Pilot Stage of FES will focus on the roll out of farm level habitat surveys on approximately 6,500 farms. The Pilot FES measure will provide the farmer with
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD have today published the Draft Fifth Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) and announced the opening of a public consultation on the Draft NAP Natura Impact Statement (NIS) and the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
Ireland’s NAP gives effect to the requirements of the Nitrates Directive in Ireland and is a critical piece of legislation implemented by farmers on their farms. A
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, have today published the Draft Fifth Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) and announced the opening of a public consultation on the Draft NAP Natura Impact Statement (NIS) and the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
Ireland’s NAP gives effect to the requirements of the Nitrates Directive in Ireland and is a critical piece of legislation implemented by farmers on their farms. A
The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is pleased to announce that expressions of interest are now being sought for membership of the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC) in the role of Public Voice representative.
This independent committee makes recommendations to the minister on
The Lord Mayor of Dublin is delighted to announce the return of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Live Animal Crib to the Mansion House. As a Christmas tradition spanning more than a quarter of a century, many will be familiar with and fond of this festive farmyard crib.
The IFA Live Animal Crib first appeared outside the Mansion House in 1995. This year marks the 26th anniversary of the collaboration between Dublin City Council and the IFA.
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alison Gilliland, said, “The Mansion House IFA Live
This new service will provide a major boost for the airport and the region as it restores a critically important service between the West of Ireland and Birmingham.
The opening of this new route reinforces Ryanair’s commitment to Ireland West Airport and the rebuilding of the airports route network whilst playing a key role in the recovery of local jobs and the economy. This is the third new route to be announced by Ryanair from the airport in 2021 following the commencement of new services to Edinburgh and Manchester in September. In addition, their services to Malaga and Milan will operate through the winter in 2021/22 for the first time.
To celebrate this new Summer route, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with