Lady or gaga? I thought you'd do. That's Lady! Yeah, I gotta get it, right? Come on. Anyway, let's enjoy doing that. Yeah. Um, it's always the same thing. But Lady Gallagher was getting too fat, so I had to put her into a small wee piece of grass. So I can't take her into my lawn, because you think, oh, this is great. This isn't contently. Sorry. But this is truth. OK, can we have a great weekend? Good luck. All right, take care. Leegooch, back with you Monday morning, if you can get through the grass and make his way back to Highland Radio. It's nine o'clock time for a news update before we welcome our Friday panel onto the show. Good morning to you, Daniel Brennan. Morning, Greg. The public expenditure minister says a number of one-off measures will be put to government to help tackle the cost of living crisis. It comes as the Irish independence suggests a second 200 euro energy credit will be offered this autumn as electricity bills grow. Minister Michael McGrath says his focus will also be in helping those on the war incomes. We do have three broad priorities. One is to look after the most vulnerable insofar as we can recognize that the cost of living is having a disproportionate impact on them. That will have to involve a very significant package of one-off measures that are targeted and that can be implemented quickly. A denigled deputy has pleaded with government to get the defective block scheme right this time. Shinfans Potter McLaughlin called on the housing minister to address a number of issues with the new redress bill. He's also called on government to learn from the mistakes of what he called the Cruel 9010 scheme and to deliver justice for affected homeowners. For God's sake, get this right this time. For God's sake, don't make the mistakes. The gimlet eye that led to the so-called 9010 scheme, that cruel, cruel scheme that is now discredited by all. So we have to get it right this time. Please stop the cold-heartedness. Start from the position of natural justice. Full redress for every family, no matter where they live in this country, who have been failed by the past, allowed them to rebuild their lives. Get it right this time, based on science, based on fairness, based on justice. If you do that, the people can go home and not have to keep protesting and be in these public galleries anymore. One in every 13 patients walked away from an emergency department in May without completing their treatment. Throughout the country, over 9,700 people didn't wait to finish treatment in EDs in that month. Sinn Féin's health spokesperson, David Colonane, says many people are banning their visits because of long delays. It's a product of real pressures in hospitals. People waiting for far too long. People may be taking a decision to leave and to come back on another day to be seen. And it's, again, a symptom of what's happening in our hospitals where emergency departments are overflowing because of lots of other things going wrong in the health care system. And also, to be fair, partly because of COVID and COVID presentations as well. And finally, Lisa McGee is officially to become the first woman to receive the freedom of the city of Derry. Derry and Sturban District councillors have unanimously voted to make the Derry Girls creator the first woman to receive the honour. Councillors voted in favour of the move at a meeting of Derry City and Sturban District Council last night. That's all from the news desk for now. I'll have a full news bulletin coming up at 10 o'clock, but until then, good morning. Mm, the strawberries and cream frappe and Belgian milk chocolate frappe have arrived at McDonald's. Enjoy the taste of summer with the McCafe ice-trange. Strawberries and cream until the 26th of July contain strawberry flavouring only, Belgian milk chocolate until the 6th of September, not available on delivery, participating restaurants only, subject to availability. And now, it's time for the talk of the Northwest, the 9th and Noon Show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Hello, and a very good morning to you. Just three minutes past nine on this Friday, the first of July, I hope you're very well, and we're delighted to have you on board for the 9th till Noon Show. Don't forget, we will be introducing our Friday panel to you very shortly. We want you to get involved in the conversation. You can WhatsApp or text the programme on 08-6-60-25000, 08-6-60-25000, or call us right now at 07-49-1-25000. And I remind you, if you want to watch the show today, if you can, every day here, you can go on to our website, highlandradio.com, or join us on YouTube, Highland Radio Ireland, or across our Facebook pages. Okay, time to say good morning now to the Friday panel. We'll say good morning first to Brendan Byrne, CEO of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association. Good morning to you, Brendan. Good morning, Greg. It's good to have you with us, and thank you very much for joining us. Also, Councillor Jack Mauritian, thank you, Councillor, in the initial municipal district. Good morning to you, Jack. Morning, Greg. Morning, Brendan, and Lisa.  How was it for you? It was a great experience, Si. It was a learning experience. It was a turbulent year at times, but it was a great honour, a great privilege, and I have to say I wouldn't change anything about it. I was truly honoured and enjoyed it every bit of it. It was a great, great experience, honour. Are you a foam worker here, like Brendan? I am indeed. I was thinking as much. And last but certainly not least, we have Senator Lisa Chambers, Deputy Leader of the Channadaire and Finaful Spokesperson on European and Foreign Affairs. Good morning to you, Lisa. Morning, Greg. Morning, everyone. How are you keeping? Yeah, keeping well, keeping good. All good here in the centre. All right, that's good to hear. Right, okay. There's a lot of coverage, of course, as it relates to the cost of living crises in this country. It's not just this country, of course. We discussed this last week, but the speculation continues. The government seems to want to resist an emergency budget, and I think it was Minister McGrath said during the week that, you know, if they do an emergency budget now, the likes of Sinn Fein and others will say it's not enough. And then when it comes around to October, or even possibly September then, you know, people would say, well, this isn't much of a budget. Do you see the dilemma, Lisa, or would you like to see the government use the money that's there by everyone's, seems that knows everyone's opinion. There is money there. Would you like to see them helping the people that need it most right now? Yeah, I think it's really important that we have targeted measures. I think it's fair to say, and people will agree with this, that some people are able to afford the inflation and cost of living increases, but there are many other people that are genuinely struggling. So it's trying to, you know, use for our limited resources because there isn't an endless supply of resources there and targeting those resources, those that need it most. So, you know, there have been measures to date. And I know that, you know, things move on and it may feel like nothing has happened, but we did have the 200 Euro energy credit. We had extra payments for those on fuel allowance, targeted measures. It was 100 Euros in March and again in April. We're having a reduction in school transport fees. You know, so there are measures that have been implemented, but there's no doubt about it. You know, we're in a difficult period. It's not going to ease up anytime soon. And the plan for the government now is to look to the autumn on the approach into winter when we think people will need it most and to target measures at that point. And there appears to be moves now to bring the budget forward by a few weeks into September. I can tell you, preparations are already well underway in all departments now in preparation for a budget. So it is trying to balance it, but you know, there's no point in saying otherwise. With the war in Ukraine, with inflation right across the globe, still dealing with the pandemic because we haven't really recovered from that fully. It's going to be a difficult months, a few months ahead and it's trying to manage that. Yeah, but you say, you know, we have to help people, right? But the way it looks is that we could help people now, but we're waiting to do so, so that October, stroke, September's budget looks good. That's not a great way to govern, isn't it? It's not about making things look good. It's about managing the country's finances. Minister McGrath said himself, I heard the words come out of his mouth. He said, if we did an emergency budget now, we'd be criticised for not doing enough. And then when we went to distribute the money we had in October, the budget wouldn't look very good. It wouldn't look impactful. So, I mean, he pretty much admitted that himself in the last one. I think the point he was making there is that there is a limited amount of resources. So if you were to do something significant now, you would reduce what you could do then in October, which I think it's just simple matter symbols. But it is about recognising that there's a limit to what any government anywhere in the world can do because there isn't an endless part of resources. It's about making sure that measures are targeted, particularly coming into winter and we know the people's requirement for energy, for heating, all of that stuff, that's going to increase in the winter month. So it's trying to target that. And of course, listening to the really serious advice from those advising government, those economists and those that are watching this, that if we do the wrong things, we could actually make inflation worse. So it's a tricky balance to try and strike. But measures have happened in the last number of months. But what may we do? We do not need to learn a different way of doing things. If we believe, if we're balancing and making a conscious decision to not give people that need support, support to try and stem inflation growth, we need to come up with a different way of doing things, don't we? Because that means we're effectively throwing that note those that need it most under the bus to keep inflation down for everyone. Well, no, I mean, I think we do annual budgets for a reason and that's what other countries do as well. It's not good for a country to have rolling budgets every couple of months. So there's a good reason why we have one budget every year and we put a lot of work in preparing for that and seeing how that's going to play out for the following 12 months. So there's reason for that. But measures have been taken. Two and a half billion worth of measures have already been implemented. So like I said, the energy credit of 200, there was 100 euros sent to those in fuel allowance in March. The same again in April, a reduction in public transport fees by 20%. School transport is coming down as well. Back to education allowance, back to school clothing and footwear allowance gone up by 10 euros. So there have been targeted measures already. And what we're saying is that we will do more if emergency measures are needed in the interim that they can still happen. You don't need a budget to do that. But it is about planning now. The budget preparations are already underway. But it's also about being honest with people, Greg, that it is going to be a difficult period. We are seeing Russia cut off to a certain extent. Gas supplies that's impacting on energy prices here in Ireland. We see that what's coming down the tracks in terms of food supplies, with your own local minister there, Charlie McConnlake in terms of fodder as well. I want to bring everyone else in here. But listen, we have six billion more than we thought we had. He's gave 200 euro off electricity to billionaires as well as those that need it most. You know, we could in a meaningful way and we have the ability to do so. For instance, we could use the same mechanisms as that we do for the Christmas payment. You know, those who are working that can't afford. We have ways and means to fairly target it at those that need it most. We have that information. So, you know, that's very, if the government decided to do that, it could do that right now. But it's choosing not to. Well, what the government are looking at, and I've listened to Minister McGrath, obviously I've spoken to myself as a party colleague. They are looking at those once off targeted payments, you know, towards the latter part of this year because that's when we're coming into a winter period where people will need those supports more. Bearing in mind, Greg, that if you do too much, and this is, I'm not saying this because I'm a layperson when it comes to economics, but listening to professionals that are advising government, if they put too much money back into the economy, you'll actually make things works and you'll drive prices up further. So it's trying to balance things. And I think no government would be forgiven if they put forward a policy and implemented a policy that actually drove prices further in the wrong direction. So that's the balance you're trying to strike, but that's exactly what government are looking at is those targeted once off payments to those that need it most. And acknowledging that there are some people in the country that are suffering more than others and I think people would accept that. Well, Jack Murray, your party is obviously chief amongst those calling for an emergency budget. I can't help but think though, if your party was in power, you'd be making the exact same decision. You'd be saying that we need to hold off to October late September when people might need the assistance most. You'd probably be saying everything that's least as changed as saying as it relates to what decisions can be made and its impact on inflation. I mean, in reality, if she were in government, would there be an emergency? Was it, I do, budget, I do wonder. Jack's frozen there, Brendan. What do you think the government should, what do you think the government should be doing? I think the first thing we shouldn't get bogged down on is on the word budget. The reality is we're in a once in a century cycle of hyperinflation really globally caused by two factors. One, the aftermath of COVID where demand is outstripping supply. And secondly, because of a global disturbance through war. I think the government need to do a little more than they're currently at. The first thing I can't understand and having some degree of economy background, why they allowed the carbon taxes to stand, that's impacting and hurting every household in the country. It was a blunt instrument to put in. I know it was part of an overall program for government to satisfy the Green Party, but at a time when fuel and energy costs are rampant by their own right because of the disturbance of the Ukraine war to allow carbon taxes to stand. Not alone the carbon tax this year, but last year. That is my... I'll keep an eye on that, not showing great foresight, because foresight, that's Bruce foresight. Foresight, because there's European wide carbon tax being introduced, we get a derogation from that because the government introduced our own and that gives us better latitude to use that the way we wish rather than it being a direction from Europe. So I mean, in hindsight, was it not a good move by government? Well, it probably was a good move from the climate and such like, but we're now dealing with a situation where we've