In the Irish Times today ICTU says targeted supports should be provided by the Government to small business facing particular challenges at present "but there should be no pause on legislative changes with regard to sick pay or pensions and no blanket cuts to the VAT rates."

There's more on that on the Congress website.

The HSE - and how it spends its money - is back in the news today as the Irish Times reports that the health body paid out nearly €2.8 million in interest payments to suppliers in compensation for delays in payments for goods and services in 2021 and 2022, as it's reported that the former Baggot Street Hospital in Dublin has been placed on the State’s register for disposal.

Elsewhere, as the ESRI crunches the numbers on the new Taoiseach's pledge on houses, it says one to two GPs and five fully staffed hospital beds are required for every 1,000 new homes built in the Republic, so Simon Harris’s pledge to build 250,000 homes over the next five years would necessitate an additional 375 GPs and 1,250 extra hospital beds.

Meanwhile, a bogus self-employed worker within RTÉ has spoken of “absolute frustration” at not being allowed to give evidence to the Oireachtas Media Committee regarding their experiences at the broadcaster, while homeless day services are “barely managing” with increased demand as they attempt to assist more 1,600 international protection applicants living without State-provided accommodation. 

Zen

Your Zen moment this morning is the latest guessing game to compete for your over-taxed attentions. It's been a while since Wordle waltzed into our world, and the many iterations of dopamine generators that followed, but the boffins at nerd HQ stayed busy and found another that pulled me into its vortex last weekend. 

Spotle invites you to guess the mystery artist chosen from Spotify's top artists. You have 10 guesses...but only one life, so spend it wisely. 

Have a good day.

Niall