Burkina Faso president resigns following protests

Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore has left power, according to a colonel in the presidential guard.

Lieutenant-Colonel Issaac Zida made the announcement in the central Place de la Nation in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou.

In a statement Mr Compaore called for a 90-day transition to "free and transparent" elections in the west African country.

"I declare a vacancy of power with a view to allowing a transition that should finish with free and transparent elections in a maximum period of 90 days," said the statement, which was read on local radio and television by presenters.

Burkina Military Chief General Navere Honore Traore has said he has taken over as head of state.

In a statement General Traore said "in line with constitutional measures, and given the power vacuum... I will assume as of today my responsibilities as head of state."

Tens of thousands of people had gathered to demand Mr Compaore's resignation after violent protests in the country yesterday.

French president Francois Hollande has welcomed the resignation of Mr Compaore, calling for rapid, democratic elections to find his successor. 

Separately, Omega radio in Burkina Faso reported that Mr Compaore had issued a statement announcing his resignation and saying that the head of state's position was now vacant.

Earlier, an army official claimed that Burkina Faso's embattled President had been ousted.

"Compaore is no longer in power," Colonel Boureima Farta told tens of thousands of protesters who erupted in cheers in front of the army headquarters.

Mr Compaore had vowed to stay in power at the head of a transitional government until after elections.

His decision came despite opposition calls for him to step down immediately following a day of violent protests.

General Traore, had earlier dissolved parliament and announced talks with all political parties to create an interim government to take the west African country to democratic elections within a year.

The move came after at least three protesters were shot dead and scores wounded in clashes with security forces.

Demonstrators attacked the homes of senior members of the ruling party and symbols of Mr Compaore's long rule.

Hundreds of people had earlier stormed parliament, looting the building and setting it on fire, while others ransacked state television, forcing it off the air.

Protests also gripped Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina's second-largest city, and other towns across the gold and cotton-producing country.

Mr Compaore, who seized power in a military coup in 1987, said he had dissolved his government and was lifting martial law that was announced earlier in the day.

He also scrapped plans for an unpopular constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to seek re-election next year, a prospect that had sparked yesterday's protests.

Regional West African bloc ECOWAS had said earlier yesterday that it would not accept any party seizing power through non-constitutional means - suggesting diplomatic pressure to leave Mr Compaore in place.

A delegation from the African Union, the United Nations and ECOWAS was due in Burkina Faso today to hold talks with all parties involved.                           

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Alcohol allegation against nurse withdrawn

An allegation that a director of care at a Longford Nursing Home had attended for work while under the influence of alcohol and was unfit to practise has been withdrawn by the Nursing and Midwifery Board.

On the second day of the fitness-to-practise inquiry, a medical report produced at the hearing said that nurse Mary Mealy does not drink and has not done so for years.

Ciaran Craven, barrister for Ms Mealy, said the allegation was very damaging and should never have been made.

He said it was an outrageous allegation, there was no evidence to support it and it was now being withdrawn at a late stage.

Barrister Patrick Leonard for the inquiry said it had been a proper allegation to level.

But he said the medical report produced today from a consultant psychiatrist did not support the allegation and he was withdrawing it.

The psychiatrist assessed Ms Mealy in March this year.

She told him that when she started working at Thomond Lodge Nursing Home in January 2012, she noticed that medication prescribed had often not been dispensed.

She decided to try to introduce an improved system but claimed she had been told not to make an issue about tablets not having been dispensed.

On the allegation that she had consumed alcohol on 22 July 2012, Ms Mealy said she had a bout of diarrhoea and was unwell that day.

She said that whenever she socialised, she would have a pot of coffee.

Sarah Murray, clinical nurse manager, told the inquiry of an incident at the home on 22 August 2012.

After a medication round, she saw Ms Mealy had a black plastic bag tied to her medication trolley.

Ms Murray asked a cleaner to keep the bag back for later examination.

Along with Sean Kelly, the owner of the home, she looked into the bag later and it was found to have six cream packs mixed with medications, including drugs for heart conditions and pain relief.

There was nothing in the medical charts to show certain medications had not been given.

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Revenue pursues workers over share option profits

Revenue is pursuing millions of euro in unpaid tax from workers in some of the biggest companies based in Ireland.

RTÉ News understands the move is focusing on employees who cashed in company shares but failed to pay tax.

Some staff at Google's Dublin office are among those who have been asked by the Revenue to pay taxes owed on profits made from share options.

Revenue is calling this a "compliance programme" for people who exercised a share option within their company in recent years.

The responsibility for paying tax on these profits falls to the workers.

A Google spokesperson said it is a matter for individual tax payers and not relevant to Google from a company perspective.

Revenue expects the move to yield a figure in the low millions of euro.

The programme, begun this summer, covers a wide range of businesses and sectors, a Revenue spokesperson said.