rampant inflation in all sections of the economy and every household in Ireland is hurting. More households are hurting more than others. I accept that principle, but we have to be very careful when we're dealing with inflation that we don't chase inflation. The normal tools for dealing with inflation are increased interest rates, constrained wages, and that's not a popular thing to say, but that's the reality of what you need to do in order to stop inflation. Sorry, Lana, don't wish to inform. Can I just say why that feels very unfair to me? Because we've had Leo Veradkar on this programme and others talking about how this country is a wealthy country that is doing very, very well, that we have more people than ever in well-paid jobs. All of that, that status quo would be maintained and again to tackle inflation, to keep it suppressed, you're saying we don't help those that need it most. We don't increase the wages of those on the most because it's not going to affect the wealthy multinationals and people probably on very good wages working for them. So again, it's a squeezed middle and those on very low incomes that we can't give extra money for for fear of inflation. I'm quoting Friedman and Keynesian economics I'd say the same to them. Don't worry about that. If you're going through what I'm talking about is how you manage inflation. Now, let me go to the point that I need to go to and what we need to do in Ireland because it's particularly bad in Ireland. There's a few measures that we can do almost immediately. One of which is the carbon tax. I think because of the energy and rampant costs, those are going to have to be parked for a period of at least 18 months. That then helps in terms of household budgets without chasing inflation by causing inflation to go out of control because it's an imposed tax on a broad base level. So that's one of the instruments that you do. Now, beyond that, because we're in a single currency with all other EU countries, the ordinary tools that you use to counteract inflation such as interest rates are beyond our control anyway. So there's a limited number of measures that we can take and I think that's the obvious one that needs to be tackled because in some parts of Donegal, they're paying 40 euros for a bag of coal. That's not sustainable and it'll probably go up because coal supplies and such like from Eastern Europe are going to tighten in the months ahead. There is no easy solution to inflation. Don't get me wrong by Quotun, Friedman or Kinsey and economics that don't solve inflation problems. If you get into an inflationary cycle, it is a cycle that's going to last three to five years whether or which the war in Ukraine stops tomorrow and budget to me is a word, but the reality is and I can see it daily, there's households struggling now that never struggled before. There's households that are not making ends meet and all of that has been missed by the 2.2 billion euro of measures that have been implemented so far. So to answer your question, yes, war needs to be done. Okay, but we have to understand when you talk about us being in a union with others with the same currency, we are paying the most for everything or not the most, we're in the top three at least. Okay, so we're already starting for a point where there's already built in inflation into every single thing we purchase. Councillor Moray, it's not that for the listeners that say here, it's not that I've been ignoring you, but you've been doing the hokey-cokey on this Zoom call. We have you when you switch devices so fingers cross the batteries charged. As I was saying just before you, we're knocked out the first time. You know, it's very easy in opposition to say what you would do, but just to say it again, I just wonder if we'd be hearing the same stuff from Pierce Daherty, if you were in power about how we need to hold off till October to get everything right, to help those that need it most, you know, during a time of the year where the pressures are most. It's easy to call for an emergency budget in opposition, Jack. You just have to unmute yourself now and then we'll just have the jackpot one. Good man. Yeah, I mean, I apologize. Apologies for that, the problem with the laptop I'm on my phone now and I can read clearly, so sorry Dan, I missed some of the contributions there from Lisa and Brandon, apologies for that. But you can say it's easy to say it from the opposition, you're gonna do it, but everything we put forward has been costed and has been shown that it can be done. You've, the Derrish Fiscal Council have said that there's potential to do it and there's room to do it. The predictions are that we're gonna take in an extra 5.6 billion Euro in revenue this year, so there's certainly room, so it's not piling in the sky, calls by any stretch of the imagination and nobody's calling for monthly budgets and for perpetuity, but we have to recognize that we're in the midst of an unprecedented crisis. People are in very, very bad positions. There is a lot of poverty out there and people are struggling to meet ends meet. There's one in three families are now slipping into energy poverty. So the likes of reducing excise duty on oil, reducing the amount of little cost of oil, reducing the amount of excise duty on your diesel or petrol, I don't think that's gonna send us into an economic spiral. We have very little latitude in terms of, because of us tied into a union of course, there's very little latitude in the amount of tax or excise can be reduced from petrol or diesel. What about the argument though that increasing the money people have in their pockets, that promotes even more inflation? I don't agree because there's people there that have next to nothing. There's people there to, it's often used, people who are struggling to heat or eat, like that's the reality. Given people are standard 11 or bringing them out of extreme dire need, I can't see how that will send everybody over the edge. Like we're talking about controlled measures, we're talking about well thought out, costed measures that should be done. Like there's people there, we all know them, they'll phone at your show, you simply can't wait until October before action is taken. People can't afford diesel in the car, they can't afford to put oil in their tank and they're not gonna sit there happily waiting until October waiting for this great budget then. It has to be done, it has to be done now. Is it tough as legislators knowing that their people right now are at the pin of the collar? They're in a dire situation. Is it tough as a legislator to sort of say, well, you're gonna have to wait until October and obviously there's a party line there in terms of opinion and what an interim budget might do to the economy, et cetera. But I would struggle to sleep at night if it was my gift as an elected rep to campaign to help people right now. I struggle to sleep, to go out publicly and argue against that. And I don't mean that against you, I mean against particularly, I mean obviously you're in the shanard as well, I mean about particularly mostly for those the direct decision makers, if that makes sense. Yeah, you're probably talking about those sitting at cabinet and I've no doubt that the people that are sitting at cabinet or ministers are feeling the pressure, there's no doubt about it. But I think anybody in public life with them in a minute, whether you're in the council, in the shanard, in the doll, you know, you're dealing with people in your community and we're all seeing that struggle and it does, you know, it is the difficult part of the job when you see people hurting and you just want to try and do something about it. So, you know, what I will say is that if there were an easy fix to this, the government would take it. It's not a situation that the government have lots of options there that are very easy to take and they're just choosing not to do it. That's not the case. I can assure you that every day of the week, cost of living is what we're talking about, it's what we're working on, you know, no matter what level you're at in the government party or whether you're actually a minister, this is the top issue for everybody and we're doing our best to try and help people but we're also being honest with people that this isn't going to be fixed in the next couple of months, this is something we're going to be dealing with for the next months, it's probably well into next year, maybe longer than that. We don't know what's going to happen with the war in Ukraine. We can probably say it's not going to end anytime soon. Inflation is a global issue. It's what's happening right across the board. You can see the difficulties across the water, our nearest neighbors in the UK, you can see what's happening in the US and right across Europe. So, you know, it is about having targeted measures, looking at those that need it most, that are struggling the most but also making sure that we don't do anything that would make things worse and you made that point, Greg. I'd say that to think, Lisa, is that you hear from the government ministers, the likes of the override car and others, that say that, you know, Ireland is in a particularly strong position because of the type of our economy that even if there were a global recession, that it's likely that it would have less of an impact on us and if people are struggling in hearing that, it's hard to square that circle, you know? Yeah, I think- People being told up on one hand as a country and then it's being talked down on the other in terms of what we can do to help those that need it most. Well, I think what the Toronto was trying to do there is that people are really worried that, my God, are we heading back to what happened in 2008 and 2009 and that doesn't seem to be on the car. It's trying to be reassuring that, you know, it's likely that there will be a small slowdown, that there could be a downturn in the economy but nothing on the scale of the financial crash in 2008 and 2009. So, I think that's to reassure people that we're in a much better position to weather this storm but also acknowledging that it's not going to be an easy period. But to assure people that this is the top priority for government, that there are no easy fixes, but that there will be targeted measures. We will ensure that those that are most impacted would be those that we help as best as we can with those targeted measures. Do you agree, Brendan? Not fully, no, actually. I think the government need to take a fundamental assessment of exact pain that's in the economy at the minute. I think we've came into this inflationary cycle as a high-cost economy where there was a squeezed bottom and middle, very much so a squeezed middle, and it's grown by the day. And there are measures that they can take without having to go through the format of a budget. I think energy costs are rampant. I know that you're going to throw at me there's EU constraints, but there's also EU flexibility because all EU members are equally affected here. And I think unless the government get ahead of the curve here, we could make it in a bad situation a whole lot worse. I'm very cautious from an economic background that we don't chase inflation, but there's targeted measures that you can do and notwithstanding the complexities of where we are, but I think more needs to be done. And I think waiting to October is going to leave a lot of pain in a lot of households right across the country, and that has to be avoided. And Jack, one of the proposals that's being mentioned is households could see their electricity bills reduced by 200 Euro again next year under plans being discussed by government ahead of the upcoming budget. But sure, look, I don't think that's the type of measures Brendan's talking about. We need something bigger and more sustained, surely. No, but the one thing that everyone's agreeing on here is that we do need targeted measures that are controlled and that will benefit everybody. I think the only thing we're disagreeing on is when. And I don't think of measures we're taking now, targeted, well-thought-out measures that would get money back into those who are most suffering. I don't think the four months is going to change the wider impact on the economy. So it's a matter of time. I mean, all people are suffering right now at this moment in time. And when people listen to the show right now, they think, I can't afford oil. I can't afford to put diesel in my car and I want action now. And any excuse that we're going to destroy the economy somehow by doing it in July rather than in the middle of October, it's really a non-runner, as far as I can see. All right, stay right where you are. Thank you very much indeed. You're hearing there from Councillor Jack Moray. Also, Brendan Byrne, who's the CEO of the Irish Fish Processes and Exporters Association. And also, Senator Lisa Chambers, deputy leader for Shanaderen and Finafoul Spokesperson on European and Foreign Affairs. Back after these messages. Your questions answered on the new rep scheme. For more in your farmer's journal, is Paul Mooney. Don't miss our two pages of reader questions on the new rep scheme, now called Acres. Find out who you can earn up to 10,000 euros a year and how the payment rates compare to reps. Finafoul TD tells Tishook that farmers need new money to tackle climate measures. And in our childcare series, we ask the minister how he plans to reduce childcare fees. Only inside this week's Irish Farmer's Journal. You cannot afford to miss it. Anne had been training hard for months. 7K most evenings in all weather along familiar tree-lined roads. Only for that wind to be close to my fastest time ever. Just what I need, a fallen tree. Okay, climb over, keep moving. Always ask yourself the question, are you sure it's safe? Never approach fallen wires. If in doubt, call us on 1-800-372-999. ESB Networks. Stay safe and stay clear of electricity wires. The wait is over. Chris Norman, the original voice of Smokey, plays Lennon Festival Remelton on the 9th of July. Hear Chris and his band playing all the hits.  