 strike a date with them and the department supports it, then we can buy 20 houses and we can also stop 20 families being put to the street. I think it's a good date for the council if it can be struck. I know the owners are willing to talk to the council, so I think it's important that the council would engage with them. The Northern Ireland peace process would not have happened without the work and support of community organisations in the North and the US. The role played by such groups in the Good Friday Agreement would be recognised as part of a major conference being hosted by Dublin City University. It's getting underway this morning. Professor John Doyle of DCU says the roles played by grassroots community groups in both areas have been somewhat neglected. If there's only been at the elite level of the sort of senior politicians we all know, I suspect there would have been no peace process. There might have wanted one, but without the grassroots community activism ensuring that there was popular support for it, there's a danger during one of the many crises over the last 20 odd years that would have collapsed or never really truly cut the start out. Well the forecast and Metairian tell us to expect largely dry weather today with some sunny spells developing much cooler than recently after the highs of 11 to 15 degrees Celsius in light to moderate, northerly winds. And that's Highland Radio News. We're back with news again at 10 o'clock. What is love, baby don't hurt Congratulations to our suppliers and food academy producers who won 94 awards at this year's Blosten Hair and Awards. Like our Super Value signature taste, Casual Blue Cheese by Casual Farmhouse Cheese Makers winning gold and our food academy producer, Clonicalty Gluten-Free Kitchen also winning gold for their multi-grain loaf. Super Value Ireland's number one award-winning supermarket. The county's number one talk show, The 9 Till Noon Show on Highland Radio. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest, The 9 Till Noon Show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Hello, good morning to you. It's approaching five minutes past nine on this Wednesday, the 11th of October 2023. I do hope you're very well indeed. I spent much of the news trying to select motorbikes, bosses, crosswalks, traffic lights, all whilst the camera was on me looking intensely at them. So that's what we treat for you. But anyway, we are hopefully logged into everything. I believe we are now. And the lines are open for you. Caroline's logged in to work as always. 07491 25,000 is the telephone number. If you want to give us a call, get involved in the conversation. What's your reaction to the budget yesterday? Are you happy with it? Does it not go far enough for you? What are your views? What's absent text to 086625,000? Of course, as you would expect, we're going to have a reaction to the budget and much more besides coming up on the program. Comments come in to us, of course. Comments at HighlandRadio.com. So no excuse not to be involved in the program. Let's look at the newspapers this morning. Finn Valley Voice, Social Housing. We need to be doing more and more in Donegal, a special meeting between local councillors and officials of DCC on Donegal's housing crisis takes place today in Lyford. The issues are being exacerbated by the defective block crisis and a supply shortage. But the slow pace of social housing development is the greatest concern, says one local councillor, councillor Donald Coyle, former primary school principal in Convoy, referred to the timeline of a 34 unit housing development first agreed on in September 2019, but not now expected to start until 2024. Let's go now to the Donegal post. Sixty two thousand seven hundred euro raised in phenomenal effort by Drummerone community, the spirit of community and of looking after and supporting each other is certainly alive and well in Drummerone. This year's Dublin to Drummerone cycle raised sixty two thousand seven hundred an incredible achievement for a small rural community. And with the launch of Charity Single, the shortest road to Drummerone by folksy Jerry and friends, even more money will be raised. And I heard folksy Jerry and the crew on with I think it was Paul and Jimmy on Monday night sessions and great song, actually, brilliant tune. The English Times this morning, Donegal councillors lodged a planning application for what is described as a transformational tourism project at Fort Donry Plans for the twelve point five million euro project, which was first announced in June 2021 have been submitted under part eight planning, which means the application will come before members of the local or local authority for approval on to the nationals now. And of course, plenty of fallout from yesterday's budget announcements. The government yesterday unveiled a huge spend and save budget that boosted permanent spending and promised large cash giveaways in the coming months, but also channeled billions in windfall tax revenues into long term national savings and investment funds. That's the view of the Irish Times with a general election due within 18 months budget ministers. Pascal Donahoe and Michael McGraw responded to intense political pressure to increase spending on both permanent allocations and one off giveaways. The result was a package that will see households gain from tax cuts, spending increases, welfare boosts, including a double payment of child benefit, childcare subsidies, energy credits and for some mortgage relief. But the huge resources that they're disposal also enabled Mr. McGraw and Mr. Donahoe to unveil a far reaching plan to be enshrined in legislation, which will see billions of euro in windfall corporation tax revenue saved for when they were needed in the future, ordinarily known as a rainy day fund. On to the Irish Daily Mail now. And of course, one of the significant focuses of the public is health and health officials have been reacting to this newspaper about yesterday's budget. Senior figures in the Department of Health are said to be pretty furious about their allocation in the budget the Irish Daily Mail can reveal. A comparison of this year's budget with last year's shows a decline in funding for the high spending department. Part of this is accounted for by the decision to reallocate disability funding from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, resulting in a 2.6 billion reduction in the overall health spend. However, even allowing for this, senior sources say only 1.8 billion was then allocated in additional funding for the department with 800 million of this needed simply to pay for existing initiatives. There's also coverage of an exchange on the TV between Podrick McLaughlin. He's been accused by Finagale of misogyny of a comments he made to Minister of State, Jennifer Carl McNeill on a live RTE budget program. The pair clashed moments before Finance Minister Michael McGraw rose to deliver his budget speech in the dull. It came after Ms. Carol McNeill said tax changes in the budget were progressive, adding I can show you all of the figures, Podrick, if you need me to walk you through it. Mr. McLaughlin responded, I'm sure that Pierce Doherty will look forward to meeting you after the budget. I'm sure he'll look forward to putting manners on you in terms of a stunned Ms. Carol McNeill interrupted asking, excuse me, what does that mean? The Donagall TD replied, it's just the arrogance of the Finagale party to say they've stood up for people on the lower incomes, people who have struggled. Now, a Finagale spokesperson says that the language was menacing and misogynistic. Now, I don't personally, for me, I don't think this does strong, powerful women, such as the one he was speaking with any favour is because I don't think and I don't know exactly what the requirement for misogyny is, but I don't think that there was a gender slant on those comments at all personally speaking. And as I say, I love a good controversy as good as anyone, but I really don't think particularly the strong, powerful women that we have in this country, both in media, in politics, in analysis and in presentation, them simply being challenged for it to be described as misogynistic when there's no sort of gender angle to the language. I don't think that does anyone any favour is. But anyway, what do I know? The Irish Independent, a guard investigating the murder of Tina Satchwell, are conducting a search of a property, including underneath all floors, following new developments in the case. More than six years after the Yohul woman's disappearance, a man who was known to Miss Satchel, Satchwell, I beg your pardon, was arrested on suspicion of her murder yesterday. Miss Satchwell disappeared from her home on March 20th, 2017. Guardi arrested the man who's aged in his fifties at a property in East Cork minutes before confirming that they're now treating Miss Satchwell's disappearance as a murder investigation. A big news story in Cork, across the country as well, of course, but certainly to those in and around the Cork area weren't expecting that type of a development. The Irish Daily Star this morning, Israel launched a devastating air blitz on Gaza yesterday as the war escalated, leaving hundreds of people killed on both sides. Hamas immediately retaliated by firing rockets into the Israeli border town of Ashkelom. Reports started to warm our eyes last night that up to 40 babies and children were killed by Hamas militants on Saturday. Some of them allegedly, well, it's still shocking. I just won't read it in case there are young people in the car. Palestinian Palestine said 850 people had been killed, including 140 of their children and 100 women in Israel. And 100 women and Israel said at least 1000 had been killed among its citizens. The killing of children was reported to the media by Israeli soldiers who say they found the horrific scenes and it's just devastation. Over there at the moment in that Middle Eastern crisis. Just as a follow up yesterday, we were speaking to the political editor of the Daily Mirror. They say they were they were speaking to me home Martin today about vaping. So just to read out a couple of quotes from him, Thomas to me home Martin is vowed to crack down on the sale of vapes to children saying this is the tobacco industry's revenge. The Finafore leader supported the Irish Mirror's expose on Ireland's child vaping crisis. The paper revealed how a schoolboy easily bought four vapes in one hour. There's no law on stopping that. The legal sale of these products has led to a vaping epidemic among adolescents hooked on highly addictive nicotine. Mr. Martin, who was health minister, led the war in smoking by banning it indoors, pledged to ensure new laws outlawing the sale of nicotine to children to come in soon. And lastly, in the world of showbiz, some of you might be interested. I don't think as many people are interested in this as the papers would have, you believe, because this morning is a British TV show, of course, but its viewership has been sliding all the while. But it has always received a disproportionate amount of publicity in the newspapers. Holly Willoughby has quit the programme after spending the weekend tearfully discussing the decision with her family were told. The telefavourite 42 is understood to have been secretly considering the move for weeks in the wake of a hostile social media backlash. Don't think she ever really recovered from jumping the queue. Her shock departure is hugely worrying for this morning, which is still awaiting the results of an investigation into the show amid claims of toxicity on the set. But as I say, viewership has been dwindling and perhaps it's probably going to be used as a good time to scrap it all together. Stick on a couple of episodes of tipping point or something. You'll probably end up with more viewers in any case. Our courtesy of Kelly Centra, Mountaintop Letterkenny, the 2022 Seastore National Off Licence of the Year. The Ninetal News Show is brought to you by Letterkenny Credit Union, offering low-rate car loans with fast approval. Apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today. It's a Tuesday. You're off, but you're not off. You're in town to pick up their kit or do a big shop and you'd love a bite to eat somewhere. But it's only Tuesday. Well, there's no need to feel guilty about stopping off at Kelly's Diner because the menu is packed with tasty choices and great value. With fast, friendly service and loads of parking, you can treat yourself any day of the week at the award-winning Kelly's Diner, Mountaintop Letterkenny. Well, Grace, how are you today? I'm good. I've just been down to the need to measure fireplaces showroom in Chrysler. They have an incredible selection of over 40 colors for kitchen worktops. And guess what? For a limited time, they're offering a 40% discount on any electric fire when you purchase a worktop there. 40%? That's an amazing deal, Grace. Absolutely. And trust me, if the discount alone doesn't sway you, there are a huge selection of fireplaces, stoves, wood pellet burners, beams and stone cladding certainly well. Contact Nate to measure fireplaces, Chrysler on 0749138365 on Facebook, Instagram and on mtmfireplaces.ie. So you're saying mental health difficulties can be smaller things? Yeah. Like troubled sleeping? Yeah. Or if I'm always stressed, like? Yeah. Or often anxious? They're all part of your mental health. Hmm. Thought those were separate? Nope. They're all connected. How do you know all this, anyway? I'm not sure I've been there myself. Anxiety, ongoing stress, low mood or troubled sleeping, they're all part of your mental health. Make the connection and find support that can help at yourmentalhealth.ie From the HSE. Highland Radio, time checks with Expressway. Travel Route 32 from Lettac, entity Dublin when you book online and travel for less. Expressway, bringing you the time ask. The time's 17 minutes past nine and we're going to be getting some government response to yesterday's budget. But first, Sinn Fein Finance spokesperson, Deputy Pierce Doherty joins us. Good morning, Pierce. Thanks for your time today. Good morning. Thank you. OK, the signal's not fantastic, but we shall make do with it as we can. You're not overly enthusiastic about this budget. A squandered opportunity you've described it as. Yeah, look, I think people will see the announcements in the budget. Obviously, a big budget, €14 billion, and there's much there that people will welcome in terms of one-off payments and some changes to core payments. And we argued for a lot of those payments, so we welcomed that. We forced government into territory that they didn't want to go into. They argued black and blue against mortgage relief. They've now done it. They argued for years against relief for renters. They've now done it. We're the ones who put the issue of childcare on the political agenda when we made a commitment to cut it by two thirds. They've gone and they're starting to cut it somewhat, but having to wait till September is not acceptable. We should have been cutting this next January next year and the reduction should be 55%. But really, the big issue here, Greg, is that the government, despite the money that they had, despite the services that we have, which are the billions of euro, that they've decided to put no additional money into or no really additional money into the issue of health, so no additional beds at all, no additional changes in relation to the issue of diagnostics of new medicines. Like every year, new medicines come on stream to treat cancer patients and other patients. There's no money for that anymore. So if there is new medications next year, we will not have the money to buy those new medicines. And the chapter around Lesterhouse, everybody knows this from all the different political parties, is health got royally shafted in this budget. Not only is it a case that it won't stand still, which means it's the same as last year, it's actually worse than that. It's likely that the health services is going to go back next year because the amount of money that they give to stand still. So stand still money, Greg, there's about 708 million euro that the government allocated additional to health, but that's what's called stand still money. It's just basically the prices of everything I've gone up in the hospitals or the services. You know, it's costing more to do the laundry in the hospital. It's costing more for energy in the hospital. So just you need to give that 708 million euro to stand still. That's less than they gave last year and the department in the HSC says it's about a quarter of a billion less than actually is what's needed. So there is a serious problem. Just in relation to that and the argument made of the additional 31 million, I think for LUH was that was sort of stand still money. But is it not really about, you know, delivery rather than chucking money at the problem? I'm not sure how many of the public members of the public would want to see more money pumped into health when we see what feels like money being squandered in how it's administered because more and more is going into it. We're talking, we hear of loads and loads of extra people being employed, but people aren't feeling that on the ground. They're feeling health going backwards. So is the administration of whatever is there not more important than seeking to spend more money after bad? It's not just that they're feeling that health is going backwards. Health is going backwards. There's 60,000 more people now in hospital waiting lists than when this government took office three years ago. The figure is over 800,000 people. There's a quarter of people waiting for diagnostic scans. There's people with mental health that are waiting for months and indeed some people for years for the first appointment with a consultant. So health is going backwards. There's absolutely no doubt about it. And Greg, when you have health in a state of crisis, what happens is it becomes very, very costly to run. So when you've got a state of crisis where you don't have the staff, you don't have the doctors, you're hiring and locums consultants, which are two, three times more costly than if you had a permanent staff or if you're hiring agency nurses and that's one of the big drivers in relation to the overspent. But look, everybody knows, apart from the government, that we need additional capacity and what does additional capacity mean in health? It means we need additional beds and health. The ISRI took out a report just a couple of weeks ago saying we need 1,000 additional beds now and we're in our health service right now and we need then about 300 to 400 beds every single year. So what has the government done in this budget? 