leinster house has few - AWS
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THE IRISH DAILY STAR, Saturday October 14 2017
COURT’S €64K TO PHARMA JANITOR
CLAIMS: The Allergan firm in Westport, Co Mayo A JANITOR with a pharmaceutical manufacturer has been awarded €64,000 after the High Court found his employer was negligent in allowing him to work excessive overtime. The award to Richard Steer (73), Derrykill, Newport, Co Mayo, was also in relation to Westportbased Allergan Pharmaceuticals Ireland’s failure deal appropriately with a problem caused by blue marks left on the floor of a sterile area by wooden pallets, and which had to be cleaned by Mr Steer. Mr Steer claimed he was left with a back injury as a result of having to use machinery for heavy duty cleaning work and without any proper training. He claimed he was required to use machines not designed to clean such marks. He also said the company failed to heed complaints about this problem. Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy rejected his claim he had to engage
■ Aodhan O FAOLAIN in heavy-duty cleaning work. She also rejected his claim of inadequate training. The judge said Mr Steer never refused overtime. He gave evidence he might work as much as 36 hours of overtime in a week. On one occasion, he worked 19 twelve-hour shifts in a row. While it was not heavy physical work, it was repetitive and physical and the level of overtime made his overall workload excessive, she said.
LEINSTER HOUSE
DAIL TOO THE GYM.. Only 15 a day use €46K facility NO SWEAT: The Dail gym was used by an average of 15 people a day last year
Problems
The judge found he had failed to bring his back problems to the attention of his employer. She was satisfied Allergan’s negligence in failing to remedy the obvious problem caused by stubborn blue marks and in permitting him to work excessive hours, had accelerated and exacerbated pre-existing degenerative changes. She awarded him €64,000. Costs will be dealt with later.
EXCLUSIVE ■ Laura COLGAN News Reporter
AN AVERAGE of just 15 TDs, senators and Oireachtas staff worked up a sweat in the taxpayer-funded gym each day last year, figures released to The Star show.
A mere 3,751 visits were made to the fitness room in the Houses of the Oireachtas last year, which cost a total of €45,918.43 to run. TDs and senators are entitled to use the fitness room for free along with political staff and civil servants on the Oireachtas payroll.
Fanatic
0 4 20
Terms and Conditions apply. An Post is authorised by the Minister for Finance to provide payment services and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland in the provision of such services. The An Post Smart Account Debit Mastercard® is issued by An Post. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated.
Although Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is known to be a fitness fanatic, just seven per cent of visits to the free-to-use gym were politicians working up a sweat. Some 276 visits to the fitness room were made in 2016 by TDs and senators, although they make up a third of the workforce in the Oireachtas. November was the busiest month at the gym, with 462 visits to the fitness room. October, when the Budget was announced, was the second-busiest month with 393 visits, followed by January when 371 visits were paid. The month of December was the quietest month, with just 211 visits. The fitness room features a 4ft trampoline along with treadmills, bike and rowing machines, dumbbell sets and leg
and chest press machines. It also has changing rooms, showers and plasma TVs. Last year’s cost included payments of €1,989.39 to T&T Fitness for maintenance and for the provision of professional services to Inspire Ltd. No new equipment was bought last year. A spokesperson for the Oireachtas said satisfaction surveys show the fitness room was a “popular and wellsupported facility which contributes towards the health and well-being of both members and the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas”.
Run
The Taoiseach has been keen to show he is a fitness fan, regularly taking part in running events across the country. In August, Mr Varadkar took time out from his political duties to join 1,000 other competitors, including Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy in the gruelling Dublin City Triathlon. During that event the super-fit Taoiseach and his Cabinet colleague completed a 750-metre swim in the River Liffey, a 20km cycle through the Phoenix Park, before ending with a 5km run to the finish line. He also famously went for a jog with Canadian Prime Trudeau in the Phoenix Park during his visit here in July.
SUPER-FIT: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar completed a gruelling triathlon
THE IRISH DAILY STAR, Saturday October 14 2017
HAS FEW FIT FANS
LAZY FOR ...
NOT FIT: Just 7 per cent of politicians in Leinster House used gym facilities
13
Secret RTE tweets return THE ‘Secret RTE producer’ Twitter account that has been causing a stir since going live early last month reappeared yesterday after a break from social media. The @rtesecretpro account first appeared on Twitter on September 7 and has trashed RTE’s customs, protocols and management. The State broadcaster launched an investigation into the secret tweeter, who has some 28,000 followers. The account tweeted yesterday for the first time since September 19 — claiming the investigation, media attention and threats had scared them off.
Security
“I got scared. This place is my livelihood. So I stopped,” they said. A second tweet said: “But now I have a pretty new phone..with good security. But it’s work time. I have to go for now. Dms open. It is nice to be tweeting again.”