Alice, plus many more hits. Tickets on sale from universe.com and local outlets. For full details, follow Lennon Festival Remelton on Facebook. That's Chris Norman and his band, presented by Joe Gallagher Entertainment. Okay, the number of TDs in the doll is set to rise to at least 171 after the next general election due to Ireland's rising population. According to the new preliminary statistics for census 2022, Ireland's population has risen to 5.1 million people, the highest figure since 1841. Now this will lead to an increase in the number of TDs who were elected to the 39 constituencies due to the constitution requiring one TD for every 20 to 30,000 people. It rains to be seen if Donald Orwell will get an extra TD, but let's not be parochial about this. Let's look at this on a national basis. Jack, I mean, obviously, I think a lot of people listening will say, of course we don't. We need those that are doing, that are currently there, maybe even to take less money and to do more work. And obviously, TDs would argue that they're working flat out and so on and so forth. But do you believe we need more doll representation in this country? Yeah, it's not going to be popular to say we need more politicians that don't like anybody's... Well then you're not going to say it, are you? Well, I am. I'm already joking. Go on. Now, there's a reason I said it in the constitution that we should have one TD for every 30,000 citizens. There's a reason that's there, that's a fair representation. And you don't want to get pro-go, but I do think Donald Orwell needs that extra TD. We had six TDs at one point. We've been reduced now to one five TDs. I think when you look at the likes of the Micah vote and the issues they get, I think an extra Donagall voice wouldn't hurt going down there to the doll when we talk about fighting for Donagall now. We need a strong team as possible. I do think it's most likely that Donagall will get that extra TD back. I think we'd probably vote it to two, three seeders. And I do think to increase the Donagall team is a good thing. But I do as a whole, I do think that it is right to have one TD for every 30,000 citizens and that should be reflected along with the lane with the census. Yeah. And obviously you would like to see Donagall as a standalone constituency that the annexed section would be returned to its rightful place. I would be returned to Donagall, for example. Of course, I think it was quite unfair when that part of South Donagall was taken into this legal constituency. It's like the Electoral Commission will be gated to try and keep county boundaries intact as much as possible. And again, there's a reason for that, the issues that affect Donagall will be quite different to other areas. And likewise, I know that you might say, oh, there's different different issues and they should be kept together as one, as one code did. It makes sense. But absolutely, it's most likely we'll be returned to two, three seeders given the slight increase again in Donagall's population. All right, Lees, I mean, obviously this is the Constitution sort of determines this. There is the alternative of obviously having a look at that. If you take sort of a city like Manchester, an equivalent population to the entire country, obviously many, many, many less elected MPs there for an example. So what is your view? Do you think we do need to increase it or maybe we could use it as an opportunity to have a review of the situation? Yeah, I think, I mean, currently, because of the constitutional provision of 20 to 30,000 per individual citizen, we will be increasing the number of TDs for the next, assuming that the next all elections happen at the full five year term in 2025. There probably is an argument though for looking at potential constitutional change because it's quite likely our population will continue to grow now. That's what's been projected. It's probably not good that every time we have a census every four years, we start reviewing boundaries and chopping up counties and potentially adding more TDs. So there could be an argument for maybe looking at that potentially it would require a constitutional referendum to change the constitution, obviously, perhaps something like increasing it to 30 to 40,000 to allow for that bit more flexibility that we're not reviewing county boundaries and electoral constituencies every four years. So I don't think we're overrepresented currently but we could become overrepresented in some ways for the size of the country, notwithstanding that it's still based on that mathematical assessment of one to 30. You could actually bring it back down to one to 20,000 and have a lot more but that has never been done. We've always gone for the upper limit. I certainly think there's an argument though that we're underrepresented at local government level because we don't do the same review for councillors and obviously the population's increased. We start talking about TDs. We don't talk about local government. We lost town councils back under the local government act in 2014. I think we've seen a loss of that connectivity at a local level for a lot of people. So I would actually be in favour of looking as well at local government. I think by EU standards we are underrepresented for councillors and perhaps looking then at maybe making provision to maybe adjust those numbers for all representation. Maybe just thinking, I'm thinking now 30, 40, 50 years down the line that we make provision. Would you like to see councils given more teeth as well to have powers that were taken, stripped from them, returned, maybe even making them, that councillors themselves, not just the executive but actually all the people that we elect that make the decisions. I mean, in a budget situation it's determined by the executive and then we have three days of drama as 38 councillors squabble over what to do with 150 grand out of a 28 million year old budget. I mean, it's a farce really. Well, actually the budget is determined and signed off on by the local elected members but you're right Greg and that it is, it is pre-drafted by the executive and presented to the councillors often as a fait accompli and there can be a very little regular room if you have the executive telling you, well, this is the budget that we have, we've got X amount for payroll, X amount for different services but ultimately the councillors do decide on the budget and they can refuse to adopt it. And that brings its own difficulties then because the department then have to come into play. But part of the reason- Yeah, but they can refuse to adopt it until such time as someone's appointed to adopt it. So, I mean, you know- They, it varies great, it varies across councils but our councillors often don't have the same access to expert advice that the executive have. They are quite stretched because we have less councillors now than we used to have back in 2014. Councillors are covering bigger areas, they're dealing with more constituents.  So I think there's an argument for having more representation to local level, better advice for councillors running up to things like the budget or the county development plan. They're two biggest jobs is your budget and your county development plan. They're not given much assistance in that regard in terms of, you know, expert advice. So I think we certainly could do with having more, I suppose, more activity at a local level because that is the closest you get to your citizen is your local councillor. All right, Brendan, Byrne, former councillor. Yeah, well, firstly, it's a consequence of the constitution. I wouldn't be for reforming it, actually. I think the strength and democracy is the closer the elected. People are to the TDs or councillors as the case may be and I think 30,000 is an adequate figure. If you broaden that out any much further, you're disconnecting the people from the elected TDs and that is to be avoided. I think in terms of Donegal, if I could be parochal, I'm not convinced that we're going to go back to three-seaters at all. I think we're 18,000 votes short of going back to two-three-seaters. I would be very concerned in actual fact that a greater chunk of South Donegal may find itself going into Sligo-Litrum. I think at a population of about 161,000, it looks like we're going to be confined to a five-seater with a... I think it's 166, is it not? Sorry, 166. Yeah, so in that case, we're 15,000 short, which is half a seat. In order to do that, obviously, you would have to take half a litrum into Donegal. That causes knock-on consequences for Sligo-Litrum and I think they're going to avoid that. I think they're going to be cautious when it comes to the west of Ireland because the population growths in the east are so strong, much stronger than what we have here in Donegal. So unfortunately, and I have to say, unfortunately it's going to be a five-seater, I think in Donegal, but to address the overall issue, I think the Constitution, when it was written back in 1937, had this 20 to 30,000 range. We've always aired to the closer to the 30,000 of a population per day. That's there for a reason, and that is to make democracy work and to have democracy closer to the people. And I would be very loath to increase that top-line figure. Michael Darti is the pre-arrow of the Micoraction Group and has joined us. Michael, good morning to you. Thanks. I know you've got your own everything else in your life and work to be getting on with, so we appreciate you making yourself available to us. We can talk about how things planned out in the Dall yesterday, but firstly, if you don't mind, for the listeners who may not be aware, in terms of this process, what happened in the Dall yesterday, what was the function of yesterday's proceedings in the Dall in the whole defective concrete block scheme, scale of things, or scheme of things? Yeah, well, thanks, Greg. Two things happened yesterday. The first one was it was the deadline for the amendments to be tibbled against the bill. The bill was only given to us on Sunday night, made available to us on Sunday night, and we worked day and night. A very diligent team here in Donegal and in Mayo in particular. And we had 80 amendments tabled. They had to be in for Thursday morning, yesterday morning, 11 o'clock. That was the first challenge, and we met that challenge. The second challenge then was ensuring that we had all of the opposition TDs schooled on the key shortfalls as we saw them and convinced them that there were shortfalls and then have them express them shortfalls over several hours yesterday afternoon, starting around, must've been around 2 p.m. So that was the two things that happened. I think it was teed up through the previous Thursday, which was the joint housing committee meeting. That was, ironically, it wasn't on the bill. It was on the general scheme, which had only been given to us a few days prior to that. The bill actually was shorter again in terms of meeting our requirements than what the general scheme was. So we had to reevaluate everything there in the space of three days to be ready for yesterday. But we rose to the challenge and we met that challenge. And I think a lot of stuff- So of the 80 amendments, how many of those would you say red lines? We have it, well, we have got things in there that you'll say are they the biggest issues in the world? It depends. It depends who it affects. I'll give you one very simple one, for example.  She was hoping to pass that home on to me. That's her gift to me. If I don't, she says, I don't wanna be a landlord. But if I take this on, I have a 20 year clawback at 5% a year. So I'm gonna be a reluctant landlord for up to 20 years here. And all my mom wanted to do was to give me that home. So that's tibbled in there. Is that a red line issue? Where do you draw the red line issues? The bill is so fundamentally flawed. The bill, Greg, is so fundamentally flawed across a range of things which breeds nothing other than contempt for a homeowner that we can't accept that any ship performs as it stands right now. But have we got key ones jumping out at us that affects the vast majority of people? Absolutely. Has there been any movement to your satisfaction on the inclusion of foundations, for example? Well, I think what we've done was exposed everything last Thursday. We exposed it and we now have people talking about it that never talked about it before. We have now four counties that joined together in a joint stipend. There was a very strongly worded joint stipend and we got a chance to see it or not. But this is not a lone voice in Donegal anymore. This is four counties that put their neck out, said what they needed to say. And we know we have 13 counties which is half is the Republic of Ireland that are known to have defective concrete blocks. This is only getting bigger. Okay, so, but the thing about it with everything, of those 80s amendments, the bottom line is here as it stands, the scheme though is not a 100% redress scheme. It's far short of that for the majority of people. So to get it to a 100% redress scheme, what has to be done? The cap has to go up. Is inflation part of that? Is certain expenses, certain expenses that householders will incur do they have to be taken out of the overall budget? You know, that is probably the ultimate red line here. Is the majority, it's not a 100% redress scheme and currently it's not. Everybody needs a pathway to 100% redress. That's what we are trying to be creative. We know that the department very skillfully limited the scope of, through the terms of reference, that SCSI, the independent people that were setting the rates, the department very skillfully in the background, reduce the scope. So you've got eligible costs, but you've got true costs and that gap is about 20%. It's massive, it's massive. And the things that contribute to that is the fact that it's a boulders finish that you're left with in your house. That's what the department thought appropriate here, right? So we know that we have got to make up the difference. There's a cost. Inflation is not built in there. There's no mechanism for rates to be reviewed each year built in there on top of inflation. And then finally, you know, the biggest one is we said, OK, for homeowners that see no other pathway other than to reduce the size of their home, at least give them the grant you are going to give them. Let them use that to build whatever size of house they can afford. And they're saying, no, we'll not do that.  You're still out tens of thousands. OK, so next week, there will be amendments proposed, discussed, adopted or not adopted. Is that the process next week over how many days? When will we know the final shape of this scheme so that we can make it a determination as to whether or not it's suitable? So we've been given, as usual, a limited insight as to what's ahead of us. But as we know it right now, Tuesday will be the business committee. And the government has seen fit in line with their policy of trying to ram this through at all costs. They are allowing two hours only to debate the 80 amendments. We've got two hours, right, on a 10-year campaign that we've put heart and soul into here. That's what we've been allowed. So that business committee will take that on, and they intend to push for eight, nine hours of this, right? Where it falls, we don't know. And then depending on what that time allocation is agreed on Tuesday, that will roll into Wednesday. And on Wednesday, the amendments will be tabled and they'll be voted upon. But whatever amendments don't fit into that two-hour space or three-hour space, they're forgotten about. They just sit there on record, which is why it's important. And then we'll get also to, and it's next week, where we'll get to find out if people are following through on their commitments to back homeowners as well via votes. Absolutely. This is a key one, yeah. I'm going to bring our panel in here now. I don't know, Michael, if you want to stay and listen to what they have to say or if you have to leave, I'll leave that at your discretion. Lisa Chambers, you know all about this. Your constituency also, with your area, your home place, your county, many people affected by this, your views on the process that, I suppose, the avoidance of pre-legislative scrutiny and this truncated, squeezed process on a, forget, this sounds terrible. I mean, forget the homeowners and I don't mean that. I think even Michael knows I don't mean that. This is at least three billion Euro taxpayers' money. You know what I mean? If it's not, if you're not having the process, the prep processes for the people affected by this, at least do it for the economy. But anyway, what do you think, Lisa? Yeah, it's been a hugely traumatic experience for many people and as I said there, it's been going on for about a decade. Now, there's a lot of homeowners and male affected royals. Not as many as Donny Gall, as Stephanie, the scale of it and Donny Gall is incredible. My understanding as to why pre-legislative scrutiny was waived, I think all parties eventually agreed to that was that it was to try and get the scheme up and running quicker. So when you say all parties, sorry, Lisa, just to be clear, because obviously this is a very sensitive subject. You mean all parties being whom? Not their specific names. I mean, political parties or the... Yes, sorry, sorry. No, the all political parties. I don't sit on the housing committee, but my understanding was that that was agreed by all parties at the housing committee, that that was the right thing to do to... The housing committee is dominated by government members. But as far as I understand it included opposition as well, that the reason for waiving it wasn't to try and be cute, it was to try and get the scheme up and running quicker. That was the reason for that. Before we hear more from Lisa, your party backed the waiving of pre-legislative scrutiny in the housing committee? No, our party was a full pre-legislative scrutiny. I think... Go ahead, Lisa. Yeah, no, I think my understanding, Jack, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, I think that your party was OK with that, a committee last week, but... Well, we'll have to, we'll certainly have to do that. Anyway, we're probably digressing it small, but anyway... OK, but just one. That is quite important. Greg, can I come out? Yeah, a quick word. It was pre-legislative scrutiny in the form of one day or nothing, right, so we wanted full PLS. That was completely off the table.  