14 billion euro of a budget, 8 billion euro of surpluses after that. They haven't provided a single cent to provide an additional bed in any of our hospitals, in any of our community settings, in any of our nursing homes right across the state and that to me is unforgivable. And why is it unforgivable? Because there's people that is going to come to my constituency office. As has happened, people who are really, really sick, some of them, you know, who have got cancer, some of them who are over 80 years of age, mothers and daughters talking to me and telling me that their parents or their loved one was sitting in a chair or in a trolley in a corridor in Letter County University Hospital for hours upon hours after being admitted, but they can't get into the hospital. Why? Because there's not enough beds. And the reason that that all happens is because you decide, a government decides not to provide the additional resources. So like it's not just, it's worse than that, Greg. The Minister for Health announced on three occasions this year, 1500 rapid bill beds in our hospital, three different announcements he made this year. Not a single penny has been provided to deliver any of those beds. So health is like going to be a massive, massive disaster. We know for many, many people and I'm sure you covered the issue of the GP's letters and the GP's raising their voices in relation to what's happened. It is unacceptable that we have the lack of investment that is happening in health. And as I said, if you don't provide the extra beds, if you don't provide a pathway where nurses and doctors and other clinicians and support staff can actually operate and do what they're trained to in a proper professional manner, then you operate at a point of crisis and that is really, really expensive. So like it's really, really depressing today when you actually look at what's happening in the healthcare system and what the government did in all consciousness. And just briefly, because I know you have other commitments here. You're not content with what they've done on housing either. Well, look, this is another example. Like the government have rolled the dice here. The government have rolled the dice and they've done, as Sinn Féin have been arguing, which is to deal with one-off payments in terms of the cost of living. Now, we could argue some of those payments we would argue that social welfare payments should increase by 15 euro, not 12, disability up to 20, that child benefit should have been increased. So there's differences there. But the main difference here is that they've actually made a gamble, let's not do anything extra on health or on housing. And I think also that that's unforgivable. And I think they've got it wrong. I really think that they have misread the public opinion. I think that people, yes, will welcome an extra five or 10 or in their pocket, but I think that people right across the state, whether you're connected to them or not, are absolutely appalled at the idea that 4,000 children woke up today in emergency accommodation. I think any parent, any father, any mother knows that's an unacceptable situation, no matter what circumstances we live in. But at a time when the finance minister and the government are back slapping themselves, giving themselves standing ovations and talking about billions of euro, billions upon billions of euro of surplus, yet we have 4,000 children waking up in emergency accommodation or we have young people and it's happening over. So you wouldn't have just finally, you would not have saved for the future. You would have used that money now. Of course we'd save for the future. Our program gave hope to those young people who are deciding to go to Canada and Australia. Our program would have reduced the costs of housing and rent, but what we would have done, our program could be delivered with a surplus of 8 billion euro. So there would still be a surplus, but we would have invested 1.7 billion euro extra into housing, building an additional 7,000 social affordable and cost rental homes, given the type of scale of the crisis that we have in this country. So there was a way of doing this. There was a way of injecting an extra 1.3 billion euro into health and other 1,800 beds that would be started to deliver next year right through the next three years. That's the type of vision. That's the type of determination. That's the type of team that we have and the passion that we have to actually make the change in these two areas. There is only one conclude. Greg, I can draw after listening to what the government did in housing and in health and that is they have thrown in the towel because it is a government that's out of touch, that is out of ideas and that is out of time. All right, well, we'll hear from that government a little later for now. Thank you very much indeed. Deputy Pierce Doherty, and as I say, we'll have government reps on to have Thursday on that issue in the same fashion as well. Krona Klohesi is from Dunlowe, of course, and tax lead with Chartered Accountants Ireland. Good morning, Krona. Thanks for your time today. Good morning. Is it easy to determine, Krona, how people will benefit from this budget? Because of course, there are, say, for instance, those on a pension or on social welfare that on the face of it, you know, there's a 12 euro increase but the government will argue then there are other measures as part of an overall package that should see people, including credits for electricity and what have you, that should see people much better off through the winter and into next year and into 2024. This is budget 2024, of course. What's your overview of that, Krona? Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to think with any budget there's always going to be winners and losers. I think this budget, you know, did the main priority for the government was to tackle the cost of living which has, I suppose, plagued us for the last 12 months, last year. There was a four billion packaging nights this year. It was much smaller, but I think what the government tried to do was give a little bit to everyone. So, you know, as you say, from social welfare recipients to pensioners, they're all going to get 12 euro more in their pockets in terms of their weekly payments. And workers, I suppose, as well, they're going to save around 400 euro a year in income taxes, another, you know, two to 300 euro on USC, depending on your level of pay. So, you know, it was for the typical worker and the average industrial wage is in around, you know, 40, 45,000. So that worker is going to save for in 767 a year. But as you alluded to, it's not just the headline tax cuts or the increase in the welfare payments. There's also a cost of living package in there, which, you know, we're in a very high inflationary environment at the moment. So I think those other measures, you know, like the free school books, the increase in childcare and subsidies, the energy credit as you alluded to, which will be 450 euro from now until April. These are all other measures that will soften the blow. And, you know, and there were other, you know, tax credits that, you know, maybe don't get as much headline in the news. You know, a single person with a child got an increase in their tax credit of 100 euro for incapacity of children. There was another 200 euro increase. So what does that mean just for people that... So if you get an increase of 100 euro in your tax credit, does that mean you have 100 euro over the course of a tax year? You're 100 euro better off or 200? Just so, because the language sometimes, I want to make sure we all get that. Okay, sorry to interrupt the corona. We're all entitled to tax-free credits. And what they work out as, they basically take your gross pay, whatever your pay is. If you're paid, you know, 30,000 a year, you pay tax of 20%. So you pay 20% off 30,000, which is 6,000. But then you're allowed to take away tax credit. So at the moment, tax credit stand at 1875 and you get two of them. So what that means is you're effectively taking about 3,700 euro off your tax liabilities. Your tax liability is dying now to 2,300. So yeah, essentially, if it's 100 euro credits, 100 euro back in your pocket, but over the spread of one year. So I think people forget that in a way as well for welfare payments like the state pension and they're all taxable benefits and a child benefit isn't to bought, you know, the state pension, the job seekers alliance jobs. So all these tax credits help them in terms of reducing any tax liability that anybody might have. Okay, you're going to stay with us, Corona. We're going to dig into that a little bit further. Fina Falls, Thomas Byrne, Minister of State for Sport and Physical Education joins us. Good morning to you, Minister. Thanks for your time today. I do appreciate it. Good morning. We, it just happens in terms of availability. We heard at the start of the show from Deputy Pierce to hearty Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson. He says the budget was a squandered opportunity critical of the government for no extra money in health, for an example, and no money for new medicines for next year. No new money to create any spare capacity in terms of beds, diagnostics, et cetera. Do you accept that criticism, Thomas? No, I mean, there's been massive progress made in health over the last number of years. And this year the spend on health to be 22 and a half billion euro. So the issue in health is in lack of money. The issue is to make that money work as well as it's possible. There's been huge improvements in waiting lists over the last number of years. We have got more medicines out to people. And the results are clear in our health service. I mean, if you look at our pandemic response, if you look at the age people live to in Ireland, it's much higher than many other countries. And that's partly because of our health service. But that's not to say there aren't challenges. Of course there are challenges. We've got to make sure that we rise above those challenges. But COVID is a large part of that. That's coming true. But there is a huge amount of money being spent on the health service. There is going to come a point though, there is going to come a point though where we can't keep blaming COVID. Like, you know, we have a serious crisis here at the ED in Letrakenny, where we have 78 GPs across on the go writing a letter calling for external intervention, such as the situation. We can't blame that on COVID. Thomas, people want to see, not necessarily more money, but that money being spent better, which I think you alluded to yourself. Yeah, yeah. We've definitely got to do more with what we have because what we have is absolutely huge. And it's a record amount of money that we're spending on the health service. And by and large, when people get into our health service, they have a very good experience of the health service. That's the fact everybody says that. And yes, there are issues at emergency departments in different places and they arise at different times. But by and large, when you get into the Irish health service, it's very, very good in terms of treatment, in terms of outcome. And it's far better than the NHS, particularly Northern Ireland. The Sinn Féin have said they want to apply to this, to the 26 counties. That's wrong. That's not what we want. I think we, you've all signed up to Sloan to Care, did you not? We have signed up to Sloan to Care, but I have not signed up to Northern Ireland NHS or UK NHS. Absolutely no way. Sloan to Care is but free. You know, make sure the health care is fair, is free, is equitable. I think that's back by all parties though, is what I'm saying, Thomas. Sloan to Care is, but an Irish NHS isn't back by me or my partner. No, that's not what we want because there's huge inefficiencies in that. And that's what Sinn Féin, to be honest, it's just, it's a slogan really. I don't think there's any substance behind what they say about Irish NHS. One of the biggest crisis for businesses and for the public in this country is childcare. You know, people talk about housing, but you speak to people locally here. A lot of employers can't hire it because you know, people can't get affordable childcare to get out of the house and work. And we saw hundreds of people marching all over the country and on Dublin very recently on this issue. And all that was there for them was the promise of what some are describing as a measly payment to childcare providers and not now, next year, next September. Was that at least a missed opportunity? Well, I would say that the Department of Children which deals with childcare and it deals with other issues too. It's like the fourth biggest spend of the entire government. And I wouldn't say that it's measly. I wouldn't say that we've done nothing on childcare. There's been a massive change in how childcare is funded in this country. And we had a 25% reduction. We will be getting another 25% reduction and that takes a lot of money and that's in a huge investment that's been put in in terms of this budget and has already happened under this government. So I would say that we have made huge progress in childcare. Of course we want to do more, but for families who are availing of childcare through the various schemes, etc. There has been a really noticeable difference and they will say that yes, they would like more. Of course, we all would like more, but there's been a really, really noticeable difference for people who need to be paid. Nothing new for almost a year, Thomas. Sorry, excuse me. Nothing new for almost a year. Any further reductions aren't coming in until next September. Well, we've already had a significant reduction under this government, which nobody predicted and no one thought would happen, but it is clearly a priority. It's a huge priority for me. And we have to do what we have with the money. And when the budget has been allocated, it certainly never, it rarely comes in straight away except for a small number of measures. And in many cases comes in for the, you know, especially for example, famously with education, the measures will never usually come in until the September. And that's the case with this. And it's trying to do what we can with the money that's there in the fairest way possible. And I think that's what the government has tried to do in this particular instance. Yeah, and I recognize that the want to put money into people's pockets but I mean, 12 Euro for pensioners, 12 Euro for those on social welfare, even overnight, that's been dug into by carbon tax increases. And then of course to inflation, people sort of almost describe it as if things are getting cheaper, but they aren't, they're just getting more expensive at a slower pace. Is there enough there for those people? Well, yes. I mean, and it's, you know, the 12 Euro that you mentioned is one part of it but we have the electricity credits which will come in three by 150 Euro electricity credits. There's a 300 Euro lump sum for recipients of the fuel allowance. Don't forget everybody, and I think people should list everybody in the fuel allowance is entitled to apply for retrofitting at their home and they should do that. And we want to see more money into that. There's a 200 Euro lump sum for those in the living alone allowance. Children with families of child benefit will get a double month working family payment. Those recipients get 400 Euro of a lump sum. People who get a qualified child increment are getting a 100 Euro lump sum. There's a double week of course at Christmas as is normal, but we still have to pay for that. And I think that's a very significant cost of living measure, free school books for those in junior cycle. We're bringing in 900 schools now with our free school meals next September. That's really significant and we'll save families a huge amount of money. We're maintaining the reduction in school transport charges again, which is a world away. And yes, we have issues with school transport but the cost of it has massively reduced over the last number of years and we're a world away from where we were just a few years ago. So there's a huge amount we've done. The other issue as well, again, which I don't think has got that much media attention now is the 1000 Euro reduction for university and college fees plus another 500 if your family income is below 100,000 Euro. So there's a huge amount of items being done in relation to the cost of living crisis. The government acknowledges that and is dealing with it as we speak. Would you like to have seen it personally more targeted? A lot of the payments that you're talking of are universal. You know, we've 180,000 children in poverty in this country would not have been better to have a more targeted approach that would have maybe leveled the playing field somewhat. Well, on the children's allowance, I mean, that's an age old debate, but I mean, the general view is that it's better being universal. But there is targeted payments for the qualified child increment. The fuel allowance essentially goes to the poorest households in our society. So they're being targeted. People who are living alone, again, are being targeted. The hot school meals will be done out to schools on the basis of the poverty thresholds in the area and the census figures. They're targeted and we've already expanded that in the last number of years. And again, it's targeted. So there's a huge amount of targeted payments. But people in the middle are also paying to give significantly higher fuel prices. Therefore, I think it is right that everybody gets the electricity credit. And that includes those in social welfare, but it also includes those who are working too. All right. Okay. A quick word from you. If you don't mind, Thomas, yesterday, it was announced that we will co-host Euro 2028. How significant is that? Oh, it's really significant from many, many perspectives. We're hosting a major international tournament, probably the third biggest sporting event in the world after the Olympics and the World Cup. So it's really, really important for many reasons to be but six games in the Aviva but also in Casement Park as well. And that's really significant because I've been on maybe this show on others over the last number of years. When I was Europe minister, lamenting the lack of cooperation between Britain and Ireland, within Northern Ireland, between North and South, all of that. This brings us all together. Politics is out of it. It's football. I think we're looking forward to a really enjoyable event and for people in Donegal and in your radio area and in Derry, it'll be relatively easy to get to matches in Belfast and you could have some of the biggest teams in Europe playing in Belfast for a number of games. And that's going to be really, really good. I think we can all look forward to that and it will bring people together. Good stuff. Well, Warnock, you will know. Finn Hawks are developing a ground here. We really need it. We deserve it. You know, dig a bit deep there for Thomas. Go and get out the ledger there and see if we can get a few more quid up there for them, can you? Well, we announced a very significant grant a few months ago and essentially that's like the same, I suppose, a bank issuing an offer letter. The recipients, which is the FAI and Finn Harps then have to just tie up all the loose ends and cross the T's and dots the I's and essentially that's what's going on at the moment. But the money is there and the money is available once that's done. So I'm committed to that and committed to the League of Ireland. My father was a player manager of Jolly and I regularly attend League of Ireland games. It's really important that we have good League of Ireland facilities in all parts of the country and that will help increase what is already increasing over the last number of years in terms of the support that's there for League of Ireland football. And I hope that the Euros will have a knock on effect on that as well. But look, I acknowledge we have to do the work but in the case of Finn Harps, at least I can say the money is allocated and we're ready to pay that out once those loose ends are tied up by the recipients. All right, take care of yourself. Thanks very much indeed. I do appreciate your time this morning. That is Thomas Burr, Minister of State for Sports and Physical Education. We have a very, very quick break to take. Stay with us because we're going to be looking with Corona a little bit more deeper as to how you might have benefited from yesterday's budget after these. Watch the show live now on YouTube, Facebook and at HighlandRadio.com. The Ninetal Noon Show is brought to you by Letter Kenny Credit Union with monster loans available up to €60,000 for all occasions. Visit letterkennycu.ie. At AXA, we know running a home can run up your cost too. That's why you can save up to 30% on our home insurance. Get a quote today. Together, we've got this. AXA, know you can. Policy terms and conditions apply, minimum premium is €160, a 30% discount is available after three consecutive years, claims free, 15% after two consecutive years and 10% after one year claims free. AXA Insurance Stack is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Are you building a new home? Building requirements state that you must install a Radon Barrier. 