Press watch
***GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE SPENDING IN KEY AREAS - The Irish Times reports that the Taoiseach and Brian Cowen are to work together to forge a new image for the Government in the coming months, targeting spending on voter sensitive areas and extend the three-year deadline for the moving of 10,000 public servants out of Dublin. The paper says Government sources say the completion date for decentralisation is now almost certain to be deferred, under cover of an imminent report pointing to the difficulty in having 50 new civil service offices around the State ready on time. It is not known whether a specific new deadline will be set. According to the Times the Government is expected to target specific high-profile problems in the health services for improvement in the short term. These include accident and emergency services. There is also expected to be a concerted push to open some hospital facilities, which have been built but not opened due to staff shortages.
*** CORK PARKING SPACES GOING FOR €80,000
The Irish Examiner reports today that in Cork, the charges for city centre parking facilities are almost double Dublin prices for the option of taking a car parking space within some new apartment complexes. According to the article a parking space with one fast selling development in Cork city centre will put an €80,000 dent in the pockets of buyers, on top of the average €370,000 price of buying the home to match. The paper says the pressure on city centre parking facilities around the country has seen the cost of basement and ground level parking spaces with apartments double to around €20,000 in Limerick and Galway in recent years. The paper says that in Dublin, experts say the cost is nearer to €45,000 for parking with inner city apartment developments.
MIDDLE-CLASS ARE BRITAIN'S HIDDEN POOR- REPORT
According to a report in the Guardian Britain's hidden poor are middle class professionals who have slipped down the social scale. The report shows that 3.8 million people, 14% of the country's professional classes, are living on incomes below the poverty line. The paper says the report paints a grim picture of the lives of a group that can include teachers, nurses, managers, social workers, solicitors and musicians, as well as others who have social standing but few or no formal qualifications. The report, published by the Elizabeth Finn Trust, which gives financial support to almost 2,000 people a year, including those struggling on low incomes in retirement, was based on a poll of 10,000 adults plus 450 of its clients.
ONLINE BANKING AT 30,000 FEET - The Telegraph reports that new technology from Boeing is to allow airline passengers to access email, download music, play electronic games and conduct secure bank transactions over the internet at the sort of broadband speeds normally found in a hotel. Boeing's new technology will allow internet access at broadband speeds. The paper says that the technology is being launched in partnership with Lufthansa and is already on eight aircraft flying between Munich and Los Angeles, and Munich and Tokyo. British Airways has run a trial and will make a decision before the end of the year. By then, Connexion - Boeing's brand name for the service - is expected to be on 40 to 50 jets flown by the likes of Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Scandinavian Airlines System.