That's how the one day came about. OK, that was back. Fair enough, not Lisa, weren't incorrect in what you were saying. So continue with your point, please. Yes, I mean, I think that there are some homeowners that are clearly not happy with what's been proposed, and it is worth saying just in the interest of fairness that I do think it's a vast improvement of the scheme that was signed off on by the last government. So I think that this government have done a much better job of putting together a better scheme. I can understand from the Department of Public Expenditures perspective that they do need to, in terms of, as was looking after public money on behalf of the state, they do need to have a set amount that's going to be spent on this. That's probably why it will be difficult to have a rolling situation where you don't have a set price or a set rate and that it will be reviewed annually. That would not be in the interest, I think, of the public in general. But in saying that, I do think that homeowners need to be compensated. I don't know why it's been, I'm not sitting in the door, obviously, so I don't know why there will be a restriction to two hours of debate. Certainly, I would be in favor of that being increased to what is needed to allow people to have their say. So I can't answer that. I don't sit on the Business Committee, so certainly, I would support, as a member of the Iraq, is I would support there being full and proper debate because I think we should facilitate people having their say. And I'm sorry that I can't give more information on that. It's just not something I would be privy to. All right, and what confuses people too? We had a post from Charlie McConnelogue not so long. He was talking about a new bill, the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill, in which he welcomed the very important role of pre-legislative scrutiny in that regard, saying this will lead to the important offers for fairness and transparency. And the people say, well, why is it important for that? But it's not important for a 2.7 billion, at least, Euro project. I'll bring you in lastly, Jack, on this, if that's OK. Brendan Byrne, what's your views on what we've been talking about here now, this squeezing this huge, huge, huge amount of money and a huge scheme into this embarrassing, really, amount of time? Well, it's bad political practice to put a 3 billion euro bill through without full scrutiny. I can't understand this. It's been allowed to happen, particularly in the context of the campaign that's ongoing for 10 years that's affecting so many. We certainly, looking at it objectively, and I can look at things objectively now, because I'm a political, the political arm of the doll is very weak compared to the public service, if they're allowing this to happen. And I think part of the problem, part of this ongoing problem that there has been in the market is that the political wing hasn't taken full leadership over the public service on this. It's devastating for those households that are living in Micahouses. Our hearts go out to them, but it's even worse when you see the political system fail them time and time again. And not only that, I would argue that the elected representatives and indeed the housing minister have been publicly humiliated by the people that you talk of and still tuck it and plough it out. And that is one of the new, I suppose, nuances of politics. As I see it, looking now from a different angle, that right across the board, the political arm is getting weaker and weaker after each election. And our public server getting more and more inefficient, certainly at senior level. And someone is going to, I think a number of TDs have started to speak to that matter, but the elected representatives have a very defined role in the Constitution. They represent the people at the highest decision-making level. I would like them to do that. Right, okay, well, Jack, the campaign seems to have put a lot of trust in your party and what your party might actually do in government. And for homeowner's sake, I hope that you would follow through on it, but that also remains to be seen. If your party could be the one that wrestles power back from the upper echelons of the civil service, that remains to be seen.  Yeah, it also remains to be seen what we'll do, but I hope for a challenge, not very, very confident we will do exactly what's necessary. But when you look at there, like Michael Doherty's saying that any amendments submitted, that shows that it's a deeply flawed scheme. So if you're saying that you want a scheme that helps homeowners and has what homeowners been asking for, then the homeowners are found, any things that need changed that. So you can't put that through without listening. The likes of Michael Doherty, the people around them are serious operators. These are well considered amendments. They're not pulled to the sky for the crack. They're serious, serious concerns. So you can't, on one hand, say that you want to do right but the people and the homeowners of all the counties affected and then say that we won't give enough time to discuss your amendments, your thought out considered amendments. So it's crazy. Like when you talk like 2.7 billion's gonna be a lot more. We know that it's larger than the most government departments. Like you wouldn't establish a government department and only talk about it for two hours. Like it's crazy stuff but fundamentally it comes down to delivering for the actual people that have been campaigning for the last decade who have now, at this moment in time, said that these things need changed. Like it looks like of piratite. There are chartered engineers submit reports for houses to be demolished based on the presence of piratite. That's not included in the scheme. We can be talking in 15, 20 years, the houses still falling down in Donegal because at this moment in time, we did not address that problem. I want to last word from my client but Lisa just out of interest.  How big of a story is this in Mayo? Like is it on Midwest radio a lot, for example?  Like how big of a conversation is this in Mayo? Yeah, it is a big conversation. Again, it's probably isn't on the scale of Donegal and it does affect predominantly the northern part of the county so that the area closest to Donegal. But there's huge sympathy, even in areas of the county where people are not affected, there's huge sympathy with those families and those homeowners to get this right. So yeah, it will be a big political issue locally. I know that it's become an issue now in Clare and in other counties as well where this is becoming evident that it's a problem there. So, you know, I mean, it's a big issue for the state because the cost of it is just colossal, as has been pointed out by your last speaker there, that, you know, it is going to run to billions of euros. We don't really know how much it's going to cost us in the long term, but it is important that you can't put a price on people's homes, you know, in terms of what it means to that family. And, you know, we will never properly compensate people for the anguish and the trauma that they've been through for the last decade. No, they'll just take a house that's being fixed with that, you know, without having to incur a huge cost or a scheme Yeah, and that's important to make sure that it's not, that it is accessible to people. And they can use the money, even if it means downsizing, they can use the money to try and limit the amount that they put in their pocket, have to take out of their pocket because the problem is there's so many people and this is it, it's not about, oh, I don't want to have to take 10,000 year out of my savings account or 30,000. This is actually people that can't use the scheme or can't fix their houses because they simply don't have that money or access to it. And therefore, it's doomed to fail, it's doomed to stall. Michael, finally then in a couple of seconds, is that right and I really appreciate your time. How important is the next seven days in terms of this 10 year plus fight? Is this it? Is this the final stand with this government anyway? Well, just very quickly, you asked how big a deal it was on Mayo and I agree with Lisa, it's talked about and we have got good strong contacts in there. That said, there was only one TD that represented Mayo yesterday during that heavy to beat, one TD, Dara Kalliri and he was absolutely brilliant. We had our five in there and we had three that fought the fight for us and we had Podrick, we had Pierce, we had Thomas. We had Joe that was nowhere near Dara Kalliri's standard, absolutely nowhere near it and we had Charlie who was just not at the races and Charlie's been Charlie and been consistent the whole way through. So we were extremely disappointed but we're also disappointed the likes of Mayo couldn't feel more than one TD albeit a really good at a really strong level and made a strong contribution. Now, regards where the campaign is and everything's at, our job now is to ensure that the fight at the business committee on Tuesday, we come out the right side of that. I think everybody on this here panel would also agree, we need more than two hours, we can't insult this anymore with a two hour debate, okay, so that needs to happen and then on Wednesday, we need to see and we will reprioritize our amendments as difficult as that is because every time we come down the funnel, we're leaving somebody behind and we hand on heart do not wanna be doing that but we've gotta work with what is allowed. So we have to shortlist that, we have to drive home the key amendments that are gonna get this thing at least a pathway for everyone and then after that, we bank what we get, we're a lobby group, we bank what we get and then we come along and we turn around and say, how do we change this government because we are not interested and then I'm coming back with their next version in six or nine months time. I give it too many chances already. Michael Daugherty, thank you very much for your time this morning, I really appreciate it. Lisa, it's always a pleasure to have you on and I really appreciate you taking the call and joining us. Thanks Greg. Thanks very much indeed and have a great weekend. Councillor Moray, thank you very much indeed.  I appreciate that Greg, thank you. We had set and stuff. All right, cheers Jack, good man. Take care of yourself. And last but certainly not least, Brendan Byrne, thank you very much indeed. Always good to hear your points of view. Well informed as always, people know that. All right, thanks Brendan. Well done, take care of yourself. Thank you, all right, it's okay. Lots of you texting in, messaging in, we'll be getting to your calls and comments and what have you after we take a break. Stay where you are. Don't sleep in and miss the very latest Beds and Mattress offers from dfibeds.ie Ireland's leading online bed and mattress retailer. You'll get a comfy Irish made mattress, upholstered base and headboard from an amazing 229 Euro. 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The National Lottery. It could be you. OK, you're very welcome back. Just to remind you, of course, it being Friday, Michael and Finula will join us after 11 o'clock to talk all things entertainment. And whatever catches our fancy, it's to switch off from the serious side of life and focus on what dominates and we try and make dominate our real lives. And that's just frivolous stuff, isn't it? When we're not worrying or thinking about things. But anyway, that's besides the point. Get involved in that conversation while you're watching. What do you want them to talk about? What have you seen? Have you been to the cinema? What's your experience like? Oh, wait, six, sixty, twenty-five thousand. A caller says, there's a reason why Lisa Chambers lost her seat in the last election, justifying what Fina Fall and Fina Gale has achieved in the last 10 years. A lot more of her colleagues will be joining her in the next election. There won't be enough room in the Senate for them all. Why should the government fix the problem? What about the manufacturers? Why is there no comeback from them or the council who failed to regulate? Well, of course, as it relates to perhaps, I mean, there's an oversight issue here. This was allowed to happen because there was no regulation or very little regulation and certainly no enforcement of it. It's still happening right now, okay, by the way. It's generally accepted that there are still places producing defective products. That's where we're at now, facing into a three billion bill to fix the mass previously. The government say part of their clawback on that, but it will be pursuing people who may be liable. All right, listen, I have loads more of your comments. I will get through them all, but it's time for us to take a break for the news and obituary notices. Rejoin us on this program afterwards. Live on air online and on the Highland Radio app. This is Highland Radio News. This is Highland Radio News at 10 o'clock. I'm Daniel Brennan, the PRO of the Mic Action Group has called on government to give more time to table amendments to the new defective blocks bill. Currently, in our Octus Committee discussing the new bill, will be restricted to two hours debate, despite there being 80 total amendments to be discussed, as well as the contents of the 60-page legislation. Speaking with Greg Hughes on today's Nine Till Noon Show, Michael Daugherty says the government are trying to ram this bill through at all costs. The government has seen fit in line with their policy of trying to ram this through at all costs. They are allowing two hours only to debate the 80 amendments that we've got, two hours, right? On a 10-year campaign that we put heart and soul into here, that's what we've been allowed. So that business committee will take that on and they intend to push for eight, nine hours of this, right? Where it falls, we don't know. And then, depending on what that time allocation is agreed on Tuesday, that will roll into Wednesday. And on