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18/09/2026

Government officials said an enhanced pension for the directly elected mayor of Limerick could end up costing an additional €320,000 for just a single term of office.

The Department of Public Expenditure said it could not sanction fast-accruing benefits for John Moran, saying it would set a risky precedent.

A standard pension arrangement for the mayor from one five-year term was estimated to have a net cost of just over €124,000 based on twenty years of retirement.

However, the fast-accruing pension that Mr Moran sought, the same as that of a junior minister, had an estimated cost of almost €450,000.

Officials said the difference was close to €325,000 and that if granted, it would likely apply to other directly elected mayors in future.

The estimates were based on a mayor serving one five-year term, meaning the potential cost would be even higher if they were re-elected.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/09/18/officials-warned-against-ministerial-style-pension-for-limericks-directly-elected-mayor-amid-warnings-over-e325000-extra-cost/

15/09/2026

Fire inspectors found a catalogue of safety problems in emergency homeless accommodation, including rooms repurposed as bedrooms without approval, inadequate escape routes and faulty fire doors.

At one centre, Dublin Fire Brigade found there was no procedure explaining what residents or staff should do if a fire broke out or an alarm was activated.

The accommodation had no escape route on display or a designated assembly point, a report said.

Inspectors also discovered there were no smoke or fire detection devices in most of the storerooms, in some bedroom lobbies and in void spaces, including roof areas.

Recent upgrade works to the fire detection and alarm system had also not been documented or certified.

Inspectors found extra bedrooms had been created in rooms that were approved for other uses while other parts of the building did not match up with agreed fire safety designs.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/09/15/emergency-homeless-centres-had-bedrooms-in-unapproved-rooms-defective-fire-doors-and-no-escape-routes-posted-for-residents/

11/09/2026

The final wind-down of NAMA left a bill of almost €8 million in termination payments for staff this year.

New figures show that 54 employees were eligible for payments totalling €7.96 million, an average cost of around €147,000 per employee.

The largest cost was just over €4 million in ex-gratia redundancy payments, which was shared among 47 departing staff.

A further €1.53 million was paid in salary to those 47 employees while they were on garden leave, according to records released under FOI.

Retention payments totalling €1.13 million were also payable to a total of 49 employees as the asset management agency shut its doors.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/09/11/redundancy-garden-leave-retention-pay-and-termination-payments-totalling-e8-million-paid-as-part-of-wind-down-of-nama/

08/09/2026

The number of visitors to the country’s main tourist website dropped dramatically last year with people instead using artificial intelligence for holiday research deemed the likely culprit.

A Fáilte Ireland analysis said by the end of November last year, traffic to its flagship DiscoverIreland.ie site was down by 21 percent to 1.6 million users.

However, the tourism promotion agency said it had not led to any obvious fall-off in other measures it used to track performance.

Instead, Fáilte Ireland suggested the decline could be linked to “zero-click” searches where people gathered information from AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google’s Gemini.

It said: “Notwithstanding this, we see no impact on key performance indicators, suggesting the reduction may be [AI] users who are in the early stages of holiday research.”

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/09/08/traffic-to-discoverireland-ie-fell-sharply-as-failte-ireland-linked-decline-to-growing-use-of-ai-and-zero-click-searches/

01/09/2026

The State’s only directly elected mayor asked for enhanced pension terms that would build up as quickly as that of a junior minister and faster than other public servants.

John Moran, the Mayor of Limerick, raised the possibility with government officials after he took office, saying the unique nature of the role justified a better retirement plan.

Internal records detail how the Department of Housing supported his request and prepared a formal business case for government.

However, the Department of Public Expenditure rejected the proposal and said standard pension rules would apply instead.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/09/01/limericks-directly-elected-mayor-sought-fast-accrual-pension-as-role-was-likened-to-that-of-a-junior-minister/

28/08/2026

A voluntary exit programme in RTÉ failed to deliver the scale of departures needed by the broadcaster to meet plans for staff cuts.

An internal analysis said substantial work had been put into preparing early exit packages for staff but only a relatively small number eventually received offers.

It said there were challenges in running the Voluntary Exit Programme (VEP), including a narrow window to apply that placed too much strain on people considering whether to leave.