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It's the perfect family day out and we can't wait to see you there. The Letter Kenny Motor Show is brought to you by the local franchised motor dealers and proudly supported by First Citizen Finance, Letter Kenny Chamber, Donegal County Council, the Society of Irish Motor Industry and FPD Insurance. Visit letterkenymotorshow.ae for more details. Donegal Denture Clinic. Letter Kenny. Denture problems? We can help. At Donegal Denture Clinic, we customise, personalise and tailor your dentures to suit you. Call us for a free consultation on 9-1-25-25-3. Find us at Ballerain Letter Kenny beside Rossum College. Medical cards, welcome. For all your denture needs, call Donegal Denture Clinic on 9-1-25-25-3 online at DonegalDentureClinic.ae. Okay, Krona Clohisi is with us, tax lead with chartered accountants at Ireland. And just a word from you, Krona. A lot of people in the messages that are coming in are struggling to sort of find out how this benefits them or how they can make sure, like, for one example, I have to pay child college fees of €15,000 before Christmas, wondering how much I pay now with the reductions. Now, I'm not expecting you to answer that unless you have that answer there. But it can be a little bit like that. You know what I mean? Is there more money back in my pocket? Where is it coming from and how do I make sure I can get my hands on it? Yeah, look, I suppose that the speech yesterday, you know, it's all very high level. All the details are going to come out over the next few days. And don't forget, you have all the legislation to back up all this coming out next week. So look, I think on the university fees, the announcement was to reduce the registration fee to €1,000. So again, we're not sure when that's going to come in. And we need to actually hear an announcement from government. And all the other welfare payments and reductions will take effect. Most of them, the 12-year-old week, will be from January next year. But there are some other immediate ones. So the 450 electricity credits, some of that will be paid before Christmas. The fuel allowance, the living-alone allowance and the double child benefit month, they'll be paid before Christmas as well. So we do know that. There are the 400-year-old working family payment, which Thomas alluded to. That will also be paid before Christmas as well. The 400-year-old lump sum, so there's a lump sum coming to certain welfare categories. It's people with disability allowance, blind pension, there's other categories of welfare in there. But look, I suppose just to repeat the bulk of the payments will be the 12-year-old increase will be from next year. The tax impacts the reduction in USC, the reduction in income tax, that will all be from next year as well. The childcare subsidy, which it is unfortunate, that's not until September 2024. So for children in, say, their last year of play school this year, they're not going to benefit because they'll be going to school next year. And I suppose just on the point that Thomas was raising about childcare, like, look, we recognize that there's a lot of funding going into that sector, but this is one area that is really close to our members' hearts, to our members being accountants, working in Donegal, working all over the country. And the biggest problem that they find with childcare is not necessarily the cost, it's the capacity that there are just no places for them to cut their children. So work all along government to actually have a long-term strategy around childcare. I think it's so, so important in terms of infrastructure, in terms of, you know, we need to, you know, working parents, there are lots and lots of people leaving the workforce because they don't have adequate childcare. And in an era where we are, every business is crying out for stuff, that needs to be... Well, presumably that capacity reduces as people exit it because there's no money in it for them. Sorry, just to... I presume that that capacity shrinks even further as providers exit. Oh, absolutely. All we're hearing from providers at the cost, you know, they're all impacted by the cost of living. There's a huge issue in terms of the wages that are being paid to staff in that sector. And we know the core funding is all dependent on a minimum salary. But we know that there's a huge, high-staff turnover. There are regulations in terms of how many staff you have to have per child. So there's so many factors to this that I think need to be addressed. And, you know, the children, there are features. So I think an investment in children is so, so key and for, you know, 50 years ahead. Okay. So what would you give the budget out of 10? Maybe around a seven. And I think, you know, look, I think the government have done a job in terms of trying to put monies back into people's pockets. I think families have probably come out the best. And, you know, looking up and up and through the package again, but there were a number of things in the school and university sector. Housing is always going to be the issue. I think off the day, it is a national crisis. There's no doubt about it. But I think the measures and, you know, I mean, I know landlords, they don't get a popular, I suppose both, but if you think about it, a lot of areas like Donny all included, I've said at Dublin, I've said the big cities, they rely on small private landlords to provide accommodation. So I think any sort of tax break for landlords in that sector was really, really welcome. And I think that will. Well, what is it about 50 quid a month? It's a benefit. I mean, that's, that's, you know, and then you have to stay commit for four odd years. Yeah. But can you stay with me for a few minutes, Corona? You okay or do I need to let you go? Okay, stay you are because Neil Richmond is Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise. And I suppose from your, Neil Richmond, good morning to you. And I suppose from your perspective, with interest on business, there is does seem to be a focus on, you know, indigenous, small to medium sized businesses in this country, in this budget. Certainly there's a big focus particularly on SMEs and Michael Enterprises. And one of the main flagship items that my senior minister Simon Colby has been able to deliver as 250 million euro of a rate grant that will be paid in the first quarter of the year to any rate or any commercial rate pair. Which is a commercial rates pairs who pay less than 20,000 euro of commercial rates. This is a cash injection for a lot of businesses. It's being cost go up with the direct response to request from business. And this is something that's going to be straightforward. It's not going to require form filling. It's going to be administered by the rates, rates officers in each local authority, be it going to go like or wherever across the country and businesses will feed us in their first quarter of the year just when, you know, it's a tougher time of year for a lot of businesses. You know, that's added to a lot of measures that we're taking in relation to maintaining our effectiveness for multinational companies as well as a lot of changes to make this not just a great place to do business, to attract business, but also a great place for workers strengthening their rights and providing the funding for us. Do you think though that this will be enough? We hear from many businesses, you know, in the hospitality sector and otherwise that are filling the pressure from the operational costs, but also in terms of finding staff because of issues like housing and childcare, which we've just been speaking to, to Krohner about. There's enough in there to, to, to... You just fear that we're going to start seeing more and more businesses close as we head through the winter in its next year. Yeah, but then when we look at the statistics, Greg, last year more businesses opened, considerably more businesses opened and set up in every single county in the country than did close. We created more jobs and with more people at work than at any stage in the history of state had affected full employment. That makes finding staff very difficult, but that's why I gave out 40,000 work permits last year and I'll give out 38,000 work permits this year to help business in all sectors, bring over staff to work in every part of the business. You touch on housing and childcare and I just want to quickly on that. Housing obviously the biggest issue in the country it affects every part of the country. We're going to see more houses built this year than last year and we're providing the budgetary needs to not just increase the supply, which is so important, but to keep landlords in the markets to give renters a bit of a break. And then finally on childcare, this is something that's really close to my heart, not just because I married some hunter-story teacher and I have two very small children, but from an economic point of view, we have to provide that flexibility to allow people to get out of work. We will see not only the cost of childcare come down at the latter end of next year, but we're going to see an increase of the core funding provided to given to providers. Why is that though? Why is that though? Because it was needed now. You know, the people didn't take to the streets looking for these measures in September 2024. They're at the pin of the collar now. Well, I think there's two different things that the people who took to the streets and you know, I engage with them deeply. They were talking about core funding as well as everything else. The core funding will go up next year. As I said, you know, all these measures, as Cora said, start from January and in terms of the reduction of fees, won't be till September. We're also in negotiations currently in terms of bringing up the minimum rate of pay to attract more people in the sector as currently 13-year-on-hour, but really needs to be a lot more for what is a very tough job often done by people who are degree qualified. But we also want to make sure that when we're looking at childcare, we're looking at it in a medium to long-term manner, that it's not just a quick fix. We need more flexible facilities that cater not just for early years' education but also for after-school provision and we need to spread across the country and not just concentrate. Because the biggest issue in my constituency, Greg, it isn't the cost of childcare. It is the availability. All right, Neil Richmond. Thank you very much for your time this morning. Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise. Much of the coverage grown up is about, you know, the average wage and 40,000, 50,000. That's nonsense up here. The average wage around about here is probably closer to 30. Many people on 27, 28, 29,000. And they might feel there's not enough in it for them. You know, they are seeing the lowest benefits from that and probably feel forgotten and left behind in that certainly the national media coverage of some of these measures. Yeah, no luck. I mean, somebody on 30,000 is probably going to only see an increase of about €300 for the whole year and that's when you take the tax and the USC puts into account. And yeah, look, and you know, and someone on minimum wage, you know, may actually find that they're, because the minimum wage has gone up, they're actually going to pay a little bit more tax. So look, it's so difficult in any budget to, you know, you know, to look after everyone. And I know that the Taoiseach has made a commitment to try and bring the minimum wage up to a living wage. And I think we still have a long way to go given the cost of living. That's easy for the government because that's a cost that's borne by business, not really the state. Yeah, that's just going to say. So, you know, so the businesses that, you know, they talk about increasing PRSI as well. So it's the business that's going to have to stick on this extra cost is quite significant. There's a 140 jump in the minimum wage. You know, you've got your employers PRSI of almost 11% on top of that. You know, you've got other things coming down the track, like pension or enrollment where they're going to be make it mandatory for people to enroll in pensions. You've got statutory sick pay that's already happened to be paid out. We've got new reporting requirements all the time from revenue. And so, you know, it's the small business that's been hammered, I guess, all the time in terms of that extra admin and this extra cost. And I know this 250 million fund has been announced to try and help business with the cost. And I suppose that's encouraging because, you know, most businesses and aren't just small businesses. It's not, you know, we hear all the time about the multinationals and the tax take that they're bringing in. It is quite significant. But the backbone of the economy is the small and medium enterprise. Sorry to rush you on, Krona. Is there any... Do we know when the children's allowance will be paid to 18-year-olds in full-time education? Because that was something that was mentioned yesterday. Is that another January 1 initiative? Yeah, that date, I didn't see the exact date for that. So I would imagine it is a 1 January initiative. So that's going to increase the year. It's going to be an extra two years of child benefit payment as long as the child remains in school. I would imagine that's coming in in the 1st of January. Right. Okay. Listen, there's so much in there. And a lot of the detail actually hasn't been announced yet. So we really appreciate, Krona, you're helping us over the last hour. Have a lovely... And also too, I suppose you would welcome and encourage people. One of the things mentioned yesterday is going to be a big campaign to make sure people are getting their, you know, the tax breaks that they're entitled to and rebates that they're entitled to. There's 180 million sitting out there. That could be... We're talking about in people's pockets, but that's something people really need to look at, I think. Yeah, listen, you need to log on to Revenue.ie. Get on to my account if there's medical expenses, there's rental tax credits, anything. Get in there and claim if the money is there. Revenue are going to do a campaign to encourage you to do. So I think sometimes there can be a fear of interaction with revenue in case you find out you actually owe them tax. I'd say just go in there, have a look. And, you know, there's money there to be taken. You might as well take some. All right, thanks so much indeed. Krona Clohisi, who is from Dunlop, but most importantly, tax lead with chartered accountants, Island. The nine-tone in show with Letter Kenny Credit Union. Simplify your debts with a debt consolidation loan from Letter Kenny Credit Union. Call us on 0749102126 or apply online via our app or in office today. Hi, Kate Appleby here. 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Live on air online and on the Highland Radio app. This is Highland Radio News. Good morning, it's 10 o'clock. Donald Kavanaugh at the Newsdesk. The doll has been told the budget has failed to address the imbalance between the West and Northwest and the rest of the country. South Stonygol Deputy Mayor Ian Harkin said she was beyond disappointed at the budget, pointing out that the Northern and Western Regional Assembly had made a very comprehensive pre-budget submission calling for meaningful investment. That, she said, has not happened. In the area of health, Ms Harkin said there was nothing in the budget to address the concerns of many in the Northwest. Just over 12 months ago, over 50 consultants in Slago University Hospital wrote to the Minister for Health in complete frustration, outlining the myriad of problems being faced. And just two days ago, 78 Dunnygol GPs wrote to the Minister for Health calling for urgent action on the ED in Letcher and Kenny University Hospital. In May of this year, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association issued a statement saying that patient health in the West and Northwest is at risk due to the excessive delays in care. Well, Deputy Thomas Pringle told the budget debate that the failure to support renters is a damning indictment of a government whose priorities were laid bare in Budget 2024. He said given the high number of renters in Dunnygol, the issue isn't supply. It's how properties are being used. And that he says is where the government got it so wrong in terms of the incentives it's proposing. In Dunnygol, 21% of families are renting and 14% of adults are living with their parents. There isn't a shortage of properties in Dunnygol. The properties exist. But they are being used for Airbnb and holiday rentals. We need to incentivize landlords to switch existing short term to long term letting. But that is vitally important and it will become even more important as the mica regress gets underway and people need somewhere to love where their houses have been repaired. However, Agriculture and Green Minister Charlie McConnologue is defending the budget. He says it'll help sustain investment in Dunnygol while also offering help to those who need it most. Over the last two or three years under this government we've seen unprecedented capital investment in county Dunnygol as a government and cabinet minister. And I would be working to ensure that that continues. And I think that this budget provides a great platform to ensure that our county continues to see a very, very strong investment over the course of the next year. Of course, one of the key challenges at the moment as well is the cost of living in families and the cost of living in businesses. And the budget was designed to be sustainable in terms of the core budget, but also in terms of many of the one-off measures to support families through the coming years. More from those contributors on our website, HighlandVideo.com. And of course, the 90 noon show today has been focusing on the budget in the first hour. You can listen back to that on our YouTube channel, HighlandVideo Ireland, or indeed on our social media pages. Later on in the early afternoon, the program will be podcasted on our website. Other news in Dunnygol County Council is being urged to bring in some occupational therapists from outside of the HSC to address a delay in the processing of housing adaptation grant applications. They're being delayed because there aren't enough OTs in the system to assess the homes and provide reports. The motion was moved at a meeting this week of letter Kenny Milford, Municipal District by Councillor Donald Coyle, who said some applications are now being delayed by several months. Officials told him that the HSC has hired more OTs and is pledging to use them to address that backlog. Councillor Coyle is welcoming that commitment, but says while he values the relationship with the HSC, it would help if the council could bring in some external OTs. I'll give you one example, say somebody who suffered a stroke. The house has to be adapted to accommodate them. Like, do they have to wait four or five months before anything can be done in relation to work in the house because of the fact that there's no occupational therapist report? Do we look across more? They're looking on the short term to get rid of the backlog of applications that are on there and that are being delayed because of the fact that there are no OTs report. Council officials also pointed out that anyone with an outstanding application can have an assessment done privately. They can pay for themselves and then apply to recoup the money back from the council. Meanwhile, Donegal County Council is meeting in special session this morning to discuss the housing crisis in the county. It follows on from a lengthy discussion at the September plenary meeting. A number of questions were posed to officials which they're expected to answer over the course of today's special meeting, that meeting getting underway at County House in Lifford around now. And in international news, a surgeon in Gaza says the situation in hospitals there is desperate. Israel has continued its response to deadly attacks from Hamas overnight and has vowed to wipe out the militant group. 