Wednesday, the amendments will be tabled and they'll be voted upon. But we'll have to, you know, whatever amendments don't fit into that two-hour space or three-hour space, they're forgotten about. Meanwhile, a phoenix-gale deputy has admitted his government colleagues got it wrong when the sliding scale was introduced to the Micah Redress scheme last year. Speaking last night in the doll, Donegal deputy Joe McHugh had pointed criticism for the previous scheme, calling it plain and simply wrong. According to him, it was rushed at the 11th hour. I would like to acknowledge in the first instance the fact that the sliding scale doesn't be mentioned in the scheme. It came in before last Christmas. It was a massive mistake and it caused a lot of consternation. And it's important to acknowledge the work of the minister in listening to the campaign group, listening to the homeowners and ensuring that it is not part of the scheme. I've seen personally the damage done by the previous scheme. Regulations rafted at the 11th hour, and the scheme is unaffordable, inaccessible and unworkable. The public expenditure minister says a number of one-off measures will be put to government to help tackle the cost of living crisis. It comes as the Irish Independent Today reports a second 200 euro energy credit will be offered this autumn as electricity bills grow further. Minister Michael McGrath says his focus will also be on helping those on the war incomes. We do have three broad priorities. One is to look after the most vulnerable insofar as we can recognise that the cost of living is having a disproportionate impact on them. That will have to involve a very significant package of one-off measures that are targeted and that can be implemented quickly. A local councillor says that a beach in Dunfanahi has been vandalised for the second night in a row. Councillor Michael McClafferty says the beach at Kilawhi has had signs pulled down and chair smashed with broken glass also being left on the beach. Councillor McClafferty has appealed to those responsible to be respectful of the area and stop. This morning will be the second morning in a row that there's been vandalism caused in Kilawhi, in Dunfanahi. Particularly this morning there's evidence there of signs being damaged there, pulled down, broken. There's chairs smashed on the road there, near-hand to the vicinity of the gulf slope there. There's chairs as well broken down on the beach. There's a lot of glass smashed around there. Yesterday morning as well, there were several of them. There were chairs broken, there's a lot of glass smashed. I would appeal to these people who are doing this to please stop it immediately. We're afraid from doing it. And anybody else going forward is thinking of holding possible beach parties or something else or other kind of social events down in the beach. Please be respectful, take home your rubbish when you lift your glass. There's bottle banks there, there's no need for it. And finally, top public servants earning over €150,000 a year will get pay rises of up to 15% today. It affects 4,000 people, including judges and hospital consultants. It's the last phase of the reversal of pay cuts from the economic crash of 2008. Shen Fian's public expenditure spokesperson, Mariette Farrell, however, says it comes during a cross of living crisis. Families wake up this morning. Families who are hard pressed, who are struggling and they hear this news, they hear this of top, top earners getting increased in wages. And at the same time, they know that the government voted against an emergency budget that me and my colleagues in Shen Fian put forward on Wednesday night and that they voted against that. So I think that's the message that the listeners this morning are getting from government. Whether now, cloudy with patchy outbreaks of rain or drizzle this morning, more widespread falls of rain will move through this afternoon, turning heavy at times later, highest temperatures of 14 to 16 degrees Celsius. That's all from the news desk for now. I'll be back with headlines at 11 o'clock, but until then, good morning. The obituary notices for Friday morning, July the 1st. The death has taken place of Mary Donald Gallagher, mean and iller, Derry Beg, originally from Glassa, Ghidorah. Mary's remains were posed at her home from 11 a.m. this morning, rosary nightly at 8 p.m., house private after rosary until 11 a.m. Venerable Mass in St. Mary's Church, Derry Beg on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., with interment afterwards in Mahara Gallon Cemetery. The funeral mass can be viewed live on the parish webcam or on the Cure and Roti Funeral Director's Facebook page. The death has taken place of Brendan McIntyre, one Riverside Terrace Straban, and formerly of Lifford. His remains are opposing at his home. Funeral leaving his home tomorrow morning at 25 past 9, Pharaecria Mass in the Church of the Immaculate Conception Straban at 10 o'clock, interment afterwards in Straban Cemetery. Donations and new flowers pleased who kidney research UK care of quickly funeral directors. The requiem mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam. The death has taken place of Joel McDevitt, drumnikart, Anagri. His remains are opposing at his late residence. The house is strictly private to family only. Funeral mass today at 12 noon in the Star of the Sea Church, Anagri, with burial afterwards in the new cemetery. Family flowers only, donations if desired to the daycare centre, the angle done low. The death has taken place of Leo O'Frill, drumboy, Lifford, and formerly of Fanad. His remains are opposing at his home. Funeral leaving his home tomorrow morning at 25 past 10, Pharaecria Mass in St. Patrick's Church, Murlough at 11 o'clock, interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family time plays from 9 p.m. to 11 a.m. The requiem mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam at clonleyparish.com. And the death has taken place of Cahill Gallagher, Rai Manor Cunningham. His remains are opposing at his home. Requiem mass tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. in St. Columba's Church, Drmahol, burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only, donations if desired to the oncology ward, letter Kenny University Hospital, care of Patrick Sweeney, funeral directors. For more details, including any family health guidelines, four weeks in funerals, please go to headinradio.com. And you're very welcome back to the program. Let's hop straight on to some more of your comments before we take a break for the bingo numbers. Don't forget a little later on. We'll be bringing you a weather forecast for the week and into next week. And the high pressure is going to build, I think, as many have been predicting a little slower because we're more northerly, but it is looking good as the week wears on. It's looking good for this weekend as well. A caller says there's a war going on, which is affecting us all. Rising inflation, a recession is on its way. Energy prices going through the roof. Yet big companies are making millions in profits in a crisis and now want to add to our pain by adding more TDs at what cost to the people of Ireland. If anything, we need to bring TD numbers down to a maximum of 120. It is a little refreshing, albeit it's only a small rest bite to see fuel prices coming down. I do note that driving to work today, looking at various garages, I did see petrol and diesel down as low as €2.05.  Greg, New Zealand is a population of 54 million. They've got 120 MPs in their parliament, says that caller, right? Thank you very much for that. Greg, it would not matter if you put in 200 councillors. They won't make any difference. Our country's still the same today as they were years ago. It is down to who you know, if you want something done in this country, I know this for a fact, okay? But I suppose the idea would be that you would give them more powers. That would help, wouldn't it? Right, so, okay. Morning, Greg, we don't need more TDs. The TDs and politicians we have in Donegal did nothing for the Micah families. It was Paddy Diver motivated the people to get as far as they have, thank you. Listen, I've said this a million times, not a million times, a number of times on this programme. And it's 5 million the population of New Zealand was, sorry, I was Googling that because someone said the population was 54 million and I was like, what? The population of New Zealand is 5 million. So it's actually not dissimilar to here. But you probably wrote that still. It is 5 million the same as here and they've got 120 MPs in their parliament. So I would imagine actually maybe that's just a wee typo and that's the point you were going to make. But yeah, you see, the thing is is anything, the only thing changes anything in this country is people power, really. And that's, I don't mean that with any disrespect to politicians, by the way. I know they do work away for people. That's what a lot of people feel. But anything changes here. It's when people get together and go out into the streets. I can list many things. The Micah situation, the war's not won, but the war is progressing because people took to the streets. The Stroke Unit, the Leicester University Hospital would progress have been made as it was if it wasn't for people taking to the streets in the numbers that they did. The water protests, remember that? I mean, if people hadn't taken to, and I don't understand why that penny hasn't dropped with the public, that if there is things that you really think, because what's happening is there's, I'm not sure if I said this on this program or not, but a lot of people upset with how this country's being run, but generally are in favor of the system, if that makes sense. We're not doing an awful lot. I mean, obviously, we're pointing out where the problems are, this, that, and the other, but there's another group of individuals who actually don't like the way this country is run, and we're seeing this in Canada, we're seeing it in Britain, we're seeing it in France, in Germany, America, and they are actually organizing themselves and protesting and going out, small protests here and there, and it's not what they want, it's not what everyone wants, but they're probably going to achieve much of what they want because they are actually organizing, meeting up, going out, even small protests that build from time to time, but people that are generally happy with the way countries are operated, but don't like who's currently governing at the moment, aren't doing anything, and it's interesting to see that right across the world. If that makes sense, Aquila says, we now only light a fire on a Saturday and a Sunday when the children are all home, life for us is getting so depressive, I'm praying a good July and August to save a little money. These politicians have no idea of living in the real world, and that is the real world. They're not praying for good weather in July and August so that they can fill up their hot tub and have that home in a way. It's literally, so it's warm enough not to have to light those fires and to save that money, presumably for a long winter, and that is the reality of hundreds of thousands of people in this country. That's not just one listener, that's hundreds of thousands of people are in that exact same position. Or worse, in fact. Aquila says, when you can't afford it, you can't do it. There is no way politicians should be given a pension until they're actually of retirement age, like the rest of this country. Read the cost of living. October is too late. How can we have an endless money pit for refugees coming into this country, but nothing for the people of this country who've contributed to it? Now we are told there will be no cap on those entering this country. How? I, for one, dread this winter again, and I'm sorry to labour my point, but please. Like, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but if you, again, I'll just make the point. Of the 12,000 homeless people in this country, they wouldn't have been honed if the Ukraine crisis hadn't happened. You know what I mean? The people affected by defective concrete blocks wouldn't have houses built for them or modular homes if Ukrainians hadn't come here. That was a decision that the government has made, but they didn't say, right, we're not going to help these people, we're gonna help those people. I think people should put pressure on them to say, right, we've seen what you can do through COVID. We've seen what you can do to react to a refugee crisis. Now implement that for everyone and start doing stuff that hasn't been done for arguably generations. A caller says for the Sinn Fein guest, that's Jack Murray, his party voted last June for the government's climate action plan and taxes, and if the government locks down this country again, they'll support them again and again and again. Another caller says, again, all prices have fallen, yet we are not seeing this passed on to the consumer. By coincidence, I did mention that I have seen the number of stations as they're getting new supplies in, that their prices are falling up, anywhere near where we'd need them to be or could afford them to be, but they are going down 20 cents in some petrol stations that I've noticed. Okay, good luck if you're playing the bingo today. Here are your numbers. It's time for NCBI Bingo on Highland Radio. It's Friday, the 1st of July. You're playing on the yellow sheet. The reference number is as 10, it's game number 26. The numbers are. Eight, 48, 43, 84, 14, 29, 67, 55, 16, and finally 83. Phone your claim to 9104833 before eight tonight. Leave in 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. Donegal County Council in association with Bryson Recycling are holding a half-priced bulky goods event at Carandona, Milford, and Stranola Recycling Centers from the 20th of June to the 2nd of July. During site opening times, for more information and opening times, visit donegalcoco.ie or call the council on 074 9153 900. So how's your constipation these days, Patsy? Oh, I've been taking Fiber Gel. It's full of Fiverr, which naturally relieves constipation and helps maintain regularity. Fabulous. My constipation is much more mild, so I take the chewable tablets from Fiber Gel. Super convenient.  