Just a minute...
by Róisín McKane

The Times reports that new figures from the Central Statistics Office show that only six out of 10 workers have some sort of pension to supplement the State's PRSI pension. More than a third of people with a pension have stopped paying into it, and large numbers of those who do not have an occupational or private pension say their employer does not offer one. ICTU has said that the results of the CSO survey re-affirms the case for auto enrolment. 

 

Elsewhere, ICTU Social Policy Officer Dr Laura Bambrick spoke to KFM yesterday about the fallout from government plans to increase the state pension age to 67 from January next, and the low number of workers saving for their retirement. Listen back here

 

Finland’s new prime minister is a supporter of cutting the working week to four-day days, and has argued that the change would let people spend more time with their families. Following on from this, our own Joe O'Connor spoke to Henry McKean of Newstalk on Fórsa's call for a four day week. Listen back to to it here. 

 

Revenue has today outlined what it has described as the most significant changes to the tax system since 1960 when PAYE was introduced. The changes are intended to make tax matters easier for the general public by removing much of the paperwork that normally goes in tandem with paying tax.  The new system will result in the removal of the P45 and P60 systems in the coming weeks and their replacement with a "real time, comprehensive financial summary" of a person's employment history. Read more about that here.

 

The Irish Midwives and Nurses Association (INMO) has said that the hospital trolley crisis has reached a record level, with 760 admitted patients waiting for beds. It comes as the Minister for Health Simon Harris confirmed that 199 additional beds will be made available by the end of the month to help the bed crisis. INMO is calling for a major incident protocol to be adopted across the country. 

 

Meanwhile, SIPTU said overcrowding in emergency departments is causing chaos for ambulance staff. The trade union said that some ambulance staff were reporting delays in some cases of between three-and-a-half and seven hours outside emergency departments to hand over patients and be released back to service.

 

Dublin City Councillors have voted to boycott the ceremony to commemorate the Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police. The announcement comes after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said earlier that he is disappointed that some people are choosing to boycott the commemoration to remember officers who served in the RIC and the DMP prior to independence. 

 

And finally, buses have been organised for the School Secretaries national day of action on Friday 10th January 2020. Keep an eye on the Fórsa facebook page for updates and further details. 

 

Our zen this morning is a look back at Larry Gogan and his infamous Just A Minute Quiz.

 

Have a good day folks.

 

 

 

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