Student nurse payments welcomed by Laois Kildare Senator
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Student nurses and midwives are set to receive a backdated promised Pandemic Placement Grant of €100 per week by 1 June, according to Senator Fiona O’Loughlin.
The payment applies for weeks when the students in question were on placement in health care settings during the pandemic, and was recommended in a review by Professor Tom Collins.
Senator O’Loughlin who represents the Kildare South constituency which covers Portarlington in Laois, praised the students for overcoming unprecedented challenges posed by Covid-19 during their studies.
She confirmed that that the payment for the relevant placement weeks would be backdated to September of last year.
Derrintirun Waste Water Treatment Plant to be upgraded
Improvements
The Derrinturn Waste Water Treatment Plant is to be upgraded.
This is one of the approved projects under Irish Water’s Small Towns and Villages Growth Programme (STVGP).
“The upgrade will take place at the existing site to provide additional capacity for growth,” said Senator Fiona O’Loughlin.
“There is limited project information at this time as this is the selection process stage and all projects below will now go through detailed design and costings. Further communications on the projects will follow at a later date.”
The purpose of the STVGP is to provide funding for water and wastewater treatment plant growth capacity in smaller settlements which would not otherwise be provided for in Irish Water’s 2020-2024 Capital Investment Plan. The STVGP is focused on supporting growth in areas already served by IW infrastructure where current or future capacity deficits have been identified.
First-class train carriage upgrade as Irish Rail lets historic Laois station go to rack and ruin
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Irish Rail is set to spend big money on upgrading the first-class carriages on its trains while historic buildings at one of its busiest train stations in Laois that is crumbling into ruins.
The decrepit state of Portarlington s train station has been highlighted on the same day as the company which owns the property invited firms to bid for the contract to upgrade first-class on its services.
Senator Fiona O Loughlin raised the concern over what she described as the shocking disrepair of the railway building at the station in the Laois Offaly border town.
Over 1,300 Laois babies now overdue important developmental check
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Over 1,300 Laois babies are now overdue an important health check on their development, because of Covid-19 restrictions.
The Health Service Executive has confirmed that 1,343 babies in Laois are still waiting on their 9-11 month developmental check.
The check assesses a child s physical development, their motor skills and fine movements, eyesight, hearing, and speech development, as well as social and emotional behaviour and should be carried out between nine and 11 months by a public health nurse.
More than half of all babies did not receive a crucial development health check due before they turned one due to the pandemic.
Two female Australian comedians recently revealed they’ve been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
In an interview before her shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Fiona O’Loughlin alluded to lifelong challenges including disorganisation and inability to sustain attention.
O Loughlin, 57, described her diagnosis as a “seismic shift” in her life, and said medication has helped her immensely. But her struggle with focus will be a story familiar to many girls with ADHD.
And in an article published this week, Em Rusciano also revealed she’s been diagnosed with ADHD. For Rusciano, too, treatment has been transformative. The 42-year-old wrote on Facebook: