Leo’s idea to spend carbon tax is just daft
LEO Varadkar suggests he and his Government will use the proposed hikes in carbon tax to fund a rise in child benefit (Irish Daily Mail, Thursday).
Has the Taoiseach finally lost it or is he so out touch to suggest that he will take the carbon tax from every pensioner, single person, childless couple and give it to the likes of Michael O’Leary tax free (who already said he does not need it) in the form of child benefit?
Is this another one of Fine Gael’s plans to take from the less well-off and give to the rich?
DENIS DENNEHY, Dublin. ...LEO would like to pass on the carbon tax to recipients of children’s allowances.
Sure this will buy some votes. Great for Leo but why not do something positive to encourage people to switch to air pumps or geothermal heating from oil or gas etc?
For every €1 spent on running the system on electricity you recover €5 worth of heat so it substantially reduces your carbon footprint.
The positive thing would be a straight grant or is this too simple? BRIAN WATERS, Elphin, Co. Roscommon.
Who comes first?
IF you are a person with a pavement Eircode, stuck in Statesponsored hotel room, or a trolley resident on a hospital corridor, it will be no comfort to know that recently 92 TDs voted in favour of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Regulations 2018 and released €84million in funding for these gambling industries.
Mostly Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour TDs voted to channel €67.2million of taxpayers’ money to Horse Racing Ireland and €16.8million to the Irish Greyhound Board.
The latest €84million grant brings to over €1.2billion the amount paid out by the Irish Government to horse and greyhound racing since 2001.
In a country where a Government funds industries that are circling the drain while its citizens are being treated like human trash it is time we picked up the phone and dialled reality.
Last year should have been the time the funding flag fell on the race of death that is the horse and greyhound industries. JOHN TIERNEY, Association of Hunt Saboteurs, Dublin.
Warning signs
I CANNOT but notice the amount of alcohol being sold in petrol stations, convenience stores, supermarkets and other outlets but I’ve never seen a notice warning people not to drink and drive.
I know of many cases where people turned up at the above places drink driving a motor vehicle, got the booze and drive away again.
Alcoholism is becoming an epidemic in Ireland because of the availability of the harmful demon called drink.
We hear the problems associated with sugar all the time but alcohol seems to be exempt from such criticism. PJ MALONE, by email.
Turning a deaf ear
I HAVE applied for more than 1,000 jobs in the two years I have been unemployed, but have been shunned by recruiters because I am profoundly deaf.
I have a qualification in business administration and am applying for data entry and filing jobs in which I have experience.
Recruiters who see my qualifications on my CV have got in contact by email to tell me I am ‘a great fit’ for a certain job.
When they ask for a phone number so we can discuss the role, I tell them this is not possible because of my disability. I highlight my attributes, tell them what I can bring to the role and suggest all the ways in which I can be contacted.
However, I am then curtly informed ‘This role requires a lot of phone work’ (of which there was no mention in the job advertisement) or ‘We don’t have the facilities to contact you’, even though we have been communicating by email.
This is surprising as business relies on technology, such as Skype, more than ever to conduct business and to communicate with people.
The problem seems to be a lack of awareness by recruiters. They don’t understand my disability, so they push me away rather than taking the opportunity to learn and give me the chance to shine.
People with disabilities are more than capable of being extraordinary if only someone would give us the opportunity.
I am undergoing assessments for a cochlear implant – an implanted surgical device that could give me a sense of sound – in the hope of improving my prospects, but there are no guarantees this operation will work. I should not have to change who I am for employers, but feel I don’t have a choice. KELLIE WILSON, address supplied.
Monument to folly
SO U2 plan to build a visitor centre dedicated to themselves (Mail, Saturday). That defies the law of vanity.
I can understand if an outside organisation wants to honour a person or a group for something they may have achieved but for U2 to build a visitor centre for themselves shows their inflated egos. Boys, you’re just a band. MARTIN STRINGER, Co. Mayo.