A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Department of Environment to cut more than 50 staff this year
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is to shed more than 50 staff this year as part of reductions in employment in the Civil Service,
writes Martin Wall.
In its plan for the implementation of the Croke Park agreement, which was released yesterday, the Department of the Environment said it had reduced its employment level by 16 last year at a saving of €380,000.
It said that in addition to the reduction of 52 staff this year, there would be a further cut of 15 in 2012, 17 in 2013 and 19 in 2014.
‘Kerryman’ pays damages for error.
The
Kerryman
newspaper in Tralee, owned by Independent News and Media, has agreed to pay out “a substantial” sum in damages after it accompanied a report of a conviction at the Central Criminal Court with a photograph of a man of unblemished character, “with no connection whatsoever” to the report, it said yesterday.
The paper was pulled from news stands on Wednesday last, after the mistake was spotted. It was redistributed on Thursday with an apology.
Factory to close with loss of 28 jobs
A German-owned company supplying textile screens for the newspaper print industry is to close in Tralee with the loss of 28 jobs.
Heimbach Ireland was located at the Clash industrial estate in Tralee and was founded by Heimbach as Swiss Wire Ireland in 1974. A statement on the global company website yesterday said the Tralee operations would cease on April 29th, and the closure was “driven by market conditions and economic necessity”. It cited pressure on the industry globally.
Tribunal awards woman €
148,000 for unfair dismissal
An employee of a computer software company who was sacked from her job as a human resources manager has been awarded €148,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
Emuse Technologies Ltd, a specialist technology company, claimed Lorraine Fitzpatrick, Mainham Wood, College Road, Clane, Co Kildare, had committed a “gross breach of trust” by sharing sensitive information with members of staff.
Ms Fitzpatrick told the tribunal she was dismissed because she was known to be actively trying to become pregnant.
The company said Ms Fitzpatrick had divulged sensitive information and some “misinformation” about the firm’s finances and future prospects, including the possibility of redundancies during conversations in the office kitchen.
Ms Fitzpatrick claimed she was dismissed so that the company could avoid paying her while on maternity leave in line with her contract. She subsequently did become pregnant and did not receive social welfare maternity benefit.
The tribunal found that Ms Fitzpatrick did not release sensitive information about pending redundancies and her conversation had amounted only to “idle chitchat”. Her behaviour was at most indiscreet, it said.
It also noted that the conversation was part of a general discussion about the economy.
The tribunal found Ms Fitzpatrick had been unfairly dismissed and that an award of €148,000 was “just and equitable” having regard to all the circumstances.
TCD pond marks wetlands event
World Wetlands Day was marked in Dublin yesterday by the provost of Trinity College, Dr John Hegarty, turning the first sod for a pond under the trees at the rear of Front Square.
The pond will be dug under archaeological supervision, then prepared and planted by TCD ground staff in co-operation with college wetland scientists, with an official unveiling planned for TCD Green Week from February 21st to 25th.
Yesterday also marked the 40th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on the protection and “wise use” of wetlands, which include lagoons, ponds, callows and bogs and – all known to support habitat diversity.
Coursing protest at Clonmel venue
A group of up to 50 anti-blood sport protesters staged a low-key picket yesterday in Clonmel outside the venue for the final day of the annual National Coursing Meeting.
Organisers of the protest, which lasted for about two hours near the gates of Powerstown Park, Clonmel, said that the Republic remained “the last outpost of this backwoods barbarism” now that hare coursing had been banned in Northern Ireland.
However, Irish Coursing Club chief executive DJ Histon said the sport is licensed by the Department of the Environment and is strictly regulated.