Eir will not pursue legal action in European courts against the State-subsidised National Broadband Plan after the Government revealed that the €275m tender will not cover the 757,000 rural homes which it was originally expected to.
The government released an updated map yesterday which showed the locations of rural homes and businesses which will be covered by the State-funded scheme.
The plan will guarantee minimum speeds of 30Mbs at current market rates to all homes and businesses across the country.
Under EU rules the state cannot roll out broadband to these areas if private operators already plan to - however Communication Minister Alex White said yesterday that the Government doubts Eir's ability to do so.
€75m of the funding for the scheme will be supplied by the European Regional Development Fund.
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Ireland's gross exchequer pay bill will come close to €15.5bn in 2016 - that's €268m higher than the forecasted figure for 2015 as pay increases committed to as part of the Lansdowne Road agreement come into effect.
Revised spending estimates that gross expenditure on public pensions will fall by €14.8m next year to €2.9bn.
“There were 27 fortnightly pay-runs in 2015, which will revert back to the usual 26 pay-runs in 2016, and this accounts for the apparent reduction in the pensions bill,” a spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure said.
These figures do not include local authority pay costs as they are not exchequer funded.
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The NAMA has claimed close to half a billion euro in value from non-property assets owned by its debtors, the Minister for Finance has disclosed in response to a parliamentary question.
These assets include shares and other financial investments as well as artwork, jewellery and other goods had an aggregate value of more than €486m.
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Train drivers at Irish Rail have warned the company that they are on a collision course over new DART timetables.
Members of the National Bus and Rail Workers Union (NBRU) have rejected a new roster to facilitate the new ten minute DART service due to begin next month.
The NBRU says the rosters are "unworkable" and have accused the company of heightening tensions.
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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will rule today on whether Ireland can go ahead with plain packaging laws for cigarettes.
Tobacco giants Philip Morris and British American Tobacco took proceedings to the ECJ over an EU directive that would see health warnings on two thirds of tobacco packaging.
The Children's Minister James Reilly wants to go one step further in Ireland and ban tobacco branding on packets altogether.
The ECJ will issue a preliminary ruling today.