From now on profits from such shares will be a regular feature of Revenue's work.

A new online reporting system will be launched early next year where companies will report details of staff who have exchanged shares for cash.

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Rolf Harris loses first bid to appeal convictions

Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris has lost the first round of his bid to appeal against his convictions for a string of indecent assaults.

A spokesman for the Judicial Office confirmed today that a judge has refused his application for permission to appeal.

But it is still open to the 84-year-old to renew the application before three judges at the Court of Appeal.

The artist and musician was convicted of 12 indecent assaults at London's Southwark Crown Court on 30 June - one on an eight-year-old autograph hunter, two on girls in their early teens, and a catalogue of abuse against his daughter's friend over 16 years.

The appeal move was refused by a single judge considering the application on the case papers.

Harris, a family favourite for decades, was unmasked during his trial as a predator who was fixated with under-age girls.

Jurors were told that his 16-year campaign of sex abuse against his daughter's friend "haunted" her and made her abandon her dreams as he continued to be adored by millions of fans worldwide.

His fall from grace was underlined as he was stripped of a Bafta fellowship and accolades in his native Australia were removed.

Harris was jailed for five years and nine months for the sex abuse, meaning he is due to serve just under three years for the crimes, which took place between 1968 and 1986.

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US judge issues Ebola quarantine order

A judge in the US state of Maine has issued a temporary order forcing a quarantine on a nurse who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.

Kaci Hickox defied a previous order by state officials to stay at home for 21 days and took a bicycle ride yesterday.

The 21 day period refers to the maximum it can take for Ebola to develop following contact with the virus.

The order from Charles LaVerdiere, chief judge of the Maine District Court, instructs the nurse to submit to "directactive monitoring," and "not to be present in public places" like shopping centres, cinemas or workplaces except to receive necessary healthcare.

The temporary order permits her to engage in what the judge called "non-congregate public activities" like walking or jogging in the park but instructs her to maintain a one metre distance from other people.

The quarantine confrontation between Ms Hickox and Maine has become the focal point of a struggle between several US states opting for stringent measures to guard against Ebola and a federal government wary of discouraging potential medical volunteers to fight the Ebola outbreak in west Africa.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power has defended federal guidelines for monitoring health workers returning from three Ebola-stricken west African countries and praised the airlines still flying there.

"Let me commend Air Brussels, Air France and Moroccan Airways for keeping their flights going. Those flights are a lifeline," Ms Powers said at a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York hours after returning from a four-day trip to Ebola-hit Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

She said she was considered at low risk for contracting the virus because she did not enter an Ebola treatment unit in any of the three countries and had her temperature checked three times before boarding a plane home from Liberia and was checked again upon arriving at New York's JFK Airport.

She said she believed current federal guidelines for returning healthcare workers balanced "the need to respond to the fears that this has generated" in the US with the known science on the disease.

"We believe that when a health worker makes physical contact with a medical professional here that they can look you over, ask the questions as only healthcare practitioners know how to do, that that kind of contact combined with the temperature checks and check-ins over a 21-day period is sufficient, and that is a regimen developed on the basis of the science and on the basis of wanting to be responsive," she said, adding that health officials are capable of self monitoring. 

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Italian ordered to pay €2,500 over Ebola claim

An Italian man arrested at Dublin Airport after "a sick joke" about Ebola has been ordered to pay €2,500 to charity to avoid a criminal conviction.

Roberto Binaschi, 56, with an address in Milan, wrote the words "Attenzione Ebola" on the lid of a disposable coffee cup as a joke with his daughter while on board the flight from Milan to Dublin yesterday.

The cup was disposed of in the usual way but cabin crew spotted the wording on the lid, sparking an alert, which resulted in his arrest.

At Dublin District Court this morning, Mr Binaschi apologised and said he never intended to cause concern.

The court was told Mr Binaschi was on a flight from Milan with his wife and daughter to attend a conference in Dublin.

His daughter had ordered a coffee and he took a sip from the cup first. She told him his germs were on the coffee cup and as a joke he wrote "Attenzione Ebola" on the lid.

His daughter then finished the coffee and the cup was disposed of.

When a member of the cabin crew spotted the words, Mr Binaschi was asked if he had written them and he said yes.

The court was told his wife was sitting with them and was not even aware of the joke. At no time was the cup or lid exposed to anyone else on the plane.

Judge Anthony Halpin said he could not think of a more serious offence given the present day fear of Ebola.

He said it was like writing on a napkin that there is a bomb on the plane. "He was over international waters on an international flight, that is how serious it is".

However, after hearing evidence from the defendant, who said he now realised the anxiety he had caused after what was a private joke with his daughter, the judge said it did not warrant a prison sentence.

He said he took into account that the flight was not in the "geo plane" of where Ebola is at the minute.

