LAST UPDATE | 19 May 2021

GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.

Vaccine portal

1. The portal for Covid-19 vaccine registration has opened for people aged 45-49 and the HSE expects some people in this cohort will receive a first dose by the end of the month.

There have now been dozens of changes to the vaccination programme since it was launched, so it is not surprising that people are confused about how their own vaccines will be impacted by these developments.

As part of The Journal’s Reader Q&A series, we’ve been we have been breaking down the latest developments with vaccines and the rollout in Ireland. In our lead story today, Michelle Hennessy answers your questions.

Cuckoo funds

2. Up to 50% of future housing estates are to be set aside for purchase by owner-occupiers, as the government seeks to curb the influence of so-called ‘cuckoo funds’ on the property market.

On foot of a public outcry, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has announced planning measures to mitigate against the bulk purchases of houses and duplexes and plans to earmark homes in certain developments for owner occupiers.

The new measures will also see the purchase of more than 10 residential houses facing an increased stamp duty of 10%. Once passed by the Dáil today, the change will be effective from tomorrow.

Cyber attack

3. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said it is possible that sensitive personal information of patients could’ve been compromised by the HSE ransomware attack.

Speaking in the Dáil, Donnelly said security experts are working through “server by server” to establish the extent of the information that may have been taken by the hackers.

“The criminals behind this assault are utterly contemptible,” he said. “We will overcome the effects of this assault on our public health system. I’d like to reassure colleagues that we are doing all we can to ensure that we resume services as quickly and as safely as possible.”

Gaza

4. Moving abroad now: Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza exchanged fire overnight into the early hours of today, as France proposed a ceasefire to stem more than a week of bloodshed. War planes continued to hit Gaza city in the hours before dawn, flying low and keeping many people awake.

A UN Security Council meeting broke up without issuing a statement late last night, but France then said it had proposed a resolution calling for a ceasefire, in coordination with Israel’s neighbours Egypt and Jordan.

Donald Trump

5. In the US, the New York attorney general’s office has said it is now conducting a criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s business empire after expanding what had previously been a civil probe.

“We have informed the Trump Organisation that our investigation into the company is no longer purely civil in nature,” Fabien Levy, a spokesman for attorney general Letitia James, said in a statement.

“We are now actively investigating the Trump Organisation in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA (district attorney).”

Councillors’ pay

6. Back to Ireland: the Cabinet has approved pay rises for 949 city and county councillors today around the country. The proposals approved by the government will come into effect in July.

The measures take account of the recommendations of the independent review by Sara Moorhead, published in 2020. An increase in councillor pay was committed to in the programme for government.

Eurovision

7. Sadly Ireland’s Lesley Roy has failed to qualify for this Saturday’s Eurovision final. Roy had faced stiff competition from acts from 15 other nations in a bid to make it to the final with her song Maps.

Despite a stellar performance, Roy won’t be competing at this weekend’s final.

Business 

8. Thanks to a troubled vaccine rollout and yo-yo lockdowns in its major economies, Europe and the eurozone, in particular, has flirted with disaster in the early part of the year. But new data suggests that the recovery is beginning to take hold earlier than expected in the second quarter of the year, Ian Curran writes in today’s Morning Memo.

Against this backdrop, the European Commission has spelled out a proposal for a new, unified taxation system for businesses across the bloc. It could add to the pressure building up around Ireland’s 12.5% rate of corporation tax.

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Weather

9. And finally, there is better news on the weather front today. Some scattered showers are expected, mainly in Ulster, Munster and south Leinster. However, there will be a good deal of dry weather and it will feel mild in the afternoon sunshine, particularly across the midlands. Highest temperatures will range from 13 to 17 degrees.