Mum, Patsy, I am never coming to tea with you again. Fiber Gel High Fiber Orange Granules contains this, but Gula Husk always read the label. Fiber Gel Fiber Choose is a medical device always read the instructions. Several sponsored buses from Donegal will travel to the Raleigh for Life and Dublin this Saturday, the 2nd of July. Make it a family day out. Booking essential, so telephone Donegal Pro Life on 089 24 69599 to book your seat. That's 089 24 69599. I won't show it in the now. Can I get two specials, please? One sourdough and Caesar salad. And by the way, I'm 12 weeks pregnant. Yes, chef. We don't always know who's at risk from COVID-19 and other viruses, but we do know how to protect them. Keep hands clean and wear a mask. Let fresh air in, get vaccinated, and stay at home if you are unwell. From the HSC, for us all. OK, let's catch up on some more of your interactions with us. Hi, Greg, do we really need more of these politicians and their civil servants taking big wages and expenses? Most of them wouldn't know where Donegal is or care. As far as our council, they should have known about defective blocks 10 years ago and ignored it, put staff into hospitals and schools, can't believe what I'm hearing. If, sorry, it's a pay restoration for civil servants, not a pay rise. These people are heroes, having given up wages for years, and we should be thanking them, not vilifying them. OK, I'm not sure we were talking about pay increases, but thank you. Could someone please explain why the block provider and the insurance companies are not contributing to the microcompensation fund? Well, that's a complicated issue, which I don't want to sort of go through off the cuff for fear of... But I will address that. Hi, Greg, Lisa Chamber is throwing out the same government spin, international inflation, yet Ireland's second most expensive for groceries in the EU. And what are our duty rates on fuel, et cetera? Over 50. The policies disproportionately affect poor. They still roll out reliefs to those who don't need them and giving misinformation of facts. The concern in Michael's voice says it all. That comes in from Liam. You see the last budget, OK, the last budget, unless I'm very much mistaken, benefited the richest more than it did those that need it most, which I don't understand how that's acceptable to people. Like it was said on this program, we discussed it on this program, and who's to say, as I said a couple of weeks ago, you know those calculators that you do. You will put in your income, see how you benefit from all the announcements, and maybe lucky if it goes up five or six euro a week, I'd be astonished if it was any more than that. But yet, the rich continue to get richer. And fair play, lots of people with money have worked very hard and what have you. The system is laid out as such that it looks after them. They can't donate money to the ex-checker. But that's the way the system is set up. From FinaFall, from Facebook. The government has said there will be no cap on people coming from Ukraine. So where is that money coming from? Numbers at the moment aren't massive. A lot of them are working as well. I don't want to keep repeating myself as if I'm a defender. That's not my point, but I just feel that as I say, it takes off the legacy issues in this country. It takes away from that conversation. I can see for people in Letter Kenney, a train linked to Derry would be very welcome, but it really does nothing for people in the south of the county. A train from Sligo to Letter Kenney would serve so many more people and provide a fast, comfortable link to Dublin, which is desperately needed. And look, it's not just South Donegal. Of course, the people of Inneshawn would face a long journey to get a train from Letter Kenney to Derry. In fact, the far quicker may be cutting across at Moff. Then the people of Burton Ports and Dunlowe and Guidor, who were serviced by a railway previously, Kiliwags, they might say, well, what about us too? I think when the guest we were speaking to yesterday saying, well, look from a starting perspective, where the population is in Letter Kenney, of course, that would be a start, and it's doable and it's affordable. He costed it 320 million. You know, when we talk about some of the money that we do talk about, a rail link from Letter Kenney to Derry, and this is from someone who works in this industry in England, to be able to construct such for 320 million, then see where we go from there. It would be a start. But I take your point that for people in South Donegal, it would make a little of no difference. Online Outrage has been sparked over, and this is frivolous, by the way. It's just to change the tone a little bit as we go to the break. But Online Outrage has been sparked over Tato's latest favorite flavor of crisp, fizzy cola bottle. Now, you might go, seriously, why are you even mentioning that? There was hours given to this nationally, and is being given nationally. But I suppose, look, it takes our mind off things for a second. But would you buy fizzy cola bottle flavored crisps? Is this something you'd try or have you seen them in your local shop? Let us know. We have polls live on our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter page where you can have your say. As I say, I recognize that in everything we talk about, but this is not terribly important, but there has to be a little bit of space for light as well, doesn't there? So what do you think of Tato's latest flavor of crisps, fizzy cola bottle? It was a brilliant marketing thing. I don't think Tato's gonna sue me for this. They claim that a few boxes went out to shops on notes to them, right? That they were released early. But if I were in their marketing office, I would say, right, this is a really good move here because it gets people talking and the product's not even available and you couldn't pay for this advertising. Well, anyway, would you try them? Do you have str- What flavored crisps, if you could have any flavor of crisps that's not there currently, would you go for? As well, I'll wait 60, 25,000, but hop on our Facebook there and have your say. All right, more comments, more guests on the way. In 2018, Toyota cut through the confusion, completely ceasing production of diesel passenger cars, lowering harmful emissions and providing certainty for Irish drivers everywhere. In Kelly's Toyota, proud to be part of that hybrid electric journey. Visit Kelly's Toyota, letter Kenny or Mount Charles today to see what makes Toyota Ireland's best-selling car brand in 2021 In 2022, you'll never take a wrong turn with Toyota, built for a better world. 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To get your vaccine, contact a participating pharmacy or GP, book on hsc.ie or call us on 1800 700 700 from the HSC for us all. Now a new podcast aims to save lives by encouraging patients who have suffered heart attacks and you'll plaster your heart surgery to sign up for cardiac rehabilitation. And Geodra O'Reilly is president of the Irish Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation and joins us on the program now. Hi, Geodra. Good morning, hello to all your listeners there. It's good to have you with us. Just my own benefit, angioplasty, that's the likes of stints and what have you, is it? That's right, yes. Yeah, if somebody's got narrowed coronary arteries, they may or may not have had a heart attack. It's a way of opening up the coronary arteries. So a lot of people in Donegal would probably have had stints and angioplasty. Okay, so talk to us about the gap we're trying to bridge here in terms of what you're trying to encourage through this podcast and even maybe how many lives it might save. Well, unfortunately in Ireland, heart disease is still the leading cause of death in the country. Over 4,000 people unfortunately passed away in 2020 due to heart disease. So we know heart disease is a big problem. We know also and internationally it is recognized that people who have had a cardiac event, for example, a heart attack or a stenting, as you've mentioned earlier, only about 30% actually come onto a cardiac rehabilitation program. So this podcast is actually designed to encourage people to come along to the program and they'll hear from experts about what's on offer but they'll also hear from patients. This is where the podcast is quite unique. People who have actually been through the program will share their experiences and it hopefully encourage people to come when they're offered the program. Would you know? Where's the gap though? Is it people are saying, right, I've had this significant event but I got through it and I'm better now and I'll just plow on with life as is. Do they not know that the services are there or are the services advertised but the places aren't there in the right places? Like what would lead to so few survivors of a serious heart event, the wake-up call or whatever it might be if they're lucky to get through it, not engaging with cardiac rehab? There's a variety of reasons really for that. Sometimes people choose not to come. Sometimes they just don't understand what cardiac rehab actually means. Sometimes as you say there, people feel great and they feel I don't need it. Sometimes we have a small element that maybe physically they're not able to participate for whatever reason. Sometimes they might be actually referred. So that's what we want to let everybody know it's out there. Indeed, resources you've mentioned there, that is a problem and we would love more resources and we'd love to have cardiac rehab in more places. So that's certainly something that we are lobbying hard for. In Donegal you have a center there in Leisure Kenny which would be your center there. But internationally it's kind of similar picture but we would like if everybody who had an event would be offered rehab and this is where the podcast comes into it. We'll actually be able to explain and people will be able to make an educated choice if they decide they don't want to come that they know what it's about and what they're actually turning down. And what I do have to say, sorry just to cut across you there but the importance of cardiac rehab is it actually high quality cardiac rehab decreases all cause mortality and actually decreases cardiac mortality by about 20%. So that's why it's so important. Do you think people view it as some sort of an option or a choice when they should see as an essential part of their treatment and recovery? Yeah, I think that's definitely another aspect to some of the reasons that don't come or maybe they feel that going to a gym would be the same maybe as coming to a cardiac rehab program which is not the case. And indeed coming back to the resource issue sometimes when people are working their programs might be running at a time that suits them. So again, we would like to be able to offer rehab at all times or to suit as many people as possible. Yeah, I don't understand why we don't make those resources available and these services available because of course it does require some front loading but first of all, you save lives but secondly, presumably you save money in terms of having to do more serious interventions down the line if problems reoccur or people are more prone to something. So the logical thing to do and often we avoid logic in this country the logical thing to do would be to make money available and to make more of these services available in more places where it's flexible because in another area of healthcare too there's a little bit of postcard lottery here and I just don't know how anyone can stand over that. Well, it's something as I say that we are lobbying hard for and we know that effective high quality cardiac rehab actually reduces unplanned hospital admissions by about 18 to 20%. We are I suppose and could be viewed as an expensive service as you mentioned there from a front loading point of view because high quality cardiac rehab and patients deserve an expert team. So this is where you would have your cardiac rehab coordinator, your expert nurse in cardiology, physiotherapy, dietitian, psychologist, pharmacist they will be all part of the team but however, this is an economy that is a false economy because as I say we reduce hospital readmission it has been proven time and time again that we decrease all cause mortality and cardiac mortality and our role really is to try and prevent another cardiac event actually occurring and there's been lots of research very rigorous research supporting cardiac rehabilitation. So it's money well spent and certainly if you can lobby on our behalf I'd be delighted if you would, you know. Okay, talk to me about this podcast because it has to be entertaining as well as informative. I mean, I presume that was the remit do you feel you've achieved that? Heart disease isn't really entertaining but I have to say we really try to include as many to give a really rounded approach certainly from an expertise point of view we're really try to touch everybody's life in a positive way but in a meaningful way as well. So the information that we deliver will be in a way that people can understand. Well that's what I'm saying that also falls in, by the way I wasn't expecting you to like, you know beat the intro or anything it's how you deliver the information, doesn't it? It has to engage with the listener and a subject like this I would say that's where the entertainment comes from whereby people go, right, you know what I want to continue to what these people have to say. So again, go on talk to me about the format and where people can access it as well, please Deirdre. Okay, well we've got a basically it's done check out www.irishheart.ie it's there, it's also on Spotify and Apple but who we've got on it we've got all of our experts lined up so you know we've got an exercise specialist we've got a cardiac rehab quarter nature who be myself we've got a psychologist we've got two psychologists because it's really important a lot of people lose confidence after having heart disease so we've really it's very important to input and we also have a dietician and a pharmacist but we've also included patients and what their experience was and their experience of rehab and that in itself I think really makes it unique Michael Harding the author has also shared his clinical or his experience of having heart disease and it'll actually a lot of people will relate to that because it's an unexpected event for the most part and I think he's actually provided a very interesting insight into his experience so hopefully people will enjoy it it's designed really for people maybe out of the had an event and they're kind of uncertain or indeed family members might be uncertain as well so hopefully people will listen in and maybe take something from us you know from in terms of advice and indeed then encourage them to come along OK, Dirdre listen thanks for your time this morning I appreciate it Thank you very much and keep the aisle up there and going to go, thank you We will indeed as much as we can if we have the health service to do so Dirdre O'Reilly there president of the Irish Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation go to irishheart.ie to listen to that podcast or you can do so on where can you do it also Spotify, I think she mentioned this caller had their stints done in Galway but they did get their rehabilitation done in Lethercanny which is great to hear thank you very much for that this caller says now presume this is annually the last budget my family were 435 euro better off so I presume that's over the course of the year it was a slap in the face to us we are the highest taxed workforce in Europe another caller says people seem to have forgotten that they actually have the power the government is there because we put them there people need to stand up say enough is enough we're actually the boss here you are working for us another caller says maybe it's time that people find local activists to run in next elections and take seats away from the government parties maybe then they'll sit up and listen to our needs I think really what it comes down to because some might feel and we may well see that the way this system is currently set up with the permanent government seemingly pulling the strings and our elected politicians exacerbated by that is that you know it's a little bit like moving the deck chairs around on the Titanic and really you know the people can drive change and say you know it doesn't matter who's in there things kind of feel the same although presumption fan supporters will say that their party will deliver something different but let's say they don't it's up to the people then to change the system that works better for the people works for the people you say and rightly so that it's people power that gets thing done that's a poor reflection on the politicians who were elected to cater for our needs personally I think our current government TDs in Donegal have been dismal in fighting our corner in regard to Micah and fisheries and other issues they pay lip service but deliver nothing my family will not be voting for any of them in the next election another caller says the minister for health can step in when the ED is to close in Navin but let's ill patients from Donegal travel miles to Galway for treatment but that's a the Navin story is a perfect example of what's happening the HSC and the people on the ground they're saying that what the way things are it would run better if we close the ED department and move those services elsewhere and they've got the government literally at odds with them saying no no no do not close that ED now it may well be that the HSC and the consultants on the ground are correct because they're the ones on the ground okay but the fact that you've got through the media the Department of Health leader and the HSC arguing about the future of services who's in charge like who is who's the boss as I say it may well be and probably is that the consultants and the medical people are correct but it's a strange way isn't it to be operating a caller says you are 100% right too much is happening here in Ireland and the people either don't know or don't care we're being made a fool of by our current government we should be marching on the local council offices daily until they see us a caller says what about the cost of a bag of coal going up to 50 euro a bag Americans just voted start using fossil fuels again plus Germany, Poland and a lot more countries are starting to burn coal on an industrial scale yet people with no alternative mostly the elderly and less well off have to pay these extortionate prices for coal and home heating oil another caller says a friend was telling me her pension aged mother is in a state to buy heating oil or pay her ESB bill she needs all for heating but if she's got no ESB oil it's no good to her this is a serious problem that people are facing in the civil service of getting pay rises and politicians are on incredible wages they've no idea how normal people live I wonder how many would know the basics how much a bag of coal is how much home heating oil is how much petrol is probably a little bit easier because I think everyone even if you've got money can't avoid the signposts everywhere you go I don't know if you're listening and you've got enough money for home heating oil and what have you maybe you live in a very insulated house and you think what's everyone on about it we're in the summer now well I'll tell you it was freezing this morning not freezing in the literal sense it was cold it was cold and if you're a very young person or an older person you know that human body can't regulate heat as well or regulate the body's temperature an older person where I woke up this morning would be freezing I was freezing I'm a cold person it's not that I wanted to look for it so my point is even if they were in June we've just started July a lot of people listening to this programme have to light a fire or have to have the heating on because the house is uncomfortably cold and they simply can't afford to do that or the oil doesn't come on and that panic when you go out and the red light's on you push the button, it fires a bit and then nothing you know you've run out of oil and it's only a couple of weeks ago since you put two or 250 euro in because that's all you could afford and you don't have the money and you've got no heat that is an actual reality of lots and lots and lots of people listening to this programme today right across the country and I don't understand how that is allowed to happen Get ready for your holidays with the best brands in fresh new summer colours Kids clothing for all ages, boys and girls At Brian McCormick Sports & Leisure Adidas Tiro 21 T-shirts and shorts Match it up with some graphic tees in bright new colours Under Armour Girls logo range T-shirts and shorts with matching hoodies and crop leggings Nike Pro jackets for girls with matching tees and shorts in-store or online Click and collect on BMC Sports.ie Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why The Euro Millions Jackbutt is an estimated 200 million euro Play responsibly in-store, in-app or at Lottery.ie The National Lottery It could be you Get more out of summer for less with over 1,000 essentials from just 3 euro and under Including skincare, toiletries, cosmetics and more This year, summer better be ready Shop in-store and online today Boots with you for life Selected stores subject to availability Alright, Sheila McDermott from Bond Celebrating her 45th birthday today Best wishes from her friend Who mysteriously remains nameless Can you please wish our brother, uncle Martin McGill from Chrysler Happy birthday and hope to see him soon from his sister Mary Louise, Matt, James and Emily Sister's Caroline Ian, Aaron and Jacob All from Glasgow That comes in from Mary Louise Happy birthday, Martin Good morning, Greg Happy retirement and best of luck to dentist Mary Sweeney, Port Road Letter Kenny today Thanks for all the great service down through the years We were talking a little bit about crisps and flavours of crisps Someone says, Paul in fact says Bring back Banagans, roast beef and mustard crisps Best crisps ever Chicken crisps, chicken flavoured crisps Very hard to get, very hard to get I'm not a big crisps person myself I like certain crisps But I'm trying to struggle to think of one That I'd really want to see come back That's not there at the moment Anyway, any of the suggestions to 086625000 Enter our polls This is about Tato's physical bottle crisps It's hard enough to get a physical bottle Now let alone that flavour of crisps But anyway, I am rambling So what we're going to do is take a piece of music If you're watching the program on our social media On our website We're going to mute for three minutes because of licensing Cursed licensing rules We can't play music out through the social media Even though we have the rights paid for it Because we're a radio station But anyway, it is as they say The way it is OK, here is a track Be right back after this OK, there he goes Brian Adams is hugely popular in this country One of those is certainly in the top five isn't he? A caller says it's July I'm sitting in my home with my coat on That's how bad it is Do people really know how other people are living today? It's not easy to share stories like that But please do help everyone understand What some people are going through Hi, Greg Can you ask your listeners Do they have any bother with their signal on mobile devices? I'm with three Some others with Vodafone have some bother We live in Glengad Now, a lot of those masks are all on the one tower So it's not unusual Maybe if there's a power issue That more than one provider might be affected But are you having issues with your phone service in Glengad? Let us know That person doesn't know if it's just them And a few friends or everyone You should invite Cathy Farrell Cardiac specialist nurse into the studio She runs an amazing clinic at the community hub On the Kilmachrenen Road Great work being done there in other areas also They've outreached hubs in other areas of the county My husband attends and gets great care Prevents hospital admissions as regular checks Checks keep things up to date I recently noticed, say this Listen to the price of yoghurt in Aldi and Niddle Has gone up by 20 cent Right, wow, OK That's quite a steep increase Good morning, Greg The idea that the government can only have a budget once a year Is ridiculous Large corporations, when in times of crisis Review and change budget arrangements Sometimes once every three months Budgets are only estimates of projected expenditure and income They are not cast in stone And can be altered whenever necessary Brendan Burns saying something similar to that That we get caught up on the word budget Greg, I ask Ms Chambers Could she live on 210 euro a week? The people trying to run this country are on serious money I've seen a bit on Facebook last week Miho Martin was on something around 800 odd euro a day This country is a joke The people running the country Do not have to worry about coal, heating, oil Electricity or shopping They are well fixed as they are Or petrol, diesel Please put that to your panel Coming in from Unen It's very hard for people that are insulated From the realities of a recession or life I think to fully understand what other people There is no doubt people go into bubbles Into their own ecosystem And I really think that some people making the decisions Don't really truly know what's happening in the wider world Sometimes we as humans can not I'm not saying they're aliens But we can be guilty of that too sometimes You know, let's say for instance The situation at the Kennedy University Hospital You know, a lot of people don't worry about it too much You know, they hear people talking about it And relating their stories And they go, geez, that's bad, isn't it? And then move on to the next thing But you see as soon as you're affected by it As soon as you've been in a facility for say 12 hours Or a loved one has been sent home When you don't feel they've got the care that they should Then all of a sudden you're like, wow The hospital, I've got a real interest in this If there were a protest, say for instance I might join it So that's us So it doesn't surprise me that it seems that the people Who make decisions for us, who are incredibly wealthy Maybe don't truly understand how difficult it is Because they will never have to worry about money They'll never have to worry about paying bills They'll never have to worry about, you know Finding money for a school uniform for 300 quid Or whatever it might be But maybe they can I don't know, what do you guys think? I'll wait 60, 60, 25,000 Maybe I'm doing them a disservice And they're really in touch with what's going on Recost of living, a caller says as a family Our only form of heating is an open fire Coal has gone from 18 euro a bag Now it's 31 euro a bag And by all accounts it will hit 50 euro by winter Now we are only lighting a fire at the weekend at six o'clock I don't know how we're going to heat our home come winter I'm dreading it, we cut back on food And like many other families, we will be freezing No disrespect to the people from Ukraine But they're being housed and fed and heated And being given the same social welfare payments That we have to pay rent, food and heat with And that system needs to change Because people can't be expected to live their lives like that I think this recession will be a lot worse than 2008 It's things are different this time around In terms of the level of debt that people are in and all That they were, and the state of the banks Those things really exacerbated the downturn the last time We shall see Please Greg, say to Lisa, we Irish people do not want our country joining NATO Or the EU Army Alliance We're not raring our children and gang children to be annihilated by lethal war weapons For foreign dictators or countries It's time, peace efforts will put into place Instead of warmongering, etc. Indeed, listen, the majority of people Particularly if there were a direct threat already now Would favour us joining NATO on some level according to Surveys And as I say, and we've seen it with two other countries Who were against joining NATO There are people very quickly changed their mind When it was feared that, you know, Vladimir Putin might target them next But look, that's a conversation and it's an important one Another caller says, I and many people I know Would put party politics aside and vote for a Micah candidate in the next election Listen, that's going to happen It'll be interesting to see where that candidate comes from Maybe it will come from, he or she will come from the current ranks of government party And stand on the issue of defective concrete blocks I think it will take more than one and then it's shown I think it will take a number across the west coast in affected counties That could form a group effectively And then you start getting into being able to turn the tide in one's favour A caller says, hi Greg, they need to shake up They need some shake up this government Next time around, I hope the Irish people wake up Ireland, thanks that the Irish people are awake On freezing and starving in many cases But I take your point Instead of this government sitting down and deciding on how much money the people of Ireland need to live on It should be the people of Ireland deciding how much money the government need to live on Keep them coming in to us, 08, 6, 60, 25,000 08, 6, 60, 25,000 We're going to be chatting to Noreen after this short break On this week's Business Matters I'll be joined by Shane Connelly, owner of Shane Connelly-Karris in Donegal Town And Retail Apprenticeship Manager with Retail Ireland Skillnet, Oren D'Arty So join me, Cunadonno, for Business Matters on Sunday evening after the 6 o'clock news The Business Matters podcast is also available to download at hindredale.com Business Matters in association with the Faculty of Business at ATU Donegal The part-time Level 8 honours degree in business is delivered through a mix of online and face-to-face lectures Email, exec-ed-business-at-lyit.ie That's ex-e-c-e-d-business-at-lyit.ie Or call 9186206 Enjoy the summer form at the historic Lifford-Ole Courthouse with activities for all ages Try to escape from a real sale in jailbreak Donegal's only escaped room activity Or experience life as a prisoner in an interactive gated tour with a difference Lifford-Ole Courthouse Find out more at Lifford-OleCourthouse.com At AIB, we know how difficult finding the right home can be The searching, bidding and time that lives behind every sale agreed sign But when you finally do find the right home AIB can make the mortgage part easier With our online mortgage too, you can manage your application online Find out more at AIB.ie AIB, we back belief Learning criteria, terms and conditions apply Allad Irish Banks PLC is an authorised agent and servicer of AIB Mortgage Bank QC in relation to the origination and servicing of mortgage loans and mortgages Allad Irish Banks PLC and AIB Mortgage Bank QC are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland Okay, Noreen, thanks for holding. Good morning to you Good morning, Greg How are you keeping, Noreen? Good to see you Did you see the photographs I sent to you? I did, yeah Describe it to our listeners, Noreen, and where it is It's beside the Bingo Hall in Gotha Hawk And I was down recycling kittens And I got a shock There must have been about seven, eight black bags And either black birds have been in them or dogs And a few of them were ripped open And things lying around the ground But last week when I was there I was doing the tins again And there was four cans of beer It was very windy that day And there was four cans of beer going up and down the wee hill I thought, right, I'll lift them up Because I don't have my glove I'll lift them up and I'll put them in the tin thing And I looked at the side of the recycling And there was a carrier bag full of tins I'll admit it, I didn't empty that I did lift the four that was running up and down the hill And was there space in the recycle bin? Yes, yes Okay, so what do you think is happening, Noreen? Yeah What do you think is happening? Is it that When these