Official Ireland makes haste slowly

Sir, – Three headlines on Tuesday’s front page tell a tale.

Last summer the Government said that the introduction of a vaccine-damages compensation scheme, consideration of which began in 2001 (yes, that is 2001, not 2021), was a priority. A year later the Department of Health tells us that work on this has not progressed and that “further scoping work is required to inform decision-making in this area” (“Vaccine damages scheme stalls despite pledge”, News, August 8th).

Last October, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys told us that her “landmark” pensions auto-enrolment scheme “is now very firmly on the tracks and leaving the station ahead of its introduction in early 2024″. It would appear that her train has encountered leaves on the track or has been shunted into a siding. The latest from the Controller is that legislation on a key element of the system “is currently being drafted” and that she expects to publish it in the autumn (“Start date for auto-enrolment for pension scheme slips”, News, August 8th).

The third headline tells us that something is ahead of schedule (“Antarctic heatwaves will intensify, says report”, News, August 8th). But the timelines for our actions to deal with climate change are, unfortunately, slipping and stalling. Should we be surprised? – Yours, etc,