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians have died as well as 950 Palestinians. Well, Dr. Abdel Hamad says hospitals in Gaza are struggling. They are a little bit worried now because the electricity has been cut off. So all dependent on the generators and if they don't have enough fuels to run them then it will become a disaster. One forecast largely dry with sunny spells today feeling much cooler than recently afternoon highs of 11 to 15 degrees Celsius in light to moderate northerly winds. Tonight, dry and chilly with long clear spells lowest overnight temperatures three to six degrees generally dropping a little lower in some rural parts with a touch of grass frost. Light variable breezes will allow some pockets of mist and fog to develop. Tomorrow expected dry day with a mix of clouds and sunny spells, top temperatures on Thursday 11 to 13 degrees Celsius in light, southerly or variable breezes. And that's Highland Radio News. We're back with news again at 11 o'clock. Regular updates of course on our website HighlandRadio.com but for now from the news team. Good morning. The obituary notices for this Wednesday morning the 11th of October. The death has occurred of Vera Kelly, Ney Gallagher, Talna Screen, Church Hill, formerly of Drumna-Shammer, Church Hill. Requiem mass in St. Columbus Church, Glen Swilly at one o'clock tomorrow afternoon with burial afterwards in the family plot in Temple Douglas Cemetery. The house is strictly private, please. The death has taken place of Margaret Devlin, Karoline Spinoog Burt. Her remains are reposing at her late residence. Finoville from there tomorrow morning at half past 10 for 11 o'clock Requiem mass in St. Angus's Church, Burt, followed by burial in the family plot in Burt Cemetery. Family fires only please. The nation's in lieu of desired to the Donegal Hospice care of any family member or Terence Matlin took Finoville director. Family time please from 10 p.m. to 11 a.m. The death has taken place of Joe Call, number one, Nixon's Corner, Derry. Joe will repose at his late residence today from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. with Rosary at nine. Finoville from there tomorrow morning at quarter past 10 going to St. Baton's Church, St. Johnson for 11 o'clock Requiem mass with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family time please before the funeral tomorrow. Family fires only please. The nation's in lieu of desired to the Foyle Hospice care of any family member or Kelly's funeral directors, Oakfield, Ruffo. The death has taken place of Paul Sweeney, drum the canoe, Church Hill remains reposing at his sister Mary's residence in Glendon today from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Finoville mass will take place in St. Column Hills Church, Glendon at 11 o'clock tomorrow morning followed by burial in Gardens Cemetery. Finoville can be viewed live on churchservices.tv. Family time please before the funeral tomorrow. The death has taken place of Winnie Winifred Boyle Ney Breslin, Cornus Kilrain, Glenties. Her remains will repose at Shoeblans funeral home Sandfield this evening from half past four followed by removal at half past five to St. Connell's Church Glenties arriving at half past six. Finoville mass tomorrow, Thursday morning at 11 o'clock with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Strictly family flowers only please. The death has occurred of Peggy Doherty, Cain, Chirna Slego, Urus Clonmani. Her remains are reposing at her late residence. Finoville from there tomorrow morning at half past 10 going to St. Michael's Church Urus for requiem mass at 11 o'clock with interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family time please from 10 o'clock tonight and before the funeral tomorrow. Peggy's funeral mass can be viewed live on churchservices.tv. The death has taken place of Seamus McGonigal, Bolan Ishkeheen Muff. Seamus's remains will repose at his home from 11 o'clock this morning with family time please from 11 p.m. to 11 a.m. Finoville mass on Friday morning at 11 in St. Patrick's Church Ishkeheen followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. The funeral mass can be viewed live on iskeheenparish.com. The death has taken place of Anthony Murray, Arden Addition, Manor Cunningham. Remains reposing at his home. Wake today from 1 p.m. until after the rosary at 9 p.m. Requiem mass tomorrow morning at 11 in the Church of Old St. Newton Cunningham with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. The mass can be viewed on churchservices.tv. House private please to family only before the funeral tomorrow morning. Family flowers only please. The death has taken place of Arnie White, Rossview House, Letter Kenny Road Convoy. His remains are reposing at his late residence. Service at his home this afternoon at 2 o'clock with burial afterwards in St. Nyan's Church graveyard. Family time please before the funeral today. Family flowers only please. The nation's in lieu of desired to the society of St. Vincent de Paul, care of any family member or Terence McLintock funeral director. The death has taken place of John McGarvey, 41 Rosemont Kilmachrenan formerly of Barnas Terman. Remains reposing at his home. Requiem mass tomorrow at 3 in St. Columbus Church Kilmachrenan with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. The mass can be viewed on churchservices.tv. Family time please from 10 o'clock tonight and before the funeral tomorrow. Family flowers only please. The nation's if desired to the family room ICU, Galway University Hospital, care of any family member or Patrick Sweeney funeral directors. For more details regarding wakes and funerals, please go to highlandradio.com. From Marvel Studios. What I'm about to tell you is going to be hard to believe again. Loki season two. War is on its way. Join the God of mischief on his mission. You better run! To save the multi versus past, present and future. Time slipping. You know that? Yeah. You've seen that? Yeah. Can you fix that? No. Marvel Studios Loki. New season now streaming exclusively on Disney Plus. 18 plus subscription required. T's and C's apply. The county's number one talk show, The Nine Till Noon Show on Highland Radio. And you very welcome back to The Nine Till Noon Show. Good morning. If you're just after tuning in, there's a few things that I want to mention. Firstly, the Donegal Dan Syndrome Association are having a cars and coffee at Carragot Procule Hall Sunday the 15th of October. This coming Sunday it's from 12 noon to 2 p.m. Donations welcome at the door. Tickets will be on sale for a raffle. So if you can support that, maybe if you're on your way up to watch downings in the intermediate final, you can call in there at the Procule Hall in Carragot for cars and coffee between 12 noon and 2 p.m. this coming Sunday. Cancer Cow West, the West of Ireland Cancer Charity. There's a breast cancer awareness, 5K, 3K run and walk. It's for all ages. It's a pink run and walk. It's at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday. It's 80 euro per adult. Children are free. It starts at National County Community Centre. Registrations being taken from 9 a.m. on the day. All funds raised in aid of Cancer Cow West. So if you want a run or walk, either 5 or 3K, it's a pink run and walk. It's this coming Sunday, starting at Lettercanny Community Centre from 10.30 a.m. 8 euro per adult. Children free and all funds raised go to Cancer Cow West, which regular listeners to this show will know is very, very important. Now, there is a... I'll actually get more details on that in a moment. It's another event's coming up, but I just want to make sure I describe it correctly. So bear with me on that. Right, Greg, was it not announced a few months ago that the carer's allowance would be brought up to the living wage level? I'm a carer receiving 236 euro a week for 36 hours a week, which is approximately 650 an hour. We get 12 of a raise yesterday, 680 an hour. How are we supposed to get by on this, I don't know, Mary. Neil Richmond, he said he was given at 38,000 work permits. There are these people, where are these people going to live? You let him off the hook, Greg, when you have no control of a population growth. It's a disaster. Housing, health, et cetera, ain't going to work. But at the end of the day, we're at full employment in this country and the businesses are struggling for workers. And this is a big problem in the UK at the moment because they've pulled up the drawbridge and there's no workers now coming in all of the time. There have been people from outside of Ireland. This is nothing new. For as long as time has existed, people have come into this country to work. There's many jobs that need to be done that aren't filled at the moment. There are huge vacancies and it's business that's calling for these permits to be issued so they can continue in business. I mean, you're already seeing certain businesses closing a couple of days a week because they simply don't have the staff to open. That's the purpose of these visas. Is that uncontrolled population growth? No, because it's visas. And I think you'll maybe associating that with refugees or international protection people. These are people coming here to work. It's a work visa. And where are they going to stay? I don't know. But who's going to build the houses? If we need more houses, who's going to build them? Maybe half of the people coming in on these work permits are going to be building these houses. So it's not that I let him off the hook. It's just that it's an internationally recognized situation where you give permits to people for certain jobs and they come in and perhaps, as I say, they are the ones that are building the houses or they are the ones that are working in our nursing homes or hospitals. 12.70 per hour minimum bill age is very good. 15 would have been better. 15 years ago I was getting 17 an hour tax and the other cuts out of it. It's no good. If a business can't pay their employees a better wage, then they should not be in business. How come Australia can pay a minimum of 16 euro per hour? The budget was shameful for those with disabilities. We need to disengage carers from social welfare across the board rises. Inflation for those with disabilities is far worse than others and many use money to pay for private treatment or alternatives not offered by the HSC even putting them in debt to do so. The buying, let me see. I just want to stay on the topic of the budget. Once again, people living in the Northwest do not benefit to the same extent. A lot of us will have children attending university in the North encouraged by the government but have no reduction in fees. I know it's a separate jurisdiction but they could offer a refund. And otherwise, should taxpayers subsidize businesses? It is ridiculous, says a listener. The three electricity allowances should be means tested before many people that really need it could get more to help them, exactly. And that was my question about targeted universal decisions mean everyone, even if you're really well resourced you get the money. Hi, Greg. 12 euro for pension should have been 200. Roll on elections till we get rid of this government. Tell that man to live on 230 a week. That's the widow's pension. It's just a joke. Thanks, Greg. The likely party in power after election. I'll commit into three euro beyond the 12. So is that going to make a big difference? Tell that man I'm a widowed woman. I'm 64. I get no benefits to get 220 euro a week. My daughter is home for a while as she's sick. She gets sick pay and then they cut my fuel allowance. How's that fair? Doesn't sound fair. Hi, Greg. The budget not much good to myself and my wife when my mortgage is up 11 times last year. We're on the tracker mortgage and it's almost up 400 euros extra a month. Greg, this country's finished big time with the price of everything. There's a little thing on the mortgage there. Providing your mortgage is over 80 grand a year. You can get a rebate or a tax break. Interest relief up until 1250, 1,250. That's the maximum. I'm not sure if that's going to be of any use to you, but Greg, where are people getting the idea that the average industrial wage is 40,000? RTE were worse yesterday when they said 50,000. My wage is around 27,000 euro after tax and that is me working a night shift. So I don't think I'll be getting much out of this budget. Maybe when I retire in a few years and get the state pension, I might get a little bit indeed and I made that point as well. I hope you heard because I do understand that. Is there anything towards students who are paying fees and accommodation in the north? Nothing that's obvious at this moment. The thing is, is though sometimes and I'm not saying it will be the case. There is more detail that is released that goes into things like that, but it's not announced on budget day. The government could find 4 billion euro for Ukraine and 3 billion for climate change, but nothing for Lederkenny University Hospital, says a listener there. Right, good luck if you're playing the bingo today. Here are the numbers. It's time for NCBI Bingo on Highland Radio. It's Wednesday, the 11th of October. You're playing on the blue sheet. The reference number is S3. It's game number 41. The numbers are 73, 89, 8, 57, 34, 72, 62, 67, 47, and finally, 2. Phone your claim to 9104833 before 8 tonight, leaving your name, contact number, and the name of the shop where you purchased your book. And we'll call you back the next working day. Get all your NCBI Bingo information at HighlandRadio.com. GiveBlood.ie know we can count on you, our community of blood donors, to be there for you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we're joined on the program now by Sarah Shovland, who is a member of the Banking Insurance Redress Focus Group. Good morning to you, Sarah. Thank you for your time today. Good morning. Thanks for having me. Right, so have the banks confirmed that they are going to offer interest-free loans to defective block home owners, or have they just given them strong indications that they might? So there's been a positive step since we last spoke, and we must, however, approach with caution, because it is early days, and there's all these things the devil is in the detail. So the bank's narrative has changed, I would say, and this is welcome. I think they recognise that the scheme won't work without them. You know, you can't start to demolish and build a house with a fibre in your back pocket. So we need something, and they need something. At the end of the day, many of these homes are still their assets. So the banks are certainly a part, have a big part to play in this, for sure. And would these effectively... Sorry, Sarah, I beg your pardon, continue there. Yeah, I was just going to say, like, they have changed their narrative. They do seem to be more sympathetic. We had a call out there a few weeks ago where we asked people to engage with their banks, and if they suspect they have defective blocks that they would contact their banks and let them know because without the numbers, the banks are certainly not going to do anything. And some of the feedback we've had from people who have done that is that the lenders have treated them sympathetically, and we still encourage everyone to go out and to contact their banks, even if they only suspect they have mica. People generally have a very good idea, even if they don't have the testing done as regards to the state of their home at this point in time. And are we talking here at this point about pillar banks because obviously there are many caught up with vulture funds. They're already being shafted with high-interest rates. Are they coming to the table at all in this regard? Now I understand the majority will be with pillar banks, but I just want to recognise that maybe some might feel that this news isn't for them. So we spoke to the BPFI last week. We've been working with them as you know since February. The initial proposal that we've seen still has to be approved by government, so they are saying that they recognise the homes can't be built without money. The government grant is only paid after a certain amount of work is done and you can't start a home without any money. So they have recognised that and they have said that they will lend. The good thing about this is that the pillar banks that you've mentioned there, they are going to lend regardless if a person still has a mortgage on a house or not. Because if you are qualified on the scheme, it is my understanding that the details will be that you will qualify for this upfront money, upfront loan at 0%. And what is really important is the detail that hasn't come out yet is how long are you going to have that money? How soon will you have to pay it back? There is certainly talk about designing something that would be the payments that the government give you will be what pays back that 0% in-term loan to the bank. So it's a little bit different to a normal loan and the headline of a 0% loan isn't really maybe doing it justice. And as I said, it's still my understanding that this has to be approved by government. Nothing is signed off yet, but the initial indications are good. What I would say, Greg, is... I was just going to ask, Sarah, just to try and cover all bases while they're in my head if you don't mind. They'll be shortfall for some. So say, for instance, you know, someone was going to be short after the grant 100,000 euro. Would the bank offer that excess at 0% or is it only what they can claw back from the government that might be offered at 0%? Because, again, a lot of people might not be able to get their houses built for the available money from the government. Yeah, correct. So this initial scheme, initial loan, is something that is only something that they can claw back from the grant. So we have gone to the colour banks and we have included some of the non-lending banks out there as well as part of our negotiations and discussions. But we have gone to them and said that there's four products that are needed and this is their response to one of the products that we've asked for. We have, of course, asked for 0% lending for the shortfall. So people who need more than the maximum grant to finish their home, that they be treated sympathetically from lending criteria and from a mortgage rate of 0%. But there is no indication yet as to what might come for those other products. We are very much talking about the first product out of the block is something where there is minimal risk, I would say, for the banks and that they're going to claw it back from the scheme. It's like a short-term and term loan for the homeowner. I mean, this would be fantastic if there were penalty-free downsizing, for an example. But again, and I'm not being negative, Sarah, and there's still an awful lot of work to do. But if we're being told that for the majority that this isn't 100% scheme, redress scheme, well then for the majority, this first offering from the banks is not going to suit them if they can't borrow again from somebody else or dig into savings if they're lucky enough to have them. Correct, correct. And there's a much bigger issue, Greg, here at play. So more worrying is the fact that the government and the banks have not clarified what the remediation certification means for the banks or indeed for the homeowner. So from early on, we as a group have focused on the damage default clause, which is in everyone's mortgage terms and conditions. And in simple terms, that means that, you know, the property is kept in good repair, otherwise the total debt becomes immediately payable. Other things that are in your terms and conditions are, you know, insurance. And when you go to renew your insurance, many times one of the questions is, is it of standard construction? How does somebody who has partially remedied at their home answer that question for the insurance company? What work have the government done with the insurance companies to make sure that these homes that are partially remediated are able to be insured at a standard risk? So we all know that the insurance company might say, okay, they still have defective blocks. Maybe it's a higher risk there for a higher premium. The defective block homeowners can't live their life forever in the trenches of, I still have defective blocks and this is what it means or doesn't mean as regards to my home being more visible or insurable. Is that really not another argument as to why outer leaf and retaining the foundations is not really workable into the long term because I just don't see how those problems that you talk of there can be overcome because it would take a completely different type of a mortgage product to stand over what would still be a defective building because there still would be and we don't know what the future holds for internal leaf and all foundations for that matter. So really until such time as we get to the point where it's inevitable, I feel that it's demolition and demolition and foundations out, we're going to be having the same conversations over and over? There is certainly a big question there and it becomes more apparent the further down this road we go. Those engaging with the scheme need to know in simple terms. We have no written confirmation that homes will be mortgageable or resellable and that you'll be able to switch your mortgage after you've remediated your home. Are any indemnity passes through sale for an example? So say for instance the government did indemnify the worker on the outer leaf and the foundations. What does that do to the value of a property and is that indemnity, if that's the right word, transferable? All of those are great questions and there just hasn't been enough work done like Daryl Brown launched the biggest scheme in the world to remediate defective buildings. That's his own introductory statement from the relaunched scheme. So in his own words he's done that but he's done that in a silo. He hasn't engaged with the banks, he hasn't engaged with the insurance company, he hasn't engaged with, I mean there's many other scientists. The list goes on and we have a huge scheme of 2.2 billion and I'm sitting here at this point saying well what is it all for? If you can't have your home reinstated in a mortgageable condition, okay I understand people want to, the immediate focus has to be make the house safe, get out of your house and get back in but longer term the house is something that you have invested and it's your biggest asset and a simple thing from switching from one rate of 5% to a lower rate of 4% means that you need to have your house in a