Judge Halpin also said Mr Binaschi was disposing of the cup rather than bringing it to the attention of the cabin crew, which was a factor that had to be taken in to consideration.

"It cannot be described as anything but a sick joke," the judge said.

He ordered Mr Binaschi to pay €2,500 to the Capuchin Friary in Bow Street in Dublin and applied the Probation Act.

Mr Binaschi had pleaded guilty to using threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour on board an aircraft.

The charge is under the Air Navigation and Transport Act and if convicted he could have been fined or jailed.

The man's solicitor, Michelle Finan, said Mr Binaschi was a company director coming to Dublin to attend a conference and was "here trying to create jobs".

Others attending the conference had "bunched together" to collect €2,500, which was the sum ordered by the judge to be given to charity.

She said he was very anxious that people would not think he had tried to cause any alarm and was anxious to apologise to Aer Lingus and to gardaí.

In his evidence to the court this morning, Mr Binaschi explained what had happened and said, through an interpreter: "We were on the plane and were quite jolly.

"My daughter ordered a cup of coffee and I drank from it before she did. Knowing the fact that she is quite keen on cleanliness, I took one of the pens she was using to study and wrote that sentence and I put the cup in front of her.

"When the coffee was finished I gave the cup to the hostess to throw it away. That was 20 minutes before landing.

"A few minutes after a steward returned - and it is to be said we were in the front row of the plane so they could see what we were doing and hear what we were saying at all times - and the steward said what was written and I told him and he asked if that was mine and I said yes and he smiled. That was what happened.

"I now clearly realise that never again in my life will I treat such a subject with such a superficial attitude within a public space even less so on public transport.

"I am fully conscious I made a big mistake, I don't know how to apologise."

The judge said he had "learned his lesson, he looks visibly upset".

However, he said he had to stress "how serious it was and send out a message that we don't want other people doing it".

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AIB to cut mortgage rates by up to 0.25%

AIB is to cut mortgage rates by up to 0.25% from the start of December.

The standard variable and Loan to Value rate reductions will apply to mortgage from AIB, EBS and Haven and will be available to new and existing customers.

The bank said the change would impact 146,000 existing mortgage account holders.

The cut will see the bank's standard variable rate fall to 4.15% from 1 December, with EBS' rate dropping to 4.33% and Haven's falling to 4.35%.

Meanwhile Loan to Value rates at AIB and Haven will fall by 0.24%, with EBS rates falling by 0.25%.

This means that a LTV mortgage of 80% or more will be charged at a rate of 4.25% by AIB and Haven, and 4.2% by EBS.

A LTV mortgage below 50% will have a rate of 3.85% at AIB and Haven or 3.8% at EBS.

The banking groups' fixed mortgage rates are also set to be reduced from the start of December, with the one-year rate for existing business falling to 4.15%.

A five-year fixed rate at any of the three lenders within the AIB Group will fall to 3.9%, from a previous level of 5.2%.

AIB's director of personal, business and corporate banking, Bernard Byrne, said the bank was able to make these reductions "due to the bank's underlying positive performance and funding cost reductions".

He added that the new fixed rate pricing would "provide better value and certainty for customers.''

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Man arrested in McConville murder investigation

A man has been arrested by detectives investigating the kidnap and murder of Belfast mother-of-ten Jean McConville.

The 73-year-old man was detained in Dunmurry in greater Belfast.

The abduction, killing and secret burial of Mrs McConville in 1972 is one of the most notorious crimes of the Troubles.

The police case lay effectively dormant for decades until a flurry of activity this year, with a series of arrests made, including the four-day detention of Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams.

Mr Adams, who vehemently denies involvement, was released pending a report being sent to prosecutors for assessment.

The latest man arrested has been taken to the PSNI's serious crime suite in Antrim for questioning.

Mrs McConville was dragged away from her children in the Divis flats in west Belfast by a gang of up to 12 men and women after being wrongly accused of informing to the security forces.

She was interrogated, shot in the back of the head and then secretly buried - becoming one of the "Disappeared" victims of the Troubles.

Her body was not found until 2003 on a beach in Co Louth, 80km from her home.

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Firing civil servants set to become easier

The Government is to streamline disciplinary procedures to make it easier to fire underperforming civil servants as part of a new three-year strategy to improve the civil service.

The Civil Service Renewal Plan encompasses 25 actions aimed at making it a unified organisation, which is more professional, responsible, open and accountable.

The move follows an extensive consultation process with up to 2,000 stakeholders including civil servants, politicians and external commentators.

Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Robert Watt, who is to become the spokesperson for the service, said they want to provide a world-class service.

He acknowledged that, historically, they had been very bad at managing performance.

The system of performance management would be strengthened, he said, and would apply to all grades including the secretaries general of Government departments.

Mr Watt said they needed to establish whether someone was doing their job or not.

Where they were not, they would be looking at "exit strategies". 

