Thurles Information

€450 To Be Removed From Electricity Bills.

The Good News: More than two million households will see €150 taken off their electricity bill on December 1st, 2023. January 1st 2024 and March 1st, 2024.

The Bad News: The current coalition government will continue to use taxpayers money, which should be spent on health and other public services, in order to support extortionate prices being charged by unscrupulous power suppliers.
Time to check your attic for the hydrocarbon fuelled heater and that John Tilly lamp, before returning them to full use, while the government pays your low charge ESB bill.

Strike Action By Health & Community Care Workers Averted.

A promised strike by some 5,000 community healthcare staff and social care workers from 19 organisations has been averted, following an 8% pay offer made, after long drawn out talks, late last night.

Workers at Daughters Of Charity Child and Family Service, DePaul Ireland, Ardeen Cheshire Ireland, Ability West, Co-action West Cork, Cobh Hospital, Don Bosco Care and Enable Ireland, Family Resource Centres, the Irish Wheelchair Association, Kerry Parents and Friends, St Catherine’s Association, St Joseph’s Foundation, St Luke’s Nursing Home, and the Western Care Association were all due to hold future stoppages.

Talks between the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the Department of Health and the ICTU group of unions, have now agreed to recommend that the new pay offer be accepted, same having been brokered at the Workplace Relations Commission.

The new deal will include a 3% pay rise backdated to April 1st 2023; another 2% on November 1st 2023 and a further 3% on March 1st also this year.

Further discussions on a key demand to link pay to public servant’s wages are also proposed as part of this agreement, with the government acknowledging that workers pay in section 39, section 56 and section 10 organisations had fallen behind equivalent and comparable grades in public service organisations.

The Workplace Relations Commission will now convene the parties, to the agreement, before December 1st, 2023

EPA Publishes National Criteria For Recycled Aggregates.

Construction waste is Ireland’s largest waste stream, and current recycling rates are too low.
Implementation of new national end-of-waste criteria will reduce construction waste going to landfills, and increase recycling rates.
Use of end-of-waste criteria for recycled aggregates will support green procurement in the built environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today published National End-of-Waste Criteria for Recycled Aggregates*.
*Aggregates meaning materials formed from a mass of fragments or particles loosely compacted together.

The criteria apply to aggregates recycled from construction and demolition waste, including soil and stone, concrete, bricks and ceramics. These criteria will allow for the safe reclassification of recycled aggregates from a waste to a product, which can be subsequently placed on the market.

There is a strong demand for recycled aggregates in Ireland to support development of new infrastructure with a low carbon footprint. The criteria allow for the replacement of virgin aggregates with recycled aggregates, in uses such as general fill, road construction, railway ballast and other non-structural uses.

Keeping materials in use is one of the fundamental elements of a circular economy. These criteria support and facilitate increased recycling in the construction, demolition and waste sectors.

Commenting on the criteria, Mr Micheál Lehane, [Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Sustainability], said: “The publication of national end-of-waste criteria for recycled aggregates is a significant milestone for both the EPA and industry. The criteria will help tackle construction waste, the largest waste stream in the country and support the development of markets for recyclable materials. This is the type of progress which is needed if Ireland is to move in a meaningful way from the linear to the circular economy.”

End-of-waste criteria for recycled aggregates will also support national green procurement ambitions. A publicly-available register on the EPA website will enable buyers to confidently choose a registered supplier of quality recycled aggregates.

Mr Warren Phelan, [Programme Manager of the EPA’s Circular Economy Programme] noted: “The publication of the criteria show the EPA’s commitment to streamlining the regulation of secondary products. This represents a shift away from the assessment of case-by-case applications to a national criteria available to all authorised producers. These criteria will introduce a level playing field for industry and introduce a single set of rules that are easy to implement.”

The EPA calls on industry and the waste sector to now adopt, implement and build upon the criteria established.

Further information on the national end-of-waste criteria and other initiatives of the circular economy programme are available on the EPA website HERE.

Department Of Justice Begins Accepting Citizenship Applications Online.

Milestone in immigration digital modernisation programme.
Availability of online application service will improve customer service and process efficiencies.
Reduction of paper based applications positive for sustainability.

People are now able to apply for Irish Citizenship online at www.irishimmigration.ie.

The digitisation of the citizenship application process is a key milestone in the Department of Justice’s Immigration Service Delivery Modernisation Programme.

The Immigration Modernisation Programme will, over the coming years, digitise a number of currently paper-based immigration processes and introduce a portal system where individuals will be able to manage and view all aspects of their interaction with immigration services. This will improve efficiencies in the immigration system, improve the customer experience through the availability of comprehensive self service functions, improve data management and utilisation, and enhance border security capability and capacity.

The online Citizenship application service will allow potential new Irish citizens to complete their application form, upload necessary supporting documentation and pay fees online, making the application process easier and more efficient in a digital age.

It will also allow the Immigration Service to more efficiently and effectively manage applications for Citizenship, which have increased in recent years.

Note: The paper-based application will still remain available to those who cannot access an online service.

Yet Another Road Fatality In Co. Tipperary.

A man, believed to be aged in his 50s, has sadly lost his life today, following his vehicle coming into collision with a truck in north Co. Tipperary.

The crash occurred just after mid-day, today on the N62, at Whitefields, Templemore.

The male truck driver, also understood to be a man in his 50s, was thankfully uninjured, while the deceased man was the sole occupant of the other vehicle when it collided.

A technical examination of the accident scene, by forensic collision investigators, is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Gardaí in Thurles, Co. Tipperary are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the collision to contact them [TEL: 0504-25100]. They are anxious to speak to any road users who were travelling on the N62, between 11:45 and 12:30pm and who may have dash-cam or other footage and information, to make same available to Thurles Gardaí, citing reference: PR20554/2023.

The above sad news comes following confirmation of a further five deaths, in separate crashes on Irish roads, since Friday evening last, bringing the overall death total to 150 deaths on Irish roads, so far this year.