mortgageable condition and if this scheme doesn't do that what is it all for? An interesting piece of information from the banks would be how they reflect a defective concrete home on their balance sheets for their shareholders because that would give us a really good insight as to some of the questions you've just asked do they see it as worthless, is it site only? Are they not actually even logging that? And by the way the banking insurance address focus group and all the focus groups are doing amazing work and to get the banks to the table and to get some movement in any area of this I think is hugely significant there and as we tease things out that certainly shouldn't be lost in this because I mean it's amazing progress when you think of where we were in the past so I recognise that in terms of... And on that break I cannot thank Roshan Golher enough for setting up the redress focus groups without meeting like-minded people none of this would happen to your point and I do encourage everyone out there to come forward, you'll have some expertise and you know volunteer and give some time and meeting people of like-minded you know with like-minded goals it does help you through this whole process as a owner A couple in their 70s the mortgage is paid, they're retired they've got no means of taking out a loan or repaying anything for that matter Has there been any opening conversations for people in that situation and any white smoke or positive signs I wonder Sarah This first product would also apply to them so the in-term funding at 0% would not be related to your mortgage or a bank that you have a relationship with it would be based on that you have the report that your house is mic'ed in it needs a certain amount of remediation or demolished and that will be as I understand it the access to that 0% financing loan but we are pushing hard on the other products it's not going to be a quick fix here you know so we just really have to wait and see OK well you'll keep us updated of course Sarah and I think we're going to be talking about it separately a new website that's been launched as well to focusing on all of this stuff but for now Sarah thank you very much indeed Sarah Shovlin who is of the Banking Insurance Redress Focus Group and to say anytime you get the banks around the table and get some movement from them at all it is a success but it's still devil in the detail is a phrase that is associated with this crisis and will be for some time no doubt Pachy Bonner is going to be joining us shortly to reflect on the news that Ireland is going to be hosting a major tournament Euro 2028 that's coming up shortly and get your loan transferred directly to your current account don't miss the most heartwarming film of the year The Miracle Club congratulations you're coming to Lawrence you can't go what do I do on my own go back to bed starring Laura Lenny I'm in a place I swore I would never come back to Academy Award winner Kathy Bates I never hated you more than I loved you and Academy Award winner Maggie Smith you don't believe there's always hope The Miracle Club in cinemas October 13th Rated 12A Brian McCormick sports and leisure your football specialist Adidas football boots in many ranges like Crazy Fast Copa Pure and Predator Accuracy Puma King Ultimate King Top available in a mixture of soft and firm ground Adidas socks and shorts gum shields that can be remoulded to improve fit match up your boots with Adidas or O'Neill set of socks and shorts Brian McCormick sports specialist click on BMC sports.ie or call in Main Street Ladder Kenny Christmas shopping just got easier with Irwin Expert Electricals Layaway service now open secure those must have gifts from Ninja Apple, Samsung, LG, Dyson or Sage with just a deposit simply choose items you love and pay for them in convenient installments that suit your budget no stress, no rush gift smarter with Irwin Expert Electrical Ladder Kenny and Bon Kran This Halloween after Gastly goings on across Northern Ireland with the National Trust enjoying a chanting house eve at Castle Ward sinker finds into the new food fair at Florence Court's Harvest Festival of Governor tip-tuned to the world of spooky trains and storytelling at Mont Steward and brave in this frightful funfest at the Giants Causeway with Bruce DeGris at Spring Hill and a monster market at Rowell and Garden search National Trust and I OK, so there was a lot going on yesterday but we also learned that Ireland and Britain have been confirmed as Euro 2020 with 8 hosts yesterday in a 240 million Euro estimated boost to the Irish economy but it's also about a boost to the sport. Pachy Bonner is former Republic of Ireland goldkeeper and he joins us back on the show again great to see you Pachy and it's great to have you on the show Thanks so much for coming on right so this is a big boost isn't it for the country I mean we could never aspire I don't think to host one of these tournaments ourselves certainly with our current infrastructure so it makes perfect sense for us to team up with our nearest neighbours Yeah, listen I think it's a good news story very very positive about it Delighted actually I love international football that's the first thing to say it brings a bit of passion pride to your country and I grew up sort of loving international sport whether it was Olympics, whether it was rugby football and it just brings something special inspires a nation so from that perspective brilliant from a point of view of hosting it I didn't think we would ever get to that point that we would be able to host something again when I growing up you're looking to afar I remember Mexico was the first World Cup that I remember far far away in the distance and we look at the big nations able to host these things so going into partnership I think was the right thing to do I don't think we would ever get to a point where we could do it on our own so going into partnership it allows that brilliant I think it is a brilliant tournament to come to our own shores it's fantastic news Yeah, the idea of six games in the Aviva stadium and it's not just games we're going to see the best players the best players in Europe playing their trade as well four group matches the last 16 tie in a quarter final and Casement Park obviously work will be accelerated there to host a number of games as well I mean we can't forget that either it's just going to be the buzz of the games the excitement you know I mean people can start talking about transport and getting people tuned from and hotel prices but look it's about on the day isn't it and we managed to do it for Gareth Brooks so we managed to do it for Euro 2028 it's just going to be a great buzz across the country Yeah and listen it's going to be 40 years since we went to West Germany at a time not a long time ago but I remember you know Stuttgart I remember playing against England I remember all of those occasions and the fans and the Irish fans it's brilliant for them because they've travelled the world they've travelled Europe they've cost a lot of money now it's in their own doorstep and that will be a real benefit to them also and it is the buzz and it's the legacy you know listen there will be a financial legacy for it it'll go back into football it'll go back into development of the game there's no borders there's issues around finance for everybody concerned in this moment in cost of living and so on so forth we understand that so any money that we get any money from that perspective it's a real help so I'm happy from that perspective I think back to 88 and I think back to that time in Germany when probably we were going through a rough enough time ourselves and suddenly we qualified and effect it had on our country you know 88 going into 1990 and I think you know people looking at that as maybe a bit of a milestone in the way that it positively affected our country and that was in Germany remember imagine what it can do now if part of it is here in Ireland how important to it sort of you can be if you see it how big of a factor is that because we've seen a massive influx of girls and boys but mostly girls into soccer in Britain following their hosting of the major event we know the impact Katie Taylor has you know being a role model four boxers I mean it's very hard to maybe quantify what impact it might have but it's certainly hopefully going to inspire a new generation to be the people that they get to see playing in their own country yeah listen you know communication and all of those things are so much different now than it was 40 years ago that's for sure you know but the effect at that time that us qualifying for a major tournament had been incredible you know places in Ireland didn't didn't play soccer and suddenly now the kids were inspired to go and play and enjoy themselves and you know the benefit of young players now take take for example our own group of young players you know Gavin Bezuna, Evan Feige and those guys they'll all be in their prime I was 29 years old when Jack or sorry 26 years old when Jack took over I had had only nine caps I went on to get 80 caps which is probably nothing to say given in those guys and even the young guys now but that next period of my life was transformable and it was unbelievable and that affected you know a lot of young people around our country and the same effect hopefully will continue we've been working very very hard to grow participation we've been working very hard to try to give people the opportunity to go on and represent their country or play professional but we also make sure that our grassroots are looked after because we just need people play in the sport play in any sport but playing football is our game so we wanted to play that and that will it sort of inspired me when I was young I must admit you know watching on TV watching role models now we've got our own role models and hopefully they will qualify and it'll be all in Dublin and it'll be fantastic yeah and you mentioned caps there I mean have we ever done a like for like analysis show you's amazing don't get me wrong there was as many games in your time albeit not that long ago as there there are now but anyway be that as it may it's going to be great it's going to be a great boss are we going to be there because there's five host nations effectively and I think there's two places being withheld for those who don't qualify so I haven't really read as to how that might work for us do we presume that three of the nations will automatically qualify and that means that we will get our position there or there's no guarantees there's not a full guarantee but in saying that you know the good thing is that England all of us England's got obviously got the most venues and they're probably the bigger partner but they certainly will have to they've gone into the qualification process all of us will go into that qualification process and hopefully we will we will be good enough to qualify in our own right but let's say England Scotland Scotland have gone through again another unbelievable development in the last while you know and I look back to the year we missed out in 2020 for the games in Dublin but Scotland had them they had them in Hamden and they've kicked on from that from that situation from an international perspective so they're in a good position at the moment Wales are of course we know that they're able to challenge so whatever's left we're in a better position now than we would have if we didn't get host these nations this tournament because of these two qualification spots even if you don't qualify so we're in a much better position yes we don't know how it's going to pan out yet because UF have got to come up with detail around that Greg but we'll be in a good position I think finally Pakie what would you like to see or what do you think is needed to sort of reinvigorate the national team because we're going through a bit of a lull at the moment and you know what I'm getting into speculation about the future of Mr Kenny and what have you but what's missing what do you think is missing that you know that we're not seeing the type of performances that we see from similar countries like Wales and Scotland particularly yeah listen you know on my day we had players playing with the top clubs there's no question about that the Liverpool's the Man United's Celtic, Tottenham Arsenal all of those clubs and they were all playing in European competition at club level and then the extension of that was that they were able to compete at international once we got over the first hurdle and that was in the Euro 88 and we were able to compete the younger players that the players now are not with the big clubs and that's a matter of fact so we have to try to produce the players ourselves that's not easy our underage international program is hugely crucial our the work that's going on within the grassroots leading into the League of Ireland academy level is hugely important we have a new pathways plan that is going through the final stages of its creation and I'm you know I'm kind of helping out a little bit and giving my thoughts and around that but in the main that's going to be hugely important for us going forward finance is important because we the problem is we have got Brexit now Brexit has caused a real problem because our young players are knocking away and unfortunately in the past we had a reliant English club Scottish clubs that finished the players off maybe we took our eye off the ball as far as League of Ireland clubs were concerned but that's where we need to get now get to so it takes money it takes a plan it takes a vision and it takes hard work and the young players will still have that opportunity and then I actually think international football is so vital for them to play in tournaments and get success because that's the catalyst for them then to be attracted to the bigger clubs and go into the Champions League go into that level and this this we've a lot of good young players but and listen Evan Ferguson is an example of it he's he's come through the system he's 18 years old and he's playing with Brighton he's scoring goals he's in the Premier League we need more of them and it's not easy to come up with what probably the solution for it but it's hard work and it's putting the right vision in place and that's what we're doing Greg we're working very hard at it and everybody has to everybody has to come together and make sure that happens everybody's got a role to play it's not just one group you know League of Ireland on their own grassroots have got a huge important part that's where they all start and it all has to be joined together by the hip and and that's that's the vision that we need to we need to try to implement over the next four or five ten years. Fascinating insights as always Paki thank you so very much for your time have a lovely day Paki Bono there former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper 08 60 25,000 is the WhatsApp and text number as you know don't you but I do like to remind you because gives me a chance to think of what I'm doing next for the most part. Right Ashley morning and Mark Humphries getting married today in Rafa all the best from Uncle Dennis and they're going to get a nice dry day I think as well which is good let me see if I mentioned everything that I want to mention there is we have a ton of comments which is fantastic but they're very the piling up here so I'm going to make time for them of course as this morning whereas on we really appreciate you taking the time to take your phone out lift the phone that's all coming up shortly but we do need to take a break the 90 new show is brought to you by letter Kenny credit union offering low-rate car loans with fast approval apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today hey there folks of letter Kenny mark your calendars it's the letter Kenny motor show happening on Saturday the 14th of October on a pedestrianized lower main street come and explore the latest car models enjoy fun activities for the whole family and discover incredible deals that will get you on the road and stuff it's the perfect family day out and we can't wait to see you there the letter Kenny motor show is brought to you by the local franchised motor dealers and proudly supported by first citizen finance letter Kenny chamber dunningall county council the society of Irish motor industry and FPD insurance visit letter Kenny motor show dot e for more details Optimus here and so are the new arrivals at green shoes shopping store or online now from top brands like Doc Martens Kate Appleby Tommy Bow and Riker also new balance wonders echo and many more shop okay and one for all gift cards accepted in store visit green shoes and discover the perfect footwear to compliment your style green shoes at market square that a Kenny shopping center for Kara and online at green shoes dot com do you rely on kerosene to hit your business you could be eligible for one-off payment through the government's new business user support scheme for kerosene this scheme is open from now until the 31st of October find out more in enterprise dot gov dot ie an initiative of the government of Ireland in today's Irish Daily Star as the dust settles on the applause and the anger we have the answer to the money question what did budget 24 do for you when it comes to your pocket and bills was it a great giveaway or a big fat fail here from our experts and ordinary families who cut through the spin and noise to reveal what it all means for workers renters and bill payers don't miss your 12 page budget guide today only in the Irish Daily Star chagaske are holding an information evening focusing on the establishment of grants of the new forestry program this meeting will take place in the chagaske office in letter Kenny on Wednesday the 11th of October starting at 7 30pm chagaske encourages anyone who is considering establishing a forest to attend as important changes to the forestry grant structures have been introduced get your forestry questions answered don't miss this important forestry meeting on Wednesday the 11th of October at 7 30pm all are welcome Highland Radio United States with Ireland West Airport where you can now fly daily to London Heathrow with Air Lingus and connect via Heathrow to over 80 destinations worldwide including Boston, New York and more all right dry today with good sunny spells and some cloud about the north coast during the day feeling cooler with the highest temperatures of 11 to 13 degrees and mostly light to moderate northwesterly breezes now tonight will be dry in chilly with long clear spells dropping little lower locally in some rural parts with a touch of grass frost light variable breezes will allow some pockets of mist and fog to develop that is your weather forecast you very welcome back to the 9 till noon show here on Highland Radio it's great to have you all on board and keep us really busy on the phone lines 08 6 60 25 thousand as you know caller wants to know who you he who he should contact regarding traffic management traffic in the morning morning the schools are saying that the road outside the school perimeters are not responsibilities they belong to the counter cancel I tried to call the RSA but cannot get through the call is concerned at the lack of control around the traffic and children running between traffic in the morning time and the potential accident it could cause with no one managing it. Okay we're joined on the program now by our next guest who is Donal Kearney director of growth at, well actually waiting for Donald to join us. He's going to be joining us very shortly. He is the director of sustainability growth at Pragmatica and he's going to be joining us very, very shortly. So whilst he does, I'll grab another comment here. In relation to the current conversation, this is as it relates to Micah there, what about homeowners who own and live in Donegal but mortgages through a bank in Northern Ireland? Bank is AIBNI in my case, who when I bought was offering mortgages to buy over the border. I lived in Derry at that stage, so it allowed me to borrow sterling and buy a house in letter Kenny. I don't know. It's a very specific inquiry there and unfortunately I don't have an answer to it, but someone listening out there perhaps might. Right, okay. As I mentioned, I believe we can say hello now to Donald Kearney, director of sustainability growth at Pragmatica. Good morning to you, Donald. Are you there? Good morning, Greg. I hear you. I'm not sure if you hear me. I hear you loud and clear. Right, okay. There's an event taking place on Thursday, which is actually tomorrow. It's at 9am at the TCS in letter Kenny. Sustainability for Business, Green Skills