He noted that frequently underperformance was addressed on a confidential basis, often through voluntary redundancy or early retirement.

However, he was unable to say how many of the 35,000 civil servants had been dismissed for underperformance.

He said there would be recognition of excellence, but that would not involve bonuses.

Instead there would be events where outstanding performance would be acknowledged.

He said they would be recruiting people to implement the strategy, mainly on fixed-term contracts of up to five years, and that implementation would cost up to €2m.

Mr Watt also said that ministerial advisers brought in to assist ministers were a valuable link between the apolitical civil service and the political structures.

However, he said they were often brought in with no induction and needed to be given more support.

The new Civil Service Management Board will convene its first meeting next week.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has said that the Civil Service Renewal Plan does not simply focus on underperformance but the celebration of high-performance.

Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, he said the previous system of appraisal was not done sufficiently well and that he hopes this plan will make for better accountability.

However, he said that no bonuses would be involved and instead people would be recognised in terms of promotion and "celebrations of excellence".

But he said that the incremental structure was historical and that it would continue having "served the country extremely well."

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Man critically injured in high-speed chase

A man is in a critical condition in hospital following a high-speed garda chase after an incident in which a woman was held at knifepoint in Longford town yesterday evening.

Gardaí in Longford town are appealing for witnesses to the incident.

The woman was attacked by two men and then taken from the centre of the town in her own car in the direction of the nearby village of Killashee.

Local gardaí observed the incident, and chased the car in the direction of the N63, towards Killashee and Lanesboro.

The pursuit ended after the car crashed into a ditch.

One of the suspects was injured and was taken to the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore. The second suspect was arrested and taken to Longford Garda Station.

The victim was also injured and was taken to the Midlands Regional Hospital in Mullingar.

Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed anything suspicious in Ballymahon Street or in the vicinity of Killashee where the crash took place to come forward with any pertinent information.

The Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission has been informed and will be investigating the incident.

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Ebola claim sparks Dublin Airport security alert

A security alert was declared at Dublin Airport today following an incident on an Aer Lingus flight from Milan.

It is understood a passenger on the plane claimed he had Ebola after writing it on a coffee cup.

Gardaí say they are at the scene of a public order offence.

In a statement to RTÉ News, Aer Lingus said: "A security issue arose on flight EI 433 (Milan to Dublin.) As a precaution passengers and crew were temporarily held on board the aircraft at Dublin airport while the matter was investigated."

"Passengers have now disembarked the aircraft.  An Garda Síochána are now dealing with the matter.

"As this is a security matter we have no further comment."

Dublin Airport Authority said: "Following a minor security incident on board an Aer Lingus flight from Milan to Dublin, passengers were held on board the aircraft after it landed at Dublin Airport just before 1pm today."

It added: "As a precaution, the incident was fully investigated before passengers and crew disembarked as normal. The incident is now a matter for the gardaí."

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80 anti-water charge protests planned for Saturday

The Right2Water campaign has said there will be protests against water charges in more than 80 locations across Ireland on Saturday.

Twenty of the planned protests will be in Dublin and the rest will be in towns and cities across the country. 

A number of TDs joined union representatives outside Leinster House this morning to announce details of the protests.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said that 70 protests were confirmed as of today, but more were expected.

Independent TD Clare Daly said the Irish people are becoming emboldened after years of austerity, saying "they are off their knees and not going back".

Paul Murphy of the Anti-Austerity Alliance said the 750,000 homes that had sent back their Irish Water application packs probably did not realise the scale of the opposition and he called on them to join Saturday's protests.

Unions and groups that are part of the campaign said the only good thing to come out of Irish Water was that it had united the country.

Sinn Féin councillor Daithi Doolan said around 100,000 people are expected to take part in the protests.

He described the protests held on 11 October as a turning point for the campaign and said the Government is "on the ropes and are punch drunk on this issue".

Mr Doolan said Saturday will mark the next level of the campaign in which it aims to put maximum pressure on the Government.

Earlier, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said there is a view that bonuses should not be paid at Irish Water as it is a new company.

However, he added that the issue is a matter for the board.

"I don't think there is any appetite for bonuses in any utility that's establishing for the first time.

"Let the utility be established and then look at what commercial supports can be provided for the people who work in that utility."

Mr Howlin also said that huge investment is needed for the "integrated entity" that can borrow money off the State's balance sheet.

He said the Government is making an unanswerable case for the existence of a utility that will provide quality, clean water to every household in the State.

The minister said it is an important national objective for Ireland's economic future and for the well-being of families, but acknowledged that the public has lost confidence in Irish Water and this needs to be addressed.

A spokesperson for Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly said the pay model in Irish Water would be reviewed, but the expectation in the department is that no bonuses would be paid in the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, senior management at Irish Water are taking part in a series of regional briefings with city and county councillors around Ireland.

