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STRAIGHT TALKING: Government's childcare policy bordering on a joke

THE fact that Ireland is the most expensive country in Europe for childcare is hardly surprising. The only thing that's surprising is that a survey was needed to divulge the information in the first place. Support for working parents from the Government is miserly at best, and I say that as a parent who has just finished with the childcare system.

AIDAN WRITES: Something must be done to stop this endless carnage

By AIDAN O'CONNOR

THERE will come a time, Minister Dempsey, when you will look back upon your political career and, probably in a quiet moment somewhere, ask yourself what real difference you actually made to people's lives. Although many will remember you for what you believe are the wrong reasons such as disappearing on a sun holiday when the country was frozen to a halt, or your use of government transport at the taxpayers' expense, many others will remember you for the far more important things you achieved.

Fred is the real deal

FRED KARLSSON FONDLY remembers his first computer like another man might reminisce about his first teenage crush on a girl. It was a Spectre Video and he gazed at ' her' longingly for quite a while in a shop in his hometown of Nassjo in Sweden, wondering if she would ever be his.

PLATFORM: We must face up to the end game of our housing crisis

By IVAN Yates

THE biggest personal financial decision in our life is house purchase. The characteristic of wanting to own your own home is part of our DNA. Nowhere is boom to bust more evident than in the housing market. In 2003 proper records were assembled on mortgage credit, when total loans amounted to less than €20bn. The peak was reached in 2006 with €39.8bn of house finance. Shockingly, the half-year figure up to the end of this June was a paltry €2.5bn.

ON THE MONEY: Uncompetitiveness with Britain is costing us dear

By FELIM O'ROURKE

FROM 1928 until 1992 the value of the Irish Pound was always one pound Sterling. During that time the level of prices was much the same in Ireland and Britain. The one-toone link of the Irish Pound to Sterling was broken in 1992 and some years later we joined the Euro.

MY WORLD: Hair straighteners put the heat on men

By SHEA TOMKINS

MONDAY morning, 8.30 a.m. and nothing out of the ordinary has yet occurred. The man of the house is inching his way through the rush-hour traffic and is on course to be seated at the office desk by 8.55am. Easily.

THE WAY I SEE IT: In defence of our dentists

By FR. MICHAEL COMMANE

WHEN the first British troops encountered their German enemy in World War 1 they immediately noticed the good teeth of the German soldiers. The British have never been renowned for the health of their teeth and we Irish are further down the scale when it comes to oral hygiene.

COMMENT: We need to do more to preserve life on our roads

THIS last week has seen more tragedy and heartbreak on our nation's roads. Following the terrible loss of four young teenagers in County Kerry last Wednesday, three more people lost their lives in separate incidents across the country over the weekend. There is scarcely a weekend goes by without a fatal crash and often those losing their lives are young people, many of them teenagers – most of them passengers in cars being driven by their peers.

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