people arrive that the bin is full Or do they think, right, I've bagged it And I'll just leave it close beside it And someone else can do it What do you think is happening? It's sheer laziness They've got that far to the recycling That they can't put it in the bins I mean, I was down a couple of weeks ago And the tins were full I just brought my tins back Until I can... But, see, Polkara doesn't do it anymore It used to be down beside the Maple Garage in Polkara And now you've got to go to Gotthog or Dunfanehe So... But it was the black bags that got me You know what I mean? And was that general rubbish in the black bags? Do you think, Noreen? Yes, because you could see the food And, like, yogurts But things that were screwed on the tarmac You could see the rubbish that was lying there And the birds had got at it then, obviously As well, or they would have, anyway Either the birds or dogs But coming home there just now My husband was driving and coming through Gotthog Across from Koscutters There's two black bags lying there On the pavement And one of them's kind of ripped open So... Who's doing it? I don't know No, and there seems to be very little enforcement Always to find out, Noreen Okay, listen, thanks for highlighting that with us Hopefully whoever's at it will desist Thank you very much indeed, Noreen I understand too, though now people probably can't afford In some cases, I don't want to exaggerate it But it's the case that some people Maybe feel they can't afford to Dispose of the rubbish responsibly That's never an excuse, by the way Okay, let's see In Kili Baggs, the photo form practically nonexistent This morning, okay, thank you very much for that Hopefully that's resolved soon Lots of you getting involved in the conversation Believe it or not, on Chris's flavours On our socials, get on to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter And have your say there I inquired about a thousand litres Of home heating oil, 1,773 euro I was in complete shock I'd have paid around 400 for it Nobody can afford it Right, okay, I wonder will those prices come down I'm trying to half that now to see where it's at It's still very, very expensive A caller says it's not TDs All Miho Martin that's running this country It's the high-paid civil servants who have been there For years, yes indeed And when we say civil servants, by the way I'm conscious that that's a catch-all That there are civil servants battering away And working very hard and engaging with the public Or behind the scenes I hope it's clear that when people talk about civil servants They're not necessarily talking about them They're talking about the government advisers In the major departments that make major decisions But I think we know that's the case But just wanted to say it Because I don't want to become a dirty word Because of this programme Because obviously there's lots of different types Of civil servants A caller says the government had said There'll be no cap on people coming from Ukraine So where is that money coming from? I think we've read that one already Another caller says 99% of the population Don't care if they're voted out They get massive pensions and will easily find another job And we also have to remember too, by the way The lack of involvement in local, particularly local But certainly national elections as well Very many people, almost half the population Either don't think it's worth it Or can't be bothered to vote I can't remember precisely what the turnout was In Donegal the last time around But if ten people were standing in this studio Four of them at least decided that It either doesn't matter or they don't care People need to talk to those people as well Why do they feel so disengaged from the system? Is it because they think it's pointless? It's not worth it They're just happy to go along with things I don't know Hi, Greg Take a drive up Main Street Pass Market Square Late evening It's like a ghetto, says the caller Why is there so many supposed to be homeless Baking on the street in Balabfa yesterday? I seen a guard approach one of them And a few minutes later he took up Took out a night phone Then a man in a Mercedes Jeep pulled up and lifted him I was sitting in my car waiting on my daughter Finishing work watching him Why would someone be apparently homeless On a street and then get a lift In a Mercedes vehicle, a Mercedes Jeep Something going on there Is there any more information? No wait, 60 25,000 Driving a Fiat 500e Is choosing an all-new, all-electric car With an impressive range and not to 80% Fast charging in 30 minutes It's choosing a car that's so full of tech It will confidently and safely drive you Into the next decade It's choosing to believe in a better tomorrow Welcome back, future Fiat 500e prices start at 24,995 euro after government subsidies Book a test drive at Joseph Darity Limited Mobile Or visit fiat.ie Massive three-day mega sale Now on at Evolve Clothing Larry Kenny Retail Park And EvolveClothing.com End Sunday Summer Garden offers you won't want to miss This weekend only at your local homeland Including 4 meter by 1 meter Artificial Wondergrass Roll Now 44.99, save 15 euro Available in-store and online at homeland.ie from Friday 1st Till Sunday 3rd of July Only whilst stocks last Gonna have Michael and Finula in studio We're gonna have a look at the weather forecast For the next week, so much more besides In the last hour or stay right where you are If you wanna watch the show for the rest of this program Go to our website, HighlandRadio.com Or our social media At 11 o'clock let's get a news update And say good morning now to Daniel Brennan, good morning Daniel Greg, raising social welfare rates by 20 euro a week could cost the state 1.5 billion euro a year Some politicians are looking for such rise ahead of a special Finafall parliamentary party meeting on the budget this afternoon. It comes as annual inflation in Ireland as it's estimated to be running at 9.6% to the end of June. That's 1% higher than the Eurozone average EuroSTAT have also estimated energy inflation for June to be running at a whopping 41.9% The PRO of the Micah Action Group has called on the government to give more time to table amendments to the new defective bloc's bill Currently in Iraq this committee discussing the new bill will be restricted to 2 hours of debate, despite there being 80 total amendments to be discussed as well as the contents of the 60 pages of legislation. Shinfans Michelle O'Neill has made history today in Belfast. She's become the first member of the party's leadership to Lea Wreith in memory of those who died in the Battle of the Somme. Events are taking place today to remember those who died 106 years ago in one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War. Irish Waters say mains repairs are being carried out to 3 burst water mains in Donegal today. Repairs to a main at lower 3 trees and quickly's point are taking place until midday, and repairs in the Glen and Churchill areas are set to last until 3 o'clock. Irish Waters say in all cases to allow 2 to 3 hours after the scheduled repair times for water supply to fully return. And finally, a local councillor says a beach in Dunfani has been vandalised for the second night in a row. Councillor Michael McClafferty says the beach at Killahoy has had signs pulled down and chairs smashed with broken glass also being left on the beach. He's made an appeal to those responsible to be respectful of the area and stop. You can hear from him on our website, heilandridio.com That's all from the news desk for now. I'll have headlines again coming up at the end of the day, but until then, good morning. Please, one sourdough and Caesar salad, and by the way, on 12 weeks pregnant. We don't always know who's at risk from COVID-19 and other viruses, but we do know how to protect them. Keep hands clean and wear a mask. Let fresh air in, get vaccinated and stay at home if you are unwell from the HSC for us all. Okey-dokey, that means it's time to say a very good morning to Michael and Finula. Good to see the band back together. How are you getting on? Hello. Good, good, good. You don't have a microphone. There you go. How's that? Right. Are you just worried about crisp flavours? You like crisps, Mila? Yeah, I saw that. Alright. I haven't indulged myself yet, so I'm not available yet. Oh, okay. I was going to say what's the fizzy cola flavour, Tato crisps. Yeah, yes. It should always just taste like potatoes. No. You've got to be adventurous, Finula. Be adventurous. We put salt and pepper on them. I know, but you put salt and pepper on mashed potatoes, so I'm perfectly fine with that. What's wrong with then shaking some Coca-Cola flavours? No. It's fine because it's been done before, but something new is terrible. We're not going to dwell on this topic, but what are your favourite flavour of crisps? I'll go to you for us, Michael. I like those buffalo flavours. Or the crinkly ones? The crinkly. They're very strong flavour then, I find. They're lovely with a beer, like a bottle of beer or whatever. Finula? Very boring. I like mine salted. Just salted, plain, ready salted. Yeah, that's it. Do you matter what colour the bag is? Do you think traditionally it should be red? That's one particular brand that just do salted. Now there's so many brands that do salted. Irish stew-flavoured crisps would be fantastic, says the listener. Oh, God. I think that's doable. Yeah, turning. Bin? Stick to cheese and onion. They want the Coca-Cola favourite crisps in the bin. Yeah. It's a note from us, says another Facebook user. Another, if they had put decent chocolate in the cheese and onion Tato chocolate bar, it might have had more success, but cola bottles, that's a no from me. Another, I'd give the crisps a try. I think we want to mix crisps and chocolate ourselves. I don't think we want that predetermined for us. It doesn't appeal to me. It doesn't appeal to me. You want to do it yourself. Separate things, I think. Oh, no, chocolate and sauce is delicious. Minstrels are, while teasers into your popcorn when you're in the cinema. Never. Well, listen, you were at the cinema. Do you even know me? Not when I hear, but when you eat buffalo potatoes. Elvis in the cinema. This is an interesting one because the early reviews of it were actually really quite critical of it. Criticism of Tom Hanks and his role. Some of the earlier reviewers were saying that, you know, the only thing really good about this was that the actor that plays Elvis in it, they didn't just go for the looks and the movement, but he actually captured Elvis. But other than that, he said it was a stinker. Everybody else loves it. And now all of a sudden the reviewers are going, hold on a second. The court of popular opinion here. We're going to have to realign ourselves. And now everyone's raving about it. It's five stars everywhere. I know, I know. 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, 94% from the public. Before we start talking about this, I ask are either of you Elvis fans, like real Elvis fans? I would listen to Elvis music, yes. Benula? In the same way as when I watched the Beatles thing, that was... I forget who did the Beatles thing. It was the same way as that big massive beat. John Paul, George and Ringo, I think. No, the big documentaries. You remember it was done by... It wasn't Badlerman, it was done by some other major director that put it together. It was on the Disney thing, and it's like three and a half hours long, or almost four hours long. I've obviously listened to his music, he liked certain bits of his songs. As a child, he used to watch the movies because they were always on TV and that kind of thing. So I think you have a fondness for him, but my knowledge of him wouldn't be very extreme. Let's start with you, Michael. What did you think of Elvis the movie? I did not like this movie at all. Center performance is very good. He really embodies Elvis. Tom Hanks, in line with those early critical reviews, I did not like him at all in this. He's doing a very affected performance. But I suspect it's from the director because it's a very kinetic movie, and by that I mean that it never stops moving. I don't think there's a shot in this movie that lasts longer than like 10 seconds. Most shots seem to be about 4 seconds. I don't think there's any scenes longer than like a minute and a half. It's constantly moving. It constantly bombards you with imagery for a full nearly 3 hour run time. It's got moments of like animation when like Elvis goes into the army. You see it in context of a newspaper front page but it's animated. And there's a lot of split screen and crossfades and this movie annoyed the hell out of me because the guy is really good and it tells the bones of a powerful story. The focus is on the relationship between Elvis and his manager and it was not a healthy relationship. But I did not feel an emotional connection at all to the story or the character.  I think fans of it and I had lunch yesterday with a couple of people who loved the movie and from listening to them and their views were very well annunciated. They just love seeing an actor who can embody Elvis for a couple hours and really do justice to their perception. This is kind of why I was asking about were you big fans because I had a sense that that might influence what you thought of it. And I think that also goes to the Freddie Mercury film and the Elton John film. I think there's a huge fan base that we're just delighted to see respect paid to the artists that they love. I can understand why people why the family like this movie because he comes across far better than anything I've ever seen him in. He comes across as somebody that tried to mold his career, his own career, somebody that had thoughts and views, somebody who actually had like a musical talent which I had never really realized. Do you know what I mean as in obviously you knew that he played the guitar but I kind of felt he was a little bit I suppose through my lack of knowledge of him in his life that he was a little bit manufactured. You know as in this was a kid that could sing and he was handsome and they sort of took him and made him into something else. But actually there's lots of pieces in it where he's doing the with the orchestra when he's doing the Vegas thing and he's setting out the music and the way that he wants it. So he comes across in it very well. The family comes across in it very well and that you know he his own true love was Priscilla Dwayne the fact that he may have been cheating on her all the time but still very he loved her. They alluded to that one review I read a ton of reviews last night one reviewer said they gloss over the problematic aspects of Elvis Presley. Yeah they do go and then that's fine because that's not what it's about. I think what as I turned to Michael when we finished watching it my first thought on it was I'm really sorry that Bas Lerman is the one that made this movie. Yes. Because it's a very Bas Lerman movie. It's beautiful you know what I mean it's all this you know photography and the it's shot and all this kind of thing but like you could easily have knocked 40 minutes pushing three hours isn't yeah it's two hours and 40 minutes yeah I could have knocked 40 minutes off at myself even without having gone to school in order to learn how to do how much music is in it you know how many full performance or not a huge amount not a huge amount it's more that the music is kind of and to be honest what I did like that about it which is that it actually you m