The company has so far hosted seven briefings covering councillors from 24 local authorities giving updates on events and plans within Irish Water.

Gardaí in Cork were called to a briefing for local councillors this morning, which was disrupted by protesters.

Councillors arriving at the meeting expressed their frustration with the newly-established water utility, calling it a fiasco.

Around 24 councillors from Cork city and county, from Kerry County Council and from Clare were at today's Irish Water briefing, which was later suspended because of the protests.

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Public has 'lost confidence' in Irish Water

The head of the body representing county and city councillors has said that the board of Irish Water has lost the public's confidence.

President of the Association of Irish Local Government Padraig McNally said that under the stewardship of John Tierney, there seems to be one mistake after another.

He said while he is not arguing about the principle of the utility, he believes that local authorities were doing a good job and could have done a better job if they had the financial resources as proposed for Irish Water.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Nally said that under local authorities, there was a disparity in water provision because there were inconsistencies in finances.

"I certainly would be of the belief that in many cases the local authorities were doing a reasonably good job and the reason they weren't doing a better job was because of the lack of funding".

Meanwhile, Minister for Health Leo Varadker told reporters the Government must communicate the good policy reasons involved.

He said treated water is not free, it needs to be kept in reservoirs, and piped into homes and businesses and like electricity or gas it has to be paid for.

He said the fairest way of paying is through metering which will encourage people to conserve water.

Mr Varadkar said the Government has a big job to communicate better as to why metering and charges make sense.    

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Call for aid to avert new famine in Somalia

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has warned that Somalia risks returning to famine without urgent aid.

His comments come as he visited the war-torn country three years since more than 250,000 people died of hunger.

"Over three million Somalis are in need of humanitarian assistance and unfortunately that number is growing," Mr Ban told reporters in the capital Mogadishu.

"I urge donors to step up contributions to avert another famine in Somalia."

The United Nations says it has just over a third of the cash it needs, having received $318 million of the $933 million it has appealed for.

Mr Ban, along with World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim, met Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud inside the fortified airport zone, guarded by troops from the 22,000-strong UN-backed African Union force.

But Mr Ban, who was dressed in a suit and not the bullet-proof jacket he wore on his last visit to Mogadishu during the famine in 2011, said Somalia had made "remarkable progress" since he had last been there.

"Slowly but surely, Somalia is waking from a long nightmare," Mr Ban said.

However, he added that he was "very concerned" about the humanitarian crisis and the shortfall in funding.

Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab insurgents have in recent months lost swathes of territory and towns to the AU force and Somali government troops, but they remain a potent threat.

This year they have launched attacks in the heart of Mogadishu, including brazen commando raids on the presidential palace and parliament.

Mr Ban, who said the Shebab's power "is declining but it is not gone", did not travel into the city itself, but remained inside the airport's concrete blast walls, manned by AU machine gunners.

The United Nations says over one million Somalis are in conditions close to famine, while over one million have fled their homes due to fighting or hunger inside the country, and another million are living as refugees in the region.

Some 218,000 children under five are acutely malnourished, a rise of 7% since the beginning of the year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned.

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Psychiatric assessment ordered in Donegal case

A judge has again ordered a psychiatric assessment on a Donegal man charged with the murders of his parents.

Julian Cuddihy, 42, appeared before a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court this morning.

He had been remanded in custody to Castlerea Prison after appearing at Ballyshannon District Court last Friday night.

At that sitting Judge Kevin Kilrane asked to have him psychologically assessed as soon as was practicably possible.

However, Mr Cuddihy's solicitor Ray Lannon told the court this morning that this had not taken place yet.

Judge Paul Kelly asked what the reason for the delay was and was told by Mr Lannon that Castlerea Prison does not have the facility to have a psychiatric assessment.

Garda Inspector Goretti Sheridan said a doctor from the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum had contacted Castlerea Prison describing it as "a work in progress."

Judge Kelly then ordered Mr Cuddihy to be remanded in custody to appear at Harristown Court on 7 November.

Mr Cuddihy waved and greeted relatives when he arrived in the court but did not speak during the brief hearing.

He is charged with two counts of murder in or around 22 October.

The bodies of Kathleen and Jimmy Cuddihy were found at their home at Churchtown in Carndonagh last Thursday.

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Scott named first white African leader since 1994

Zambian Vice President Guy Scott was named acting head of state this morning following the death of President Michael Sata, making him Africa's first white leader since South Africa's FW de Klerk.

De Klerk, who was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Neslon Mandela for ending Apartheid, served as South African President from 1989 until 1994. 

Defence and Justice Minister Edgar Lungu said Mr Scott would occupy the office until an election is held, likely to be within 90 days.

"Dr Scott will act as president of the Republic of Zambia until the country goes for a presidential by-election" said Mr Lungu.

The announcement averts a possible constitutional crisis that could have seen Mr Lungu and Mr Scott vie for power.