for Success. Break that down for us, Donald. Sustainability. Well, it's the big buzzword out there at the moment, isn't it, Greg? And what we're finding right now, nobody really knows where to begin, particularly from a SME point of view. So I'm hoping to shed a little bit of light on the macro and the micro viewpoint of sustainability and give people a little bit of guidance of what's coming down the road from an EU perspective, from a legal perspective, and more importantly from a business. How is this going to help businesses stay in business, win more business and align with what's going on? Yeah, so because a lot of people hear about sustainability and green things, right? And instantly mean, well, that's where the costs, that's going to cost me. That means I'm going to have to spend more. That's going to put more pressure on the business. Is it a case of trying to see where the benefits are and maximising those for your business? And at the same time, then, being able to have that moniker, which of course is becoming increasingly attractive to customers and clients. Yeah, well, I think the first thing for people to recognise is, you know, business is a part of everything we do. So we all want to create carbon. So first of all, it's discovering what you're using within your business and strategising to reduce that. So by reducing your CO2 footprint and increasing, hopefully, your market share within your desired customer base, should actually lead to a cutback on spending. So there is no great expense to begin. There's no great expense to understand where you're at. Education is key. Measurement is key. But I think burying your head in the sand and hoping it'll go away, that's the real cost. But you know, you hear the term ESG all the time. Frankly, a lot of people don't understand most of your business. All of your business is either using environmental, social and governance. It's tying it all together and pointing your business in a direction that's most beneficial. And the reality is, is, you know, people can huff and puff, but it's clear where the direction of traffic is going. You know, we are, there are targets, hard targets set there. And, you know, a deadline is going to emerge and get ever closer. It's very much, I would imagine, in businesses interests to, you know, to be working at it now. Yeah. And we're seeing it. It's coming pretty, pretty strong within the tendering process at the moment, both in the private and the public sector. So in reality, it's been set up in such a way, Greg, that is quite clever. It's from the top down, even though it affects the big organizations at the very top, and they're going to have to begin to report on standards in 2025, they also have to report down their supply chain. And that knock-on effect is, is going to be dramatic. And it's not from their next two, to the next two, to the next two. We're seeing likes at Tesco, Ali, Little, all button companies under pressure to have their carbon footprint in line. There are helps out there, not just information, but subsidy supports breaks. Yeah. Phenomenal. Just like even tomorrow, Brenda Hagerty is getting up from the local enterprise office. She's going to talk about the supports and that and Enterprise Ireland, Phenomenal, SEAI, unbelievable helps out there at the moment. It's educating the small businesses and the medium business, what they can get, how they can get it and how to map the next five years in line with the supports that are there. Yeah. And people can get a sense of what the topics are going to be. We can't or I can't do it justice with the amount of time that we have, but it is tomorrow. It's at the TCS and letter Kenny starts off at 9am with a good networking opportunity and a cup of tea and what have you. A great panel of speakers, an opportunity for question and answers as well later on in the morning, which I think it is vital because there will be a few fires lit under people, low carbon, hopefully, and be able to sort of maybe get some clarity on some points as well. Yeah. And that's what it is like. There's so much information out there. It's it there's a danger of getting lost and creating some inaction. So I'm going to hang around for anybody that has more pertinent questions afterwards. You know, we're going to go on 20 minutes. We're going to go very high level on the stage, but there's a great panel out there. So any questions now is the time to come to him. Yeah. Okay. And obviously, a lot of the time it's registration is, you know, is desirable. It's required for this event. You need to register email Marie at letterkennychamber.com. And Donald, there's no particular business here. I think this affects all businesses potentially. So it's not like where anyone can sort of self exclude. If you're in business, this is something that you need to be keeping your strong eye on. Yeah. I was just in a conversation before this, like we're dealing from everything from pharmaceutical, property developers, facilities management, manufacturers, food, it's everybody. You know, there is no about educate yourself. That's the best tool I can recommend. Brilliant stuff. Thank you very, very much indeed, Donald. I really appreciate it. Donald Kearney, director of sustainable growth at Pragmatica. If you want to attend email Marie at letterkennychamber.com. Let me just double check that email address. Yes. Marie at letterkennychamber.com. It's tomorrow morning from nine. Expected by our train technicians and all our cars come with up to 12 months warranty. Visit us and letter Kenny or Malin or iMotors.ie. Looks like we're in for a cold spell. Perfect weather to chill out in a steaming, seamed bath on Sligo's shores. Talk of scattered chairs too. Perfect weather for sea swimming off the coast of Waterford. Sure you're already wet? It's fierce windy out there. Perfect weather to be swept off your feet in a romantic weekend in Cork City. Whatever the weather, it's always perfect weather to keep discovering. With great short breaks forecast right across Ireland, plan your next one now at discoverireland.ie. More and more people are moving to rural Ireland, but we're not here in Donegal for a slower pace of life. We're here because rural Ireland is alive. Brimming with ideas and energy. The only thing holding us back is slow broadband. It's cut. Pure glacial. So why wait? Imagine broadband speed gives us the freedom to connect without compromises. Imagine broadband is connecting homes and businesses in your community right now. For better service and faster broadband faster, switch to imagine.ie. Imagine. Faster broadband faster. Subject your location and availability. Easy living furniture's annual Octoberfest sale is now on. Absolutely everything reduced, including sofas, dining, beds and mattresses. Save up to 60% on a huge range of products that are in stock and ready for delivery. And with 0% interest refinance available with no deposit, the decision is easy. Octoberfest sale now on in Easy Living Furniture, presently Retail Park. If you're pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant and live with migraine, you may be worried about how to treat your symptoms if you stop taking your medication during your pregnancy. To address this and other issues, Migraine Ireland are holding a free online seminar on Thursday, the 19th of October at 4pm with neurology specialist Dr Finula McCann from Craig Avenue Area Hospital. Book your free ticket now at migraine.ie with thanks to HSECH01 Donegal for the funding for this event. All the stories that matter across the Northwest, it's Greg Hughes on the 9th to Noon Show on Highland Radio. All right, it is 11 o'clock. Time to get a news update. Good morning, Donald Kavanaugh. Thank you, Greg. Good morning. A special meeting of Donegal County Council has been told that the authority hopes to deliver 1,268 social housing units across the county by the end of 2026. That's 44% above the housing for all target of 879, set for Donegal by the government. Members were told this is also above the net need of 1,088 units as defined by department guidelines. However, they were told the gross need in the county is 2,848. The adults have been told the budget failed to address the imbalance between the West and Northwest and the rest of the country. South Donegal Deputy Marion Harkin said she was beyond disappointed at the budget, pointing out that the Northern and Western Regional Assembly had made a comprehensive pre-budget submission calling for meaningful investment in the region. This, she said, has not happened and the gaps continue to widen. W. Thomas Springle told the budget debate that the failure to support renters was a damning indictment of a government whose priorities have been laid bare in this budget. He said given the high number of renters in Donegal, the issue in the county isn't supply, it's how properties are being used and that's where the government got it so wrong in terms of its incentives. However, culture and Marine Minister Charlie McConlog is defending the budget. He says it'll help sustain investment while also offering help to those who need it. President Higgins is gathering the Council of State today to consider the constitutionality of planned legislation to change the appointment process for judges. It's only the third time the President has convened the Council during his time in office. The meeting will consider whether the Judicial Appointments Commission bill should be referred to the Supreme Court to decide on its constitutionality. And the Taoiseach says solidarity with Israel will evaporate if its response in Gaza is disproportionate. Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas and says the militant group has killed 1,200 people. The United Nations has urged restraint in Israel's response with 950 Palestinians already confirmed dead. Tejagli of Radker believes U.S. support could also dissipate if Israel is disproportionate in what it does next. And we're back with news headlines again at 12 noon. Thank you very much, Donegal. Our next guest joins us after this very short break. Something spooky is coming. Squishmallows are in McDonald's Happy Meal. They're spooky on the outside, but oh, so squishy on the inside. Some fun, some food, it's all inside this Happy Meal. Until the 31st of October from 11 a.m. Squishmallows comprise Toys Only Subject to Availability. Fair Ordering Policy applies. Check McDonalds.ie slash Happy Meal. Now the 28th Infantry Battalion are celebrating and commemorating 50 years of meritorious service this Thursday at 2 p.m. at Finner Camp there just on the old road between Bali Shannon and Bandoran. Captain Neil Ledwith joins us on the program now. Good morning, Captain. Thank you very much for your time. Good morning. Thank you very much for having me. It's good to have you with us. So how significant and it'll be obvious to many, but how significant is this day of commemoration and celebration? It's a very significant day for the units here in Finner Camp. The 28th Infantry Battalion was established in 1973 and has been serving space and the people of the northwest of Ireland ever since its foundation of the 1st of September 50 years ago. So we're very proud of all the that the unit has achieved at home abroad and in our locality as well. Members of the unit are very involved in their communities and this is a chance for families, veterans and serving members to gather to connect to share memories and reminisce about the times of the past and look forward to the future. In other words, a lot of it wasn't like that in our day, but anyway possibly there may be one or two war stories told during the fight by a former member during the day. For sure. And can you give us for those not aware again and many will be because the the battalion is so much part of the community. Some of the activities, the important activities over the last 50 years, Neil. Well, the 20th Infantry Battalion was founded in 1973 and its role at that time was to secure the state. It had a major role in what we refer to as aid to the civil power, so assisting and guarding Shia Cona during the Troubles and decided that it also undertook a number of aid to the civil authority operations. So for instance, we've been a very involved in assisting the emergency services in County Donegal, Sligo during periods of fire, flood, extreme weather conditions, etc. Apart from that, we obviously have a very significant military role overseas. There are thousands of tours of duty that had been conducted by soldiers from units in very diverse environments from Lebanon, Syria, East Timor, Chad, Liberia, Kosovo, Bosnia, just to name a few of them. And the day itself, as you mentioned, it will be attended by serving and retired members of their families. New and old vehicles, actually, which is going to be quite interesting, weapons and uniforms will be on display, reflecting the 50 years of history there and a short ceremonial display with refreshments served. Is it only for former and current members or is it open to the public as well, Neil? Unfortunately, due to capacity and security issues, we're only able to open the event to the public. But invitations have gone out to former and retired members, so Defence Forces veterans who served here in Finnair Camp, but also to the families of deceased members. And we've had a number of personnel who paid the ultimate price in the service of peace while serving the state, while serving the 28th Battalion. And whilst their low bones are no longer with us, the families of those soldiers are also very much welcome in their part of the 28th Battalion family. And perhaps most important day for them as well. Okay, listen, thank you very much. It's going to be a wonderful day, I'm sure, for all involved and, as they say, a poignant day for others as well. But thank you very much, Captain, for your time this morning. I do appreciate it and enjoy. No problem. A pleasure as always. Bye-bye. Take care, Captain Neil Ledworth there, of the 28th Infantry Battalion, which is celebrating and commemorating 50 years of Meritorious Service service this Thursday, the 12th at 2pm in Finnair Camp, invite only. Those invites have been issued. So hopefully there'll be loads of great pictures and coverage of that across social media and in the media as a whole. Might it make more sense to develop a stadium on a politically neutral greenfield, a Belfast site that all sports like Ulster Roby, NI International Football and the GEA could use. Let schools and clubs use Windsor, Ravenhill and Casement Park, which will cost a small fortune to demolish. Greg, does this mean Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales qualify automatically? No, it doesn't because there are five nations. There are, all of the nations are, the footballing nations are in the qualification. There are two wildcards or two spaces available. How that's going to be dibbied out, as you heard from Patrick Pacqui Bono there, that has yet to be fully determined. It should mean we're likely to be there. You would hope it would mean, particularly three, four, or perhaps even five qualify for it. It is the Euros, there's a lot of spaces, so you would be hopeful. Call question for Pacqui, is it a lack of funding and propriety work does he think? Well, I think he answered that question through the course of my questions. A caller says, I always park my car at the St Connells unit when I have an appointment at the hospital. I often arrive early because I know how long it takes to cross the road, but yesterday I saw the four disabled parking zones closed off and they're doing renovations. So where do they expect the likes of me to park? I could see no alternative. I'd love an abled bodied person to sit in my chair for a week and realise the impact of closing off these spaces. So they're officially closed off then for work to be carried out, but no alternative put in place it would seem. That's an unfortunate oversight if that is the case. We were speaking yesterday to some representatives from the Ballet-McCool estate in letter Kenny, 18-art families have received notification that the owner of the properties intends to sell them. Therefore, they are evicted. This caller says the buying of the houses in Ballet-McCool idea is nonsense. Even if the council buy those houses, they have to be offered to the next applicants on the council housing list, which isn't the people living there at present. And that was a question I posed and I didn't know exactly how that all works. So through the question out there to cover all possibilities. Disgusted by atrocities inflicted on women and children by both Hamas and Israel, but not as disgusted as I am with the leadership and supporters of Sinn Féin, many of whom seem to be glorifying the party's association with Hamas. Now I don't know of the individuals within the party. I can just go by what I've heard from those representing the party officially. And there seems to be condemnation there. Such an important word it seems on this island, but people sorted and got it. Caller wants to question, asked why to any government rep, who comes on to be asked, would they be happy with an extra 12 euro a week living in a council house with a means test required to earn an extra five? And how much will your rent change? Thanks, Katie. How much will your rent change now as a result of this increase? Because what seems to happen is that your means tested and then your rent goes up. Is that going to happen again? Let me know 08 660 25000. Hi Greg, firstly, I'm happy with most of yesterday's budget reduced college fees being the main one. However, I think this was a one for everyone in the audience type budget when it should have been more targeted to the people who need it more can't wait for the big infrastructure projects like the Bonnegie link road and the Lyford Road upgrade to start with the new fund that was created. It will never happen in my lifetime, they say. In the meantime, I wonder how many pull up politicians will be cutting the ribbon for the Paul star traffic lights next week. They are being switched on on Tuesday. And what the way it works is it seems that obviously it's a roundabout. We know how roundabout works, but the traffic lights will try and make all lanes all four lanes effectively isn't it? It's more than that. But for accesses for the traffic to move freely. All right, Caroline, do you want to speak to me? Everything okay? She's looking at me as if will he shut up? I can shut up if you want. Okay, we have an engineer. Thank you, Caroline. We've an engineer to talk about the traffic lights on Monday. And I think what they will say is is that it's gonna there's gonna there's two weeks really of work before we can kind of really judge it because they're going to be monitoring it. They're going to be sort of deciding what goes where and how it goes where and when it goes where but what they're trying to achieve here is and this is what we don't know the impact it might have is to have all traffic moving freely. So there are entrances on to that roundabout has less traffic, but they get sort of equal access to it. So they're going to slow them down and allow busier lanes to come through, and then let the other ones and so on and so forth. It's it's a tough piece of work. I presume there's a precedent elsewhere in the country or beyond. But it's going to take a couple of weeks, I presume to calibrate them. So obviously, of course, we'll get an initial reaction and that feedback is important. But I think really the proof of the pudding will be in a couple of weeks because then after that, you know what switched on then don't you all the traffic lights on the four lanes. It's going to be very interesting. We're going to have an engineer here on Monday to answer your questions to explain it. Probably plead for patience, but we shall see. But as I say, you know, you are our eyes and our ears. So when they go on on Tuesday, and they might go off and on dependent on calibration and tests and all that type of stuff. But you're going to be eyes and our ears. And I think hopefully fingers crossed, hopefully things might move a little bit more smoothly. But I think anyone and as I mentioned this in the show yesterday, anyone traveling in through letter Kenny, it does seem lately that it's really, really tough. Like traffic was this was that without this is without traffic lights on the four lanes or the Polestar roundabout traffic was almost backed up as far as the school at Ballet Rain come into letter Kenny down the hill this morning, as people were looking to get to work or hospital appointments or what have you, you don't see that too often. But that's the way it was. Right. Okay. So we shall see. But I don't know