A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Primate stresses value of education
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has said teachers should not be overburdened "with expectations that they alone can heal the wounds produced in children by a broken society". While "funds for education, like any other sector of society, will be more restricted", it would be "short-sighted if not blind not to recognise that failure to educate is the path to failure for our future as a society and as an economy".
At a Mass to mark the opening of the school year, in St Bernadette’s Church, Clogher Road, Dublin, last night, he said: “Education policy is too important to be left to just the experts, much less to ideologues of any side. Society must constantly reflect on what education is about.”
Mabs urges new rules to protect people in arrears with energy bills
The Money, Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs) has urged the Government to put in place regulations to protect more than 100,000 customers who have fallen into arrears with their energy bills.
tougher regulation was required Michael Culloty, spokesman for the budgeting service, said to cope with the problem.
He said disconnection should only be used as a last resort by utility companies for domestic customers.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul criticised some utility firms for setting a minimum payment of €20 per month off a bill over the counter at post offices.
Along with Age Action, it said this could affect pensioners and people on low incomes negatively.
Eircom has recently set a new minimum payment amount of €20 in an effort to reduce the transaction costs it pays to An Post. ESB is considering doing the same.
The Commission for Energy Regulation said yesterday it was concerned at the disconnection numbers and said it was working to try and ensure they were reduced
Cowen credibility has suffered - poll
A majority of people believe the Taoiseach's credibility suffered as a result of his controversial radio interview but it has not changed their voting intentions at the next election, according to an opinion poll.
The telephone poll of 1,000 people, conducted by Millward Brown Lansdowne for TV3, shows strong support for Labour and its leader Eamon Gilmore.
The level of support for the parties was Fianna Fáil 22 per cent; Fine Gael 30 per cent; Labour 35 per cent; Sinn Féin 4 per cent; Green Party 2 per cent and Independents 8 per cent.
Mr Gilmore is the most popular choice for Taoiseach on 30 per cent, compared to 19 per cent for Enda Kenny and 11 per cent for Brian Cowen.