Mr Lungu, a powerful figure in the ruling Patriotic Front, had been named acting president by Mr Sata when the late leader left for Britain for medical treatment.

Mr Sata died yesterday at London's Edward VII Hospital of an undisclosed ailment.

"The government remains intact and so does the Patriotic Front as a party. We shall update on each decision made in this regard," said Mr Lungu.

Mr Scott and Mr Lungu belong to rival factions within the ruling party.

However Mr Scott, 70, is not eligible to become president because of foreign parentage rules in Zambia's 1996 constitution.

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UK's Serious Fraud Office opens Tesco probe

Tesco has confirmed that the UK Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into its accounting practices.

This follows the supermarket's discovery of a £263m hole in its profit expectations.

It comes after an investigation by accountants Deloitte and law firm Freshfields found the error was worse than first thought and that the supermarket had been overstating its earnings for years. 

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority is already investigating and pay-offs totalling around £2m to retired chief executive Philip Clarke and former finance director Laurie McIlwee have been suspended pending the inquiry. 

Releasing a statement in response to media reports, Tesco said the UK's Financial Reporting Council's investigation would now end and be replaced by the SFO probe.  

Tesco said it has been cooperating fully with the SFO and would continue to do.

Eight executives including UK managing director Chris Bush have been asked to step aside pending the investigations. 

Chairman Richard Broadbent last week said he was preparing to step down to show someone was "carrying the can" for the scandal - which was "a matter of profound regret". 

Deloitte's probe into the affair, which involved rebates from suppliers being moved around to different periods on the company's balance sheet, found that it had been going on for years and at least as far back as the 2012/13 period. 

New chief executive Dave Lewis tried to draw a line under the episode as he unveiled details of the inquiry while reporting a 92% fall in first half profits and deteriorating sales last week. 

But Tesco has now had to re-write its rules on dealing with suppliers in light of the mistakes and said this would have an impact on its second-half performance. It has also warned that the FCA investigation could result in "significant" fines. 

The Deloitte probe involved more than six million documents with 18,000 invoices reviewed and 700 scrutinised in detail. 

It found a £118m trading profit shortfall related to the latest half-year plus a £70m hit for the previous financial year and £75m for 2012/13. 

Tesco first announced last month that it had discovered a problem but initially expected it to result in a £250m overstatement - lower than the sum it eventually calculated. 

Details of the probe revealed that, once started, the accounting error seems to have spiralled out of control, as Tesco said "current and prior practices appear to be linked as income pulled forward grew period by period". 

But Mr Lewis brushed off any suggestion of fraud, saying that no-one had gained financially from the mistake. 

The new boss is trying to turn the performance of the grocer around as it faces sliding sales amid a squeeze on market share from discounters Aldi and Lidl and a price war with its more established rivals.

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Mandate members seek better terms at Dunnes Stores

Dunnes Stores retail staff belonging to the Mandate trade union are attending a Labour Court hearing in pursuit of better employment contracts.

The union recently established a campaign called 'Decency for Dunnes Workers', as it seeks certainty about working hours and earnings for employees.

Dunnes employs 14,000 staff in 112 stores across the country.

Mandate said that workers can experience significant variations in their working hours, which result in uncertainty around earnings.

It also alleges that temporary contracts are being used excessively.

The union is seeking the introduction of banded hour contracts, which would improve security of hours and earnings.

It is also seeking a review of pay scales and pay rates, and the right to union representation for Mandate members at the company.

Mandate Assistant General Secretary Gerry Light said the key issue was to ensure that members in Dunnes Stores could be guaranteed a weekly wage they could depend on.

Dunnes employee Bernie Wesley from Dundalk said the current system made it impossible to plan anything, including bank or credit union loans.

Muireann Dalton from Newtownmountkennedy said that contracts ranged from 15 to 38 hours, but that working for 15 hours delivered less than social welfare.

She said she had a permanent contract, but did not know what hours she would have from week to week.

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UNICEF finds rise in child poverty in Ireland

A new study from UNICEF on the impact of the recession on children in 41 developed countries places Ireland close to the bottom of the list.

The report has ranked Ireland in 37th place in the league table measuring relative changes in child poverty.

Only Croatia, Latvia, Greece and Iceland finished below Ireland in the UNICEF league table.

The report looked at the impact of the economic crisis on child well-being.

It found Irish families with children have lost the equivalent of ten years of income progress.

The child poverty rate rose by over 10% to 28.6% between 2008 and 2012.

This corresponds to a net increase of more than 130,000 poor children in Ireland.

Comparatively, poverty among older people has increased by 2.5% during the same period.

Of the 41 countries surveyed, 18 recorded a reduction in child poverty, including Chile, Australia and Poland.

UNICEF said the data showed a strong correlation between the impact of the financial crisis and a disproportionate decline in children's well-being.