what's causing all the grid luck now. The county's number one talk show, the nine till noon show on Highland Radio. The nine till noon show with letter Kenny credit union. Simplify your debts with a debt consolidation loan from letter Kenny credit union. Call us on 074 910 2126 or apply online via our app or in office today. The life of a Charlie's chip is never dull. Once they're selected they're off to Charlie's where they lose the jacket, have a nice wash and once they get into shape and get ready out, they go to meet the public side by side with a nice burger, some fish or chicken. Enjoy Charlie's chips to sit in or take away daily from 12 to 8 at Pierce Road, letter Kenny when the hunger hits pull into Charlie's. We go through a loss to connect with our family. That's why Vodafone Red family now rewards you with a minimum of 20 year off every month when you add broadband to your plan. So moments like this are we there yet? No, are we there yet? No, are we there yet? No, are more bearable. Search Vodafone Red family or go in store. Vodafone together we can offer subject to being a third to six connection joining a red family account on a bill pay mobile or Vodafone home broadband plan. Her full term see Vodafone dot i e four slash red family. Mr. Blue Sky. The Lotto jackpot is an estimated 2.5 million euro. Play responsibly in store in app or at Lovery dot i e. The National Lottery. It could be you. Derek Ryan returns to the Clanry Hotel letter Kenny for his weekend of dancing this Friday 13th and Saturday 14th of October with special guests Shania Black and Jim Devine on Friday night and Gavin Gribbin and Johnny Brady on Saturday night plus late night bar entertainment each night that's Derek Ryan's weekend of dancing Friday 13th and Saturday 14th of October at the Clanry Hotel letter Kenny at the door. Hi Kate Appleby here just wanted to let you all know my exciting new autumn shoe collection is available nationwide in all good shoe stores. Kate Appleby dot com hope you enjoy my shoes. The Connelly Motor Group 2024 Donnie Gall Motor Show continues with Cooper's Lago a canal road letter Kenny from the 10th to the 14th of October. Test drive the two for one Cooper range including the Cooper fermenter SUV to the 100% electric Cooper born drive into 2024 with your brand new Cooper from Connelly Motor Group for more information visit connellys dot i e. Highland radio time checks with Expressway travel route 32 from letter Kenny to Dublin when you book online and travel for less expressway bringing you the time asked the time is 17 minutes past 11 we've two guests in studio now I want to say good morning to Gwen Mooney chair of Donegal older persons council good morning Gwen. Morning Greg. Great to have you on the show and I know you've been looking forward to this probably for days and also Anya McLaughlin community development officer with initial and development partnership. Good morning to Anya. How are you great. I am good. Anya's own development partnership is involved in a lot of stuff before we get into the nuts and bolts of this Anya how many fingers and how many pies. Oh God a lot we have a number of different divisions we have community education we have family support we have our social prescribing we have our slouchy care program and a healthy food made easy so there's a number of initiatives employment support so yeah we're covering a lot at the minute. I'm sure you're very busy with the older persons council Gwen. Well no we're not too but not don't keep us too busy we're volunteers so we're a group of people who represent the voice of older people at the age friendly program so no we're not too busy but we're our conference now coming up is a big part of our program we've we ran one in Lederkenny in May and this is our second one now so we're looking forward to that on the 19th. And how important is it that the you know older person's voice is actually heard from older persons if you know to me speaking to people rather than maybe about them. Absolutely and that's the important of these events is that we give we give information but the most important part of the day is about getting information about reason you know getting the issues from the people on the ground what's bothering them what's you know what's happening in any show might not be the same as what's happening in Lederkenny the issues that are out there in any show around transport around housing or whatever might be completely different to what people older people in in Lederkenny say for example so it's really important that we have the people there and that they come out on the day yeah for sure you know we're going to drag them out before the end of the for the end of this interview because we do have disparity between you know Lederkenny then I'm thinking west on a goal south on a goal which for some reason always seems to be polislaigo leach from plans east on a goal you know the Finn valley and is shown then as well now also to you know it's all it's about highlighting the issues it's about saying you know where the deficits are which is important but we talked about this briefly a little earlier in the week too there is quite a lot of stuff out there too but it's connecting the people to the services or to the social events or the supports in the community that that can be a piece of work too not just for older people I think right across the board uh Gwen yeah and I think you know the older persons council is part of the age friendly strategy and you it's one of the ways that you can participate is join the older persons council you know you can go on to the joining all county council website and join the council there so anybody over the age of 55 can join the older persons council like we're part of the executive but the council is anyone over say a 55 and it's a good way of getting information out to people the more people we have over 55 that join the council the better the information gets gone out to people and the more people we reach so get on to your donnie gall county council website and join us all right it's okay there's going to be a lot going on but first by the way just in case you were wondering should you go it's a free information and social event it's in the bali liffen hotel uh thursday week runs from 10 a.m to 2 p.m now that venue is beautiful uh to say the least but also there's music and dancing from shuny crampsey and moya brennan uh who is uh donnie gall age friendly ambassador so for those reasons alone uh certainly would be a good idea to go arnya um talk to me a little bit more about what will be going on at the event if you don't mind yeah indeed greg we have a number of stalls at the event as you said there's lots of support services uh opportunities and you know we want to link people up with those we have an array of stalls from ranging from the garradi to the citizen formation to a loan to uh age action to our library services etc then we'll have a host of speakers we have bill vaughn who will be chatting around um how to look after your mental health while older from um mental health ireland we also have our main speaker clota mcginnis who will be chatting about the living will and how to have documented your personal wishes around your advanced health care and end of life should you become incapacitated not able to express those wishes so that's really important and really pertinent uh we also have an interview as well we have evlyn mcglenn from um mcmarketing um and she will be interviewing moya brennan and asking her about her thoughts and her advice as she grows older and what her experiences are so we have we had her on a birthday not so long ago and you wouldn't realize that uh the categories that she falls into although that's a horrible way of putting it but it is important to be inspired to isn't it you know and and i think that's a great uh element to this as well because sometimes we we have to take it as much we sometimes have to take a bit of control and meet the services halfway or meet life halfway don't we wait when you know what i mean we can't and it's easy it's easiest to say sometimes than to actually do but you know you have to grasp it by the net if you're well enough and here you know sometimes a lot of negativity around growing old and you know you hear oh we have an age in demographic and you know older we're going to have so many older people you know it's like oh awful but i do my best because i hate the language that's useful go ahead quen just about tapping into the likes of moya but you know we had packy boner on there earlier another you know went into the older age group and those are people it's great to be inspired by people who are still active in their communities and not just the stars there are so many people out there that i see every day of my life who go out and visit and make phone calls you know there are so much part of the volunteer section of our community and there are a lot of them are retired people who still just keep going and inspire you every day so uh so this older demographic is something we should be tapping into celebrating and uh you know not looking on as a negative i think we as a society are getting a bit better at i i think sometimes some of the terminology and language that's used by politicians and some journalists is unfortunate but you know more and more people are living older and living healthier fitter and more active and out there and get involved in things which is is great to see um so the event is open is it on you to everybody it is indeed the um unfortunately for some but for happy for those who did book in it actually is fully booked at the minute what are we doing get out i thought we were trying to we're trying to fill this not at all it filled out in a matter of three to four days so we're really looking forward to the event there is a cancellation list so by all means if you are interested in attending please contact our offices and we'll add you to that that's a really good sign on isn't it that you know you put it on and books out because i presume there's quite a bit of capacity there yeah we have 120 people booked in uh so it's going to be a great event we're really looking forward and people who get the information they probably have friends and network they can share that information as well isn't it you know i mother went to the last one and we had in letter Kenny and took him home with you know oh you know we did this and you know we heard this and you know so it was great like to see her um you know engaged in the in the whole thing and she says it was well worth Jeff for someday of her age so all right okay we'll not mention the age because i want to be alive to be on air uh in the in the future um the long ago older persons council um how many is in it or is it a group you mentioned people can join it or well the the older persons council is anyone over the the age of 65 and or 55 and done it all so you can just you can join the council and you'll be on the mail list and will you know you'll be invited to these kinds of events and then the executive council then is to by 20 people approximately depends on who can come with around by 20 people from that cohort of people who were interested in joining the executive so and then they report back and everyone gets the information and the advocacy and the points being made okay and we're getting like during covert like all those things sort of fell away like you know so we're trying to re-energize the whole and we also need to get people who were active and involved back out doing it again um because it's so important for them yeah and that's why it's great to see the initial and development partnership rowing in on this one on you as well absolutely I mean uh the initial and developer partnership are part of the Donegal um age for any alliance so that's where I first met Gwen and we chat about bringing an initiative like this to any shown with the OPCs we're delighted to be able to bring this event I've got to mention more about it because there's some great stuff but I feel like I'm kind of robbing salt into the wounds now of those that can't attend because there's chair yoga as I mentioned music and dancing with shuny cramps he launched spot prizes on the day as well and for those lucky enough to attend and that needed a transport was uh provided on demand so it's going to be a great day Gwen the mood is a positive one I take it oh absolutely yeah and just just a positive one but also a serious one because we are looking at living wills and sure you had somebody on journey to talking about that and it's very interesting it's a tough subject doesn't take tough subject but at the same time you know when you get people round the table it's generated a lot of conversation in letter Kenny at the last conference so you know that conversation is a great starting point to thinking about how do I do it the practicalities of doing it so that's what we'll be talking about is how do I actually do this you know and I would say something that I'm going to look at myself there's a sort of a comfort stroke maybe security when that's in place when your future is secured not your future secure but your wishes are enshrined because we never know how you know our capacity to make decisions and what have you and then you can park it then you know it's done you can yeah exactly you can just absolutely it certainly does offer peace of mind and last year we had a workshop as well around making a will and how you go about that and starting that conversations and I think that is important it's even chatting to your family you know start the conversation being this might be a springboard for somebody that maybe finds it difficult to talk about this to then go right I'm going to really attack you know I'm going to really address this issue and and everybody that goes to the conference will receive a pack a thinking ahead pack so they could take that back with them it'll be a customizable document that they can use then as kind of a layout of the different issues and so that they can mark everything off yeah looking at the very least a conversation starter yeah exactly and I think we need to and I'm trying as best to look at these things in a positive way rather than a you know a picture postcard from the grim reaper you know what I mean I'm trying to I mean they can go as far as range in their funeral that does you know that that's one of the things my mum did when she came back she said you know that there's something out there's a hymn I'd like her there's you know those are kind of things that little conversation you don't want to hear but why not I suppose you know at the same time you know you want to do your best for the one the last day as well like you know exactly you know you don't it doesn't need to be a sad affair now do you know those kind of things like yeah well when then it turns into something a little bit more exactly uplifting isn't it okay well as I say it's a sell-out so there's no point me reading at how you can contact and how you can get a seat or what have you but hopefully your friends if you aren't going your friends are going and they'll be able to tell you all the correct exactly that's right the cancellation list on you I forgot you mentioned that thanks Gwen um on your editor show and dot i is that how you would put yourself on that list yeah and yeah at any show and dot a or contact our offices um on 07493 62218 now anything else that we want to mention Gwen just a quick thank you to Moia Brennan my Brennan is flying in from her tour in America wow it's not a commitment tonight yeah just so yeah yeah this last night and she's coming to any denny shown tomorrow so that that is a huge commitment and we just like to thank her for that uh it's fantastic it's a great lift isn't it absolutely okay are you a favorite song of moya's I don't want to put you on the spot I'm terrible at song names I can sing along and home to anything but you give me uh you ask for a name of something I will play a bit of moya maybe before the end of the day is that okay only anything you want to mention um just following on uh from what Gwen said we're delighted to be able to do this event and we also as part of the the feedback from the event we're looking for people's participation and ideas around future initiatives for older people than it's shown should be that events or training or whatever so uh looking forward to meeting everybody next thursday I don't don't want to spring this on you but just on the off chance there's something planned uh is there any uh menopause talks coming up again in bon crana uh through initial development we did run uh menopause classes last year and certainly be looking at that again so yeah right hopefully okay Gwen what was it like the interview it's okay great target isn't it thank you so for any future guests come in enjoy don't be nervous okay Anya McLaughlin always a pleasure thank you Anya's community development officer with initial and development partnership Gwen Mooney chair of the Donegal older persons council hope to speak to you again to Gwen thank you so much to two of you both of you for calling down and if you have a ticket or you uh uh you have a space at the bellyliffen hotel thursday week uh from 10 a.m enjoyed you're going to have a great time but as you say as was said by Gwen there there is a serious element to this as well about uh conversations we could and should be happening and to make sure that we are looking after ourselves both physically and uh mentally and that applies to all ages okay back with more soon watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highlandradio.com charges letter Kenny credit union 9102127 ocean tiles and bathrooms penny burn industrial estate dairy massive stock clearance sale on tiles vanity units toilets chairs taps mirrors radiators shower 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chemist letter Kenny from moisturizers cleansers and toners to day creams and night creams. McGee's have the top brands you know and love like long com clarence and laroche posse also elizabeth artin fishy nukes and many more all at McGee's chemist main street letter Kenny and online at McGee's.ie for the best cost less hello there this is john mcnickle inviting you to join me at my music weekend at the clarence hotel in letter Kenny on friday the 20th october we have filming you bigly i'm breton shane on saturday the 21st with louise morisey and steven smith and on sunday afternoon we have gary gambel sandy kelly and david james come join us for a wonderful weekend you can pay at the door we look forward to seeing you there business matters in association with the atu dunigol faculty of business if you're a parent or guardian of a first-year student in the area of business law design tourism or sport join atu's online information evening on wednesday the 11th of october at 7 p.m call 91 86 207 or email faculty of business admin dot dunigol at atu.ie okay it is time for business matters but before we do just an addition to our lost and found items if anyone saw a pair of glasses uh fixer kirin's arrived here with an empty box an empty where are they likely to be do you need us to run out and check in the car thankfully it's a secondary to at the point this day is great so all right good stuff with all eventualities covered it's good to have you back you've got a great guest on the podcast which we'll talk about shortly that podcast live for you right now on our website highland radio dot com but before we get to that uh we'll get through some news and uh housing development to prove for letter kenny kirin yeah Greg plan permission that has been granted for a new housing development in letter kenny dunigol cody council has given the go-ahead to properly hold limited to build 21 dwellings and that includes the completion of five on furnished houses at killy lasten and a new hub opening in boncrana yeah that is your own innovation hub opened in boncrana on friday the new space is 700 square meters in size and is designated for local tech businesses and as a satellite location for global companies looking to create a european base and just uh our side note the center is already home greg 225 clients which is good news for an issue yeah and and it's uh you cover the hubs quite extensively we do here but outside of that i don't think really maybe people get how important they are in different places around they really are offering um great facilities and often very well used uh exactly but they're so modern and there's there's so much that i don't know so as once people get there you find people if they set up base there they're inclined to come and stay there as well a great you know yeah okay