Michael Brennan | Business Post

Michael Brennan

Political Editor

@michael-brennan

Michael Brennan is political editor

HAP renters to face anti-fraud checks and ‘robust controls’

Housing Assistance Payment oversight group says increases in tenant income are not routinely tracked and collated

National Concert Hall upgrade under review after €100m cost hike

PwC to evaluate renovation project’s value for money as cost estimates rise from €80 million to €180 million

Disabled drivers scheme gets overhaul after being found ‘not fit for purpose’

Government working group found the current scheme was overly restrictive and that a new needs-based grant-aided vehicular adaptation scheme should replace it

Further training for LGBTQI+ asylum claims planned for Justice Department staff

International protection interviewers to receive more training on asking about claimants’ orientation, after concerns about inappropriate questioning

Companies will have to publish salary ranges in job adverts under new EU transparency rules

The measure is aimed at making sure that women are not paid less than men for doing the same job

Paschal Donohoe calls for digital euro roll out to boost EU single market

The digital euro would be an electronic equivalent to cash, giving people an additional choice about how to pay

Charlie McConalogue the minister with highest emissions from St Patrick’s Day trips

The government is sending representatives to dozens of countries for the holiday

Family disputes are a leading cause of Dublin homelessness

New data suggests 40 per cent of homelessness cases over the winter have been caused by relations breaking down between parents and an adult child

Businesses get less than €4m from €200m support scheme

Applications from manufacturers were held up by delay in Department of Public Expenditure approval which was finally agreed last week

Ukrainian Refugee Crisis

Tourism compensation scheme still under consideration

Government may recompense businesses for possible €1 billion losses in addition to retaining hospitality sector’s 9 per cent special Vat rate

Reform of work permit law will protect rights of foreign workers

Change will enable non-EU employees to switch jobs without needing a new permit, and improve pay and conditions for all workers in the sector

Councillors lobbying for increased pension lump sums of up to €100k

Councillors’ association asks for speedy resolution of issue in run-up to local elections, while senator warns of increasing pressure and burnout among councillors

No vacancies: refugees need accommodation, but tourism industry concerned at the cost

With 32 per cent of tourist beds outside the capital being used to house migrants, businesses dependent on tourism revenue are under threat – and the government now faces a difficult choice

DAA in crisis talks to avert threat of St Patrick’s weekend taxi strike

Taxi drivers are unhappy at Dublin Airport management’s refusal to recognise their associations in negotiations

Darragh O’Brien tells councils to buy 1,500 homes to prepare for evictions

The government has extended the ‘tenant in situ’ scheme which allows local authorities to buy homes for people on housing supports who are facing eviction because a landlord is selling the home

Tenants facing eviction will have legal right to buy from their landlords

Landlords selling properties will have to first offer them to existing tenants and sell to them if they match an independent sale price valuation

Nine out of ten passengers at Dublin Airport without proper documents allowed to stay

Immigration officials refused permission to land to 7,662 people at Dublin Airport last year but 6,765 of them were allowed to stay after they sought international protection

Changes in fuel allowance means test leads to case backlog

Department of Social Protection says 13,000 claims have yet to be processed, but payments will be backdated

Commercial Property

€15k cost of two publicly owned sites based on ‘independent valuations’

Wholesaler bought two sites in Celbridge from Kildare County Council in 2016 and after the sale J Carey Distributors Ltd’s ‘freehold property’ increased from zero to €1 million

Head of UHL working as adjunct professor at Limerick University

Hospital group chief executive Colette Cowan has remained in unpaid role in spite of Limerick hospital’s trolley crisis being worst in country