UNICEF Ireland Executive Director Peter Power said: "Countries should place the well-being of children at the top of their priorities during economic recessions.

"Not only is this a moral obligation, but it is in the long term self-interest of societies.

"Children living in poverty are more likely to become impoverished adults and have poor children, creating and sustaining intergenerational cycles of poverty."

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Power outlined the long-term problems if the issue of child poverty is not addressed and what the Government needs to do.

He said: "We need to look at this whole problem from a child's rights perspective. Children have a right to grow up outside of endemic poverty.

"One very important recommendation that we would ask Government to look at and that's this - that they set out certain red lines and if poverty indicators fall below those red lines that it automatically triggers an intervention by Government."

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Lydia Foy action on legal recognition 'settled'

An action by transgender woman Lydia Foy against the State seeking a new birth certificate and legal recognition of her female gender has been effectively settled, the High Court has heard.

The action was settled on the basis of what the court was told was the Government's "firm intention" to enact the necessary laws in 2015.

In a statement, lawyers for the State told Mr Justice Paul Gilligan it was the "expressed intention" of the Government to secure the enactment into law of the Gender Recognition Bill 2014, "as soon as possible in 2015", which would enable Dr Foy to get the birth certificate.

On that basis, the case, which was listed for hearing next week, will instead be mentioned again in January next year.

Dr Foy was not in court today, but her solicitor, Michael Farrell, said she was "very pleased".

She began her bid for a birth certificate in the female gender 21 years ago, when she wrote to the registrar general looking for the certificate.

When it was refused, she took court action, supported by the Free Legal Advice Centres.

In 2007, the High Court found the State's failure to legislate to recognise transgender people in their preferred gender breached the European Convention on Human Rights.

Dr Foy had continued this legal action given the State's failure to enact such legislation despite the High Court declaration.

The case will be mentioned in court again on 29 January.

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Fears for English language school in Dublin

Students and teachers at an English language school in Dublin have expressed fears about its future.

A notice has been posted on the door of Leinster College on Harcourt Street.

It reads: "College will be closed from 28/10/14 till 07/11/14 due to weak financial situation.

"Further information will be uploaded in our website by next Friday, the 31st of Oct 2014."

Attempts to contact Managing Director Khan M Salehin have been unsuccessful.

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90% of child care cases involve unmarried parents

A report from the Child Care Law Reporting Project has found that 90% of child care cases coming before the courts in the past year involved unmarried parents.

In one in four cases, a parent was from an ethnic minority, while almost a third of the children had special needs.

The report looked at 486 cases between September last year and July this year, involving 864 children and just over 20% of all children in court-ordered care.

The President of the District Court has said that insufficient court sitting time continues to challenge judges as they try to ensure that they are attuned to children's and parents' timescales.

Judge Rosemary Horgan was speaking at the publication of the report by the independent body this morning.

Judge Horgan's colleagues in the District Court hear applications for care and supervision orders throughout the State.

She said she takes the court's responsibility very seriously, but that "it remains a challenge which can only be met in terms of the resources available to us".

Report author Dr Carol Coulter and her team found that the most common reasons the State applies to put children in care are:

- A parent's cognitive or mental disability 15%
- Drug abuse 13% 
- Alcohol abuse 12%

Dr Coulter noted that the Health Service Executive's figures show these three issues feature in 29% of cases where children are in care.

In almost three quarters of Dr Coulter's cases, the children went into foster care or were already in foster care. Most of them (57%) were with with non-relatives.

She said the 2012 HSE review showed that 62% of children were in "general foster care" and 29% in "relative foster care", with just 6% in residential care.

Dr Coulter said this indicates that a higher proportion of children in voluntary care are with relatives and a lower proportion in residential care compared with court-ordered care.

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Connolly avoids criminal conviction for pub attack

Dublin footballer Diarmuid Connolly has been spared a possible jail sentence and a criminal conviction for an unprovoked attack on a man in a pub two years ago.

The 26-year-old All-Ireland winner had pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Anthony Kelly, who suffered a fractured eye-socket at a pub in Phibsboro in Dublin in the early hours of 6 August 2012.

Judge Patrick Clyne said he was dismissing the case because Connolly had done all that had been asked of him through a series of restorative justice measures.

The judge noted the unreserved apology, which was accepted by Mr Kelly during a hearing last year at Dublin District Court.

Connolly, who has recently earned his first All Star award, had also paid €5,000 in compensation to the victim, who in turn donated the money to the court poor box, the judge said.

This sum was considerably greater than the maximum fine the district court could impose, the judge said in explaining his reasons for dismissing the case.

The St Vincent's forward had also already complied with a court order to complete an anger-management course, the judge said as the case was finalised at Blanchardstown District Court.

In May, Judge Clyne, who had described the attack as unprovoked, had asked Connolly to do "80 hours' voluntary service at GAA, dealing with children, over the summer months, teaching them, coaching them".

