Morning Focus began with a look at government plans to give emigrants tax incentives to bring them home which are coming under fire. They would see a special tax rate of 30 per cent offered to people earning over 75,000 euro in certain jobs. The so called emigrants tax is aimed at bringing high skilled workers back to Ireland. Fianna Fáil also said they had concerns about the plans. One of the big concerns is how it will be received here at home – with those who stayed during the bad times not being able to avail of the same tax breaks.
Gavin spoke with Senator Martin Conway, FG, on the issue.
He was also joined by Eoin Neylon, President of Ógra Fianna Fail, to give his input on the subject.
Gavin then spoke about how Gardaí could reach a decision today on whether to engage in industrial action. The Garda Representative Association’s Central Executive Committee will meet in Tullamore to discuss a pay proposal from the Department of Justice. It’s after they said they needed more time to consider the offer following a meeting on Monday. It was revealed yesterday that members had voted in favour of industrial action but the ballot was conducted before the draft pay agreement was reached. At the same time, Clare’s Chief Superintendent John Kerin was in Kilkishen as part of the regular meeting of the Joint Policing Committee. Afterwards he spoke with Clare FM’s Ronan Moyles, and expressed his hope and belief that there won’t be a strike.
Chief Superintendent John Kerin says he is “seriously concerned” about levels of drink driving here. The number of people stopped at checkpoints is up significantly, but the numbers who are caught are up 22% also.
Jack from O’Brien’s Bridge got in touch with the show to highlight concerns about the availability of workers on CE and other schemes to do work in the local community. He volunteers locally with initiatives to maintain the village and its country walks (up to 20km of them). Clare Local Development Company (CLDC) normally provides workers on Tús and CE schemes. However, since the introduction last year of the Turas Nua, labour force activation scheme, there have been no more workers allocated to O’Brien’s Bridge.
Gavin then spoke about the fact that carbon monoxide claims the lives of six people in this country every year? Despite that, hundreds of thousands of us (730,000) don’t have a carbon monoxide alarm. The odourless, colourless, gas is often described as a silent killer and it can take a life in as little as three minutes. To explain how this lethal danger can be avoided Gavin was joined by Sean McBride of OFTEC Ireland.
Morning Focus then took a look at the upcoming budget as it is being described as the most critical to date in terms of addressing regional imbalances. It’s less than two weeks until Minister Michael Noonan gets to his feet in Leinster House, and the Limerick representative is being urged to bear in mind issues in his own region when he does so. Limerick Chamber have issued their pre-budget submission, in which they call for increased capital investment, and other initiatives to boost employment. They believe this is for the good of the region as a whole.
Gavin was joined by James Ring CEO, Limerick Chamber and Rita McInerney, CEO, Ennis Chamber.
Gavin then looked at a new study that shows just how addicted people are to their smartphones. Four out of five adults in the now own a device and collectively look at it over a billion times a day. The report from Deloitte also found 1 in 3 people check their smartphone in the middle of the night and nearly 70 percent use it while having dinner with family and friends. Against this backdrop, counsellors fear this is the next wave of compulsive disorders that they will be treating.
Seán Harty, Chairperson Addiction Counsellors of Ireland, came on the show to discuss this.
Morning Focus then had its monthly book club where the book being discussed was ‘The Spinning Heart’ by Donal Ryan. Gavin was joined by Dolores Meaney, Librarian, Shannon & Frances O’Gorman, Clare County Library to discuss the book.
Gavin then spoke about the news that Clare has some of the finest life-saving athletes in the country. In a weather-battered finale last Saturday, our top lifeguards were put to the test at the National Surf Rescue Championships. The good news is that this county’s competitors retained their position as National champions, and capped their best season ever.
**In an exceptional performance, Clare’s Bernard Cahill won all five of his events – Surf swim, Rescue Board Race, Rescue Ski Race, Ocean Man Race and Board Rescue.
**In the recent World Championships in Holland that saw Gold in the Youth Worlds for the 4 x 90-metre beach sprint relay won by Emer Kelly and Emma O’Brien from Wicklow and Georgina Steel and Denise Bolger from Wexford. Cousins Bernard Cahill and Oisin McGrath won Bronze in the Board Rescue Race, a first for an Irish Senior team while Rory McEvoy won Silver in the Youth Pool event for the 50- metre manikin carry. All three athletes competed in the Clare team in Waterford at the weekend. Also in Holland, a new world record was set by Denise Bolger from Wexford with Rosin Cahill from Clare in the Pool line-throw event with a new time of 11.06 seconds.
Gavin was joined by Clare McGrath, Water Safety Officer, Clare County Council, and Bernard Cahill, Champion life saver.
Morning Focus spoke about how over the coming days, up to 900 secondary school students from this county will gain an invaluable insight into the world of business and enterprise. Today (Wed.s, Sept. 28), for the launch of the Student Enterprise Awards, they’re at Treacy’s West County Hotel in Ennis, while next week (Tue. and Thurs., Oct. 4 and 6), they’ll be at the Armada Hotel in Spanish Point. The induction days will include presentations from local entrepreneurs, past students who qualified for the National Finals and Theresa Mulvihill, Smart Marketing Ltd will give an overview and introduction to the competition. The competition has been run for more than 10 years by the Local Enterprise Offices and they’ve proven to be a springboard for thousands of young entrepreneurs.
Padraig McElwee, Head of Enterprise, Clare Local Enterprise Office (LEO) came on the line to promote the competition.
John Underhill, our resident vet came on in his usual slot to answer listener questions. Today he spoke about breathing problems in pugs.