now i'm going through the the notes here about awards uh which is great because every week you mentioned someone's picking up and i was waiting i was waiting i was waiting i was waiting you talk about people picking up awards and i'm going to get to filigins in a moment because it's a very significant award but whose palm do you have degrees to get on uh business matters uh business notes awards lists well especially national ones i was trying to store a springer on you greg but on a congratulations to yourself you knew you were never gonna come you knew you were never gonna come in here and spring that on me well i didn't want to stick it up on the notes but i was going to do it with my finance but that's and on a serious note i'm sure it was a proud moment for yourself and karen and uh that's a great award to be getting it is it's lovely to get a national recognition but you know four done a goal and i know that sounds a wee bit silly but obviously this is a listener driven show and you know sometimes it does feel you know and there's arguments for and against that we are a little bit behind and back and to some extent sometimes i've felt immediate on a national level maybe we were sort of somewhat overlooked because you know maybe a bit controversial i don't know what it might be but it was great uh for uh the for the recognition not of me uh all caroline but i think for the program and the people who contributed to the likes of yourself but most importantly the people of donningall in the northwest generally and that's what um that's what i liked about it because it's been a dry spell do you know that sort of way uh previous success of course shawnded really well but you know what i mean so and enjoying the moment yeah starting to embrace it now good award winner had you a good night um yeah you know we were up early the next morning so i was one of the first in bed it was nice to have that experience you know when you land and the concierge is we we uh because i was effectively uh caroline chauffeur so i drove her down dropped off at the venue and then i went to the servants quarters about 10 minutes away okay uh so then went back the next morning to pick her up from the door again and carry her bags and put them into the boot but i met the concierge you know and it was so nice that to hear stories of other people yeah being there at two three four five six in the morning and i had been wrapped up in bed at half 12 being a really good boy so i'm leaving well it's on this occasion cured it's true uh anyway enough about uh uh this award-winning program let's talk let's talk now about a national and a very prestigious award the most important thing of course jokes aside winging its way to glinty's yes glinty's based company philigans picked up four awards at the Irish food awards for his chutney relays and mustard products philigans were set up by sarah and philip moss in 1987 and the business expanded gradually from their kitchen and it moved to a custom built premises and glinty's in 2019 and just aside don't uh philigans philigans director wolly cremin was one of the first guests on the podcast Greg i think it was addition number seven back in august 2020 uh at a good old chat with wolly and that's great to see that the business is still still being successful and still won the awards indeed and three of my favorite things chutney relish and mustard uh right so congratulations guys at philigans now letter kenny woman chosen as a future shaper yes a letter kenny woman has been named by the international association of convention centres among nine future shapers accepted into an eighth month accelerated leadership course kair davison knee mckayman who is a company secretary at icc belfast will participate in a series of master classes and business case development and she will also have the opportunity to promote her solutions solutions to challenges currently faced by convention centre managers and that's going to be on a global stage next year uh at a conference in costa rica next to life a nice a nice thing to look forward to for eight months out there interesting little final item karen yeah um i heard you on with um need richman there just one i was out for a run earlier on there and i got the tail end of it so it was just i suppose relevant to i know there's a lot of talk i'm sure before that greg in terms of the budget but the government has announced 250 million euro allocation for temporary supports and that's for businesses as they deal with the rising cost of inflation and we have touched on a greg on on both our shows in recent times there's also an extra 35 million from the Republic of Enterprise Trade and Employment which uh they just didn't refer to for the uh to support the state agencies notably nine million of that greg will be allocated to local enterprise officers so hopefully they share that common locally and the local enterprise offices often in this item they're referred to as the leo offices so just so everyone knows what we're talking about here and the government has also set to roll out a new target targeted capital gains tax relief for angel investors to incentivize investment and innovative early start companies so obviously they're dangling the carrot there for people who have money and have collateral that they may maybe invest and maybe get people up and running all right okay we're going to take a break and then come back with a preview of the interview which we'll feature in full on the podcast the 90 noon show is brought to you by letter kenny credit union digital loans now available apply online or via our app today and get your loan transferred directly to your current account giveblood.ie no we can count on you our community of blood donors to be there for others in their hour of need blood donors from kili begs should attend the clinic in the tara hotel and kili begs on monday 9th of october and donors from dunny gall and dunlow should attend the clinic in the abbey hotel in dunny gall town from tuesday 10th to thursday 12th making an appointment as recommended so call 1-800-731-137 or visit our website to book your time new donors are vital visit giveblood.ie to check eligibility and clinic details because we count on you an emotion stirred an idea accelerated that's progress you can feel and the very definition of the audi 241 range from the sporty iconic audi a4 and the all-electric audi q4 e-tron to the pioneering audi q8 e-tron offering greater range than you can even imagine test drive the audi 241 range at an audi dealer near you today welcome to the spa at orchids one of europe's largest spas at the holly root hotel bundorn discovered tranquility in our japanese themed garden boasting seven treatment rooms saline baths and a secret garden with an outside hot tub and sauna now let me take you to the heart of bundorn where you'll find the holly root hotel spa and leisure center don't miss out on our exclusive midweek hotel specials more information at holly root hotel dot com knew this week at home store and more all living room throws are half price but better hurry because when all the half price living room throws are gone they're gone also all halloween is still all half price but when all the half price halloween ghosts and ghouls and super scary devilish decorations are gone they're definitely gone dropped by your local home store and more or visit us online at home store and more dot ie new store now open in prescotti center black rock doublin home store and more a happy home pylon radio weather updates with arland west airport where you can now fly daily to london he throw with air lingus and connect via he throw to over 80 destinations worldwide including boston new york and more okay continuing dry with some sonic spells developing there will be cloud persistent around the north coast during the day it's going to feel cooler than it has over the last few days temperatures 11 to 13 degrees winds though mostly light and as tonight wears on it'll be dry and chilly long clear spells developing lowest temperatures three to six degrees might be a little lower dependent on where you are with a touch of grass frost okay we're still in the company now of um kirin o'Donnell presenter of the business matters podcast now you are joined this week by yes greg i'm joined this week by the owner of anise communications trish higary trish worked as a journalist with iwis times rd and bbc radio foil before setting up for pure social media and digital content agency in 2004 in its communications recently launched a nice expertise toolkit for sms with limited time and budget and this clip greg trish talks about the two latest recruits who joined her company area this year the general pure business has got busier as well so if i was to have any chance to spend time on on selling and delivering the toolkit i had to increase my team so last year i took on beth reynolds who's a graduate of atu media graduate so she's our creative lead and social media manager and account executive and then um just a few months ago i took on connell kennedy from our draw who's got uh he's got decades of experience in um in pr both here in in ireland plus also in canada new zealand and further down the road i do want to export the toolkit because it really does not look like anybody else has ever done this so there is big you know exporter franchise potential and connell was just the right guy at the right time and uh trish hegerty's got a lot of feathers in her cap uh not least the love donnie gall initiative which it's latest uh incarnation or or it's latest david uh not so long ago hugely successful other counties have tried it i don't think not with the same success getting donnie gall love donnie gall uh both in english and i scale again trending around the world so uh as i say that's just one feather uh in the cap but maybe not everybody knows that trish is behind that yeah uh one of the number of things we spoke about greg i mean did speak about the success of the love donnie gall campaign um this is a seasoned journalist and one of the lines that uh that she said to me that sort of stayed with me was um wanting to honor someone's story so as a journalist greg um we know the importance of that so when they when a person becomes a client then she's extremely well equipped this most honor that story as well and tell a story of their business of the family of the tradition and maybe of the aims and objectives and services that that company provides yeah for sure now the full interview with trish who has worked for many top outlets as a as a journalist as kiran mentioned before sitting on her own pr company the full interviews available as part of that podcast right now on our website highlandradio.com where you can stream it from there or download it and you can stream it too on Spotify or iTunes and it's also broadcast on air kiran yeah greg after these six o'clock use on Sunday all right and if anyone wants to contact the podcast it is yeah just drop an email please businessmatters at highlandradio.com kiran really appreciate it thanks so much for calling off thank you chat to you again soon thank you very much indeed kiran oh donnell there okay let's get to some more of uh your comments which have been coming through that throughout the course of this morning hi greg uh just heard captain legwith on there read the 50th anniversary of the 28th battalion i served over 30 years in the battalion and haven't received an invitation that he said was sent out now i'm not sure of everyone who has served was invited or how that worked uh but it's maybe and we can make an enquiry on your behalf if you want to send in your details uh hi greg could you please highlight the problem of dangerous dogs encountered by walkers every day a friend of mine was recently cornered by a dog and was lucky to come away unscathed and to add salt to the wound this dog has been seen roving the area again a few days later owners should be mindful of the dangers of dogs who are not on a leash and should keep their dogs under proper control and regular listeners would know that that is a topic that emerges on the show on a regular basis uh just more fallout from the budget a caller says um seemed like a cynical budget there is an election coming we want your vote kind of a budget well remains to be seen i think when we have uh budgeting in yearly and election cycles we're always going to have that i mean truthfully uh we should be budgeting or planning for our health service our education for decades in advance you know even i would argue that some certain headline issues like health education you know mental health supports for for children or what have you they there should be a shared responsibility for that i am not really that interested in two politicians arguing about you know whether or not something is good for the people or not you know wouldn't it be better if those brains were working together on certain issues and i know this is ridiculous of me to even suggest but on certain issues of national importance like health like services for children with additional needs like mental health you know like uh other you know the headline stuff that they all work together uh and planned 10 15 years in advance like we should rather than oh well this is crap what you're doing now when we get in two years this is what we will do and then the cycle begins all over again but as i'd say i'm being um fanciful in that suggestion but i just think you know i'm not interested in people arguing about stuff that uh means that a 85 year old person sitting on an uncomfortable chair for 24 hours and we're going back to the ed actually uh by coincidence because majella has a recent experience and joins us on the program now majella thanks for your time today no baller greg how are you i'm okay majella and i hope everyone uh associated with you is talk to us about your experience i think just at the start of the weekend in ed yeah um my daughter went down at nine o'clock on friday night uh to casual day and i just went down after shortly after um it was jam packed people sitting on floors sitting on chairs everywhere unbelievable uh do you've seen it before i have right so you knew what but i'm getting worse yeah so uh and first off an all conversation seemed to start like this in your initial contact with us you praised the nurses and the medical staff for what they were trying to do in this environment yes the staff are warmed out the nurses are doing a brilliant job on there like my daughter got the best care that she could get she didn't get a bed in a wire she got a bed but it wasn't done a wire that was on a hallway was screams uh in front of her because there were no bed no uh wired to give her now you're out yesterday morning again your daughter was not there for the crack she wasn't sent there right now dark or because they couldn't be bothered to see her she was there because she needed medical attention and needed to be admitted to the hospital so because a lot of people are sort of attributing those type of people for being there but anyone i speak to most of the people down there need to be there so how did the treatment process work for her when for example did she get off the chair and into a bed uh saturday evening friday night nine o'clock yeah so not far off 24 hours yeah and there was an older sorry there was an older lady sitting as well yes and she was sitting on a chair there were lots more uh children on as well so it was just everybody of all ages i don't know how you can do you just have to sit there when she got the bed on saturday night was it an award it was in no it was on a hallway and it was on a wire in a no a wired corridor down at the bottom was a screen in front of her the screen was for her privacy and inverted commas was it yes yes and um you were shocked and you've outlined it you were shocked by the amount of people the crowd i think you described them on see as i've described my seeking treatment yeah and everybody i've been talking to more people enough and they were all there for some people were sent from their doctors and some was from now docking and but sure when you're sent in from now dock you have to come in yeah of course you do but the nurses are under so much pressure my daughter got the best care the nurses were more than good to her and the wired but their relatives are fit and something has to be seriously done because it's not fair on patients something on hard seats for 24 48 hours and as you looked around majella because again a lot of people say the same stuff did you look around and go half the people it shouldn't be in here you know in other words that they shouldn't have been there there was no need for them to be there or did you get the impression that everyone in there was there for a very good reason but you see my daughter to look at her too you didn't know that she was yeah i'll get needed medications so everybody's left you just don't have all broken bones that's that another like hundred percent there's a lot of hadn't hadn't known this on your body and and we were talking then to the gps about the reluctance for people to go into ed i mean obviously if we needed to go into ed we will go in but if god forbid you sat in front of the gp and they said right we're gonna have to refer you in it's not an experience you would never look forward to it but you can you understand why some people particularly older people go i'm not going in i can understand that one hundred percent because they're setting their entire chairs and i mean that's not right that mean don't get me wrong if you're setting out and the casualty department people come around you know when you're on a patient then and the cubicles they're going with tea coffee sandwiches and all like the patients are well looked about but for an old person to go in there are for anybody yeah okay um i hope everything's okay i'm a gentleman obviously it's your own daughter's private information i'm not asking that but i hope she's okay and and you're okay and thank you very much for sharing the story no problem great thank you take care magella bye bye thank you oh wait six sixty twenty five thousand another very familiar story unfortunately if you want to get involved in that conversation and lend your voice please do oh wait six sixty twenty five thousand heading towards the end of the show but time for some more comments here well what is going on in letter candy hospital so that's in response that came in as uh we were talking about extra funding for hospitals hi greg don't think the average wage is 40 or 45 thousand a year in donogorno a few if you've made that point and i'm pleased that i picked up on that early on does your commentator know what 12 euro will buy you today one fish supper this government is a complete joke it's a budget for the rich and let the poor suffer it once again and i just there seems to be less for those on less but that just seems to be a um a regular occurrence uh on the matter of health early intervention is the best plus more cost-effective two the longer our people are in the ed the more complicated the reason they are there for will become plus higher likelihood of them dying the government seemingly doesn't care especially about donogorne homelessness is the same as health the earlier someone gets housed the less psychological and physical health problems they will experience but they say they feel and it's just what they feel the government don't care hi greg could you ask pierce doherty what shin fein's policy is on inheritance tax would they scrap it um well we could try and get an answer to that for you um i don't know um the answer off the top of my head uh hi just wondering why is a man ryan not pushing to make all houses that have to be rebuilt because of mica eco-friendly is this not a great opportunity for the green party to help people out one of the strangest elements of and there are quite a few of the defective concrete redress scheme is the fact that houses to be built to older standards it is um it's an odd one the electricity payment of 150 doesn't even cover what this government did behind our backs linked to the story on the dirty tricks that the government did which of course is a link and there's not much i can do to show you that because it is radio okay listen thank you so much uh for keeping us busy all day i really do appreciate it anything we didn't get to will carry on uh to the morning but for me greg hughes and carol inore who researched and produced and grace who worked on the show with us today have a lovely wednesday we're back tomorrow thursday stay tuned though john breson's coming up here on highland radio around the northwest after the headlines at