The analysis also said the criteria for the voluntary exit programme were “restrictive.”

It said redundancies could only be considered where a staff departure involved “100 percent direct suppression” of their post or “100 percent equivalent cost savings.”

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/08/28/rte-voluntary-exit-scheme-failed-to-deliver-enough-departures-as-analysis-said-it-was-restrictive-and-left-little-time-for-staff-to-make-up-their-minds/

25/08/2026

A resident at the country’s biggest asylum-seeker accommodation centre pleaded to be transferred because of “visible, open drug activity” and concerns for their personal safety.

The person said conditions at the State-owned centre at Citywest in Dublin had severely deteriorated and the facility was “heavily neglected” with “critical health, hygiene and safety violations.”

In an urgent request, the resident appealed to the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) for a transfer elsewhere.

Their complaint said: “This environment poses an immediate threat to my physical safety and my mental well-being.”

The resident was told that transfers could only be considered in cases involving a medical priority or otherwise exceptional circumstances.

The complaint was one of more than one hundred made directly to the Department of Justice this year by people living in IPAS centres.

Other issues raised included infestations of cockroaches and bedbugs, intimidation by staff, aggressive residents and people getting attacked.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/08/25/complaints-from-residents-of-ipas-centres-included-assaults-by-staff-pest-infestations-intimidation-poor-living-conditions-and-concerns-over-food/

20/08/2026

Mould, damp, pest infestations as well as broken appliances and fittings were uncovered during inspections of emergency accommodation for homeless people.

Inspectors found mould in bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and sitting rooms along with leaking taps, damaged flooring and broken windows.

Fire-safety issues were also discovered with alarm panels showing faults, overdue servicing and missing records for evacuation drills and emergency lighting checks.

In one apartment in Dublin, a catalogue of problems was detailed in an inspection report.

The report said: “Mould in sitting room, window in sitting room hinge broken, mould in bathroom, shower head keeps falling down, freezer not working, mould on freezer.”

It continued: “Freezer door won’t open. Door on fridge press cracked. Mould in second bedroom. Water pressure low in wash-hand basin in bathroom.”

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/08/20/inspections-of-emergency-homeless-accommodation-find-mould-damp-pest-problems-and-faulty-fire-safety-systems/

18/08/2026

A city council refused to take over a dozen Defence Forces properties saying they didn’t have the money to refurbish them and would face legal difficulties with occupants who had no tenancy agreements.

The Department of Defence had offered the properties in Rathmines to Dublin City Council as they were considered surplus to military requirements.

However, three of the properties were vacant and required significant work to bring them up to the required standards.

In a letter in February, Dublin City Council said they had no funding from the Department of Housing to make good the three vacant homes.

It said: “It was acknowledged that the level of works required to bring these properties up to the necessary regulatory standards is significant.”

The city council also said there would be “considerable challenges” in taking over nine properties that were occupied at Grosvenor Lodge.

The residents were described in the correspondence as “overholding” and had no formal tenancy agreements in place.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/08/18/dublin-city-council-refused-to-take-over-defence-forces-properties-saying-it-could-not-afford-to-refurbish-derelict-houses-and-had-legal-concerns-over-tenancy-arrangements/

14/08/2026

Staff processing asylum applications are at risk of anxiety, depression and insomnia because of exposure to traumatic personal stories and graphic material.

A formal risk assessment at the International Protection Office (IPO) said staff could suffer emotional distress and “empathy fatigue” because of the nature of their work.

It said psychological injuries could build up over time or result from a single significant exposure to very disturbing material.

The assessment gave the hazard a high-risk rating before safeguards were considered to help staff cope with challenges at work.

Internal documents said employees could be exposed to traumatic material while interviewing, reading case files, or viewing images.

It explained how somebody giving their life story in person could be much more difficult than simply reading their file.

The risk assessment said: “Hearing a personal account is different to reading about it or peer reviewing someone else’s report.”

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/08/14/risk-assessments-warn-asylum-staff-can-suffer-psychological-harm-from-traumatic-accounts-and-graphic-evidence-from-international-protection-applicants/

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