THE IRISH DAILY STAR, Saturday October 14 2017
COURT’S €64K TO PHARMA JANITOR
CLAIMS: The Allergan firm in Westport, Co Mayo A JANITOR with a pharmaceutical manufacturer has been awarded €64,000 after the High Court found his employer was negligent in allowing him to work excessive overtime. The award to Richard Steer (73), Derrykill, Newport, Co Mayo, was also in relation to Westportbased Allergan Pharmaceuticals Ireland’s failure deal appropriately with a problem caused by blue marks left on the floor of a sterile area by wooden pallets, and which had to be cleaned by Mr Steer. Mr Steer claimed he was left with a back injury as a result of having to use machinery for heavy duty cleaning work and without any proper training. He claimed he was required to use machines not designed to clean such marks. He also said the company failed to heed complaints about this problem. Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy rejected his claim he had to engage
■ Aodhan O FAOLAIN in heavy-duty cleaning work. She also rejected his claim of inadequate training. The judge said Mr Steer never refused overtime. He gave evidence he might work as much as 36 hours of overtime in a week. On one occasion, he worked 19 twelve-hour shifts in a row. While it was not heavy physical work, it was repetitive and physical and the level of overtime made his overall workload excessive, she said.
LEINSTER HOUSE
DAIL TOO THE GYM.. Only 15 a day use €46K facility NO SWEAT: The Dail gym was used by an average of 15 people a day last year
Problems
The judge found he had failed to bring his back problems to the attention of his employer. She was satisfied Allergan’s negligence in failing to remedy the obvious problem caused by stubborn blue marks and in permitting him to work excessive hours, had accelerated and exacerbated pre-existing degenerative changes. She awarded him €64,000. Costs will be dealt with later.
EXCLUSIVE ■ Laura COLGAN News Reporter
AN AVERAGE of just 15 TDs, senators and Oireachtas staff worked up a sweat in the taxpayer-funded gym each day last year, figures released to The Star show.
A mere 3,751 visits were made to the fitness room in the Houses of the Oireachtas last year, which cost a total of €45,918.43 to run. TDs and senators are entitled to use the fitness room for free along with political staff and civil servants on the Oireachtas payroll.
Fanatic
0 4 20
Terms and Conditions apply. An Post is authorised by the Minister for Finance to provide payment services and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland in the provision of such services. The An Post Smart Account Debit Mastercard® is issued by An Post. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated.
Although Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is known to be a fitness fanatic, just seven per cent of visits to the free-to-use gym were politicians working up a sweat. Some 276 visits to the fitness room were made in 2016 by TDs and senators, although they make up a third of the workforce in the Oireachtas. November was the busiest month at the gym, with 462 visits to the fitness room. October, when the Budget was announced, was the second-busiest month with 393 visits, followed by January when 371 visits were paid. The month of December was the quietest month, with just 211 visits. The fitness room features a 4ft trampoline along with treadmills, bike and rowing machines, dumbbell sets and leg
and chest press machines. It also has changing rooms, showers and plasma TVs. Last year’s cost included payments of €1,989.39 to T&T Fitness for maintenance and for the provision of professional services to Inspire Ltd. No new equipment was bought last year. A spokesperson for the Oireachtas said satisfaction surveys show the fitness room was a “popular and wellsupported facility which contributes towards the health and well-being of both members and the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas”.
Run
The Taoiseach has been keen to show he is a fitness fan, regularly taking part in running events across the country. In August, Mr Varadkar took time out from his political duties to join 1,000 other competitors, including Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy in the gruelling Dublin City Triathlon. During that event the super-fit Taoiseach and his Cabinet colleague completed a 750-metre swim in the River Liffey, a 20km cycle through the Phoenix Park, before ending with a 5km run to the finish line. He also famously went for a jog with Canadian Prime Trudeau in the Phoenix Park during his visit here in July.
SUPER-FIT: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar completed a gruelling triathlon
THE IRISH DAILY STAR, Saturday October 14 2017
HAS FEW FIT FANS
LAZY FOR ...
NOT FIT: Just 7 per cent of politicians in Leinster House used gym facilities
13
Secret RTE tweets return THE ‘Secret RTE producer’ Twitter account that has been causing a stir since going live early last month reappeared yesterday after a break from social media. The @rtesecretpro account first appeared on Twitter on September 7 and has trashed RTE’s customs, protocols and management. The State broadcaster launched an investigation into the secret tweeter, who has some 28,000 followers. The account tweeted yesterday for the first time since September 19 — claiming the investigation, media attention and threats had scared them off.
Security
“I got scared. This place is my livelihood. So I stopped,” they said. A second tweet said: “But now I have a pretty new phone..with good security. But it’s work time. I have to go for now. Dms open. It is nice to be tweeting again.”
