Letters to the Editor: St Raphael’s deserves praise for high standards of care
St Raphael’s Centre in Youghal. Picture: Des Barry
Ten weeks ago, my brother passed away. He had the most fantastic team of staff looking after him. Not only did they look after my brother, but they also looked after our family whenever we visited or when we spent his last few days with him.
St Raphael’s Centre, Youghal, has an exceptional staff who were not only professional but were also kind and caring. Nowadays it is usual that we hear a lot of negativity about healthcare, the poor health service and poor nursing homes etc.
For a change, it is fantastic to know that St Raphael’s Centre is an extraordinary place of care. We do not read enough about these places ‘par excellence’. The wonderful family type of care at St Raphael’s Centre is provided by staff who work as a team and are passionate about their work.
While it provides superb health care, it is also a place of life-long friendships between staff and residents, which has always been prominent in that kindred environment. The staff always treat their clients with great respect, compassion and kindness. Nothing is too much trouble and all duties are carried out with good humour and chatter.
Of course, all of this put my and my family’s minds and worry about my brother at ease and gave us an extraordinary sense of peace, as I knew that this group of caring people looked after my brother just as good as I would.
My family and I would like to say thank you from our hearts. It was a difficult time saying goodbye to our beloved brother, but St Raphael’s Centre made bearing it a little easier. We really appreciate all that they have done for us and our brother. Thank you.
Robert Watt’s revelation at the Oireachtas Committee meeting on Wednesday that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly’s laptop had been hacked in March 2022 when the minister was in the US on a St Patrick’s Day trade mission is quite worrying. Watt’s admission that the department was unable to communicate with the minister “for a few days” is even more alarming.
Many questions arise: What was the nature of the hack? Was it a ransom attack? Were confidential documents corrupted or data exfiltrated? Was it the minister’s personal laptop or his official computer? Were the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and other ministers who were also abroad at that time subject to similar attacks? Were other IT systems contaminated?
I assume there was an official report on this incident including actions to minimise the likelihood of similar attacks in the future which will be shared with the public.
Without answers to these questions one could, quite legitimately, conjecture that there had been a ‘whole-of-government’ cyber attack on its email infrastructure which completely disrupted email and document exchanges between ministers and their departments for, at least, several days and with possible longer term damage to their IT systems.
It is nothing less than a digital GUBU.
Get ready to cheer for the little guy. In a recent tax battle with the Revenue Commissioners, a farmer has come out on top, saving €72,728. You read that right — €72,728. And it’s all thanks to the Tax Appeals Commission (TAC) finding in his favour.
Here’s what happened: the farmer received a €140,656 payment from the Department of Agriculture Single Payment Scheme (SPS) in October 2011. The payment was deposited into the farmer’s bank account and subsequently transferred to his new farming company’s account. The farmer didn’t include the SPS payment in his income tax return for 2011, but he did include it in the corporation tax return for his farming enterprise.
Fast forward to 2014, and Revenue audits the farmer’s tax affairs.
They found that the farmer should have included the SPS payment in his income tax return, and thus issued him a tax demand for €72,728. The farmer disagreed and appealed to the TAC.
The TAC found that the Revenue Commissioners were incorrect to issue the demand for the €72,728 as it was outside of the time limits contained in the Tax Acts.
According to the Tax Appeals Commissioner, Claire Millrine, the tax legislation clearly prohibits the imposition of any additional tax burden outside the four-year period in the case of a person who has made a fully compliant return. Ms Millrine directed that the €72,728 assessment be reduced to ‘nil’ — in other words, the farmer doesn’t owe a penny.
The farmer argued that the €140,656 is taxable as income received for the company he formed and owned.
However, since the Revenue issued the demand out of the time limits laid down, the substantive issue of whether the SPS payment is taxable as income in the hands of the farmer or his farm firm does not arise.
This is a huge victory for the farmer, who had a number of land interests and incorporated his farming business into a company in May 2011. It just goes to show that if you believe you’ve been treated unfairly, it’s worth fighting back. Who knows? You could end up saving tens of thousands of euro, just like this farmer did.
We may be celebrating 25 years of the peace process on this island, however Germany was unified and economically integrated in 10.
The peace process has become a cottage industry for some hardy boys in Belfast. A “process” that has taken 25 years of nest-feathering, early release travesties and lip service to democracy.
I hate to spoil the party but let’s face the inconvenient truth: We have very little to show for the spectacular concessions, political opportunities, sinecures and fat-arsed expenses we gave to the denizens of the Provisional IRA.
To make matters worse, here we all are — expected to get down on our knees to elevate, rehabilitate, and applaud the IRA and others for stopping the murder, intimidation, drug dealing, subversion and racketeering.
This madness must end soon. The pomp, self-congratulation and ceremony in Belfast over the past two weeks is a farce. Very little has changed there — apart from the terms, stature and conditions enjoyed by the culprits and “belligerents”.
Peace at any price? This isn’t peace. It is our nervous truce. As for the gunman, the bomber, and the racketeer, his political motto is “whatever works”. And he is doing very well out of this “peace process”. My fear is that in the years to come for us centrists and democrats — that our motto may well become “more fool us”.
25 years. A “process”. Think about that while these gunmen and bombers get arrogant, “respectable” and fat.