The judge heard that the football player, who has no convictions, had completed 82 hours.

Connolly, who is ranked among the top players in the country, was on the St Vincent's team yesterday which won the Dublin SFC final.

He stood silently as the judge set out the reasons for dismissing the case.

In an outline of the prosecution's evidence given earlier, the court had been told that the attack happened at 3.40am in McGowan's pub.

"It is alleged that the injured party was socialising with a friend, it would be alleged that the accused assaulted him in an unprovoked attack," Judge Clyne heard.

Connolly, who has an address at Collins Park, Beaumont, north Dublin, "punched him in the face".

Mr Kelly, who is in his 30s, was knocked down and Connolly then "continued to punch him on the ground".

Mr Kelly suffered a fractured eye socket during the attack, but he has recovered, the district court heard.

Earlier, Connolly's lawyer had told the court that the All-Ireland winning forward "apologises unreservedly to Mr Kelly".

Connolly had also shaken hands with the victim, who had accepted his apology at an earlier stage in the case.

The attack happened less than two days after Dublin defeated Laois in a quarter-final of the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

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Ending of 'double Irish' not an issue - Bruton

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton has said that ending the so-called "double Irish" has not been an issue for US companies.

The minister is the first member of the Government to meet companies in the US following the changes announced in the Budget earlier this month, including the abolition of the "double Irish" tax scheme.

Speaking in Washington DC on a five day trade mission, Mr Bruton said the business people he had met had welcomed Ireland's move to get ahead of the changing international tax environment by taking decisive action.

He said that the Budget announcements had given certainty to the situation and that this had been viewed positively by US companies with businesses in Ireland, and those considering a move.

He said companies were welcoming the introduction of the Knowledge Development Box - an innovation "box" that would allow foreign companies to build their new products and services and to use Ireland as place to grow their businesses. 

Mr Bruton said it was important that this new regime was designed in a way that would promote innovation as well as giving "best in class" to companies who want to invest in Ireland.

A consultation is currently underway at the moment, led by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan.

During the five day trade mission to the US, Mr Bruton will visit four cities and meet 17 companies operating in the financial services, healthcare and IT sectors.

The companies he is meeting include a mix of those with existing operations in Ireland and those interested in locating here.

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ECB may release Lenihan letter

The European Central Bank has indicated that it may shortly release the letter from the former president of the bank Jean-Claude Trichet to former Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan on the eve of the Irish bailout. 

In correspondence with Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly, the ECB said it was reviewing the decision to withhold the letter now that the bank stress tests had been completed. 

In the letter, seen by RTÉ News, the ECB stated: "we would like to reassure you that it is our intention to reassess the matter in the light of  the outcome of the Comprehensive Assessment, which should become available by end-October."

The letter was signed by the ECB Secretary General Pierre Van Der Haegen. 

It followed correspondence between Mr Kelly and the ECB. 

Earlier this year the ECB declined to publish the letter following a request from the European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly. 

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Dublin City Marathon won by Kenyan runners

The 35th annual Dublin City Marathon has been won by Eliud Too from Kenya in two hours, 14 minutes and 46 seconds.

Esther Macheria was the first woman passed the finish line.

About 4,000 runners from 47 countries joined over 10,000 Irish entrants, 1,000 volunteers and countless spectators on the city's streets.

The 42km route started at Fitzwilliam Street Upper and the race got under way at 9am.

Motorists around the city are being advised of rolling road closures throughout the day.

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Nation's health set to be assessed

The first official study of the nation's health in seven years has been announced - with 10,000 households to be assessed at random starting in the coming weeks.

The study led by the Department of Health will look at nutrition, alcohol and tobacco consumption, weight, exercise and general well-being.

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said it was necessary to see what the nation's health was to make sure the right policies were in place - but he said there are big challenges from obesity, stress and diet.

It is the first national study of its kind since 2007 - with findings expected as early as April or May next year.

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Man jailed for Irishman's murder in Australia

A man who stabbed and killed a 64-year-old Irishman in Australia has been sentenced to 27 years in jail.

Dermot O'Toole, originally from Dublin, was murdered in his jewellery shop in Hastings near Melbourne on 12 July 2013.

Gavin Perry pleaded guilty to murder, armed robbery and intentionally causing injury.

He was jailed for 27 years and will serve at least 23 years of that sentence.

Mr O'Toole's wife, Bridget, was also stabbed a number of times in the botched robbery.

Perry was high on the drug ice when he carried out the attack.

He had been jailed in 2009 for six years for a series of armed robberies. He was released on parole in February 2013 and killed Mr O'Toole five months later.

Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth sentenced Perry to 20 years for the murder of Mr O'Toole.

For intentionally causing injury, she sentenced him to four years in prison but ordered that two years of that sentence be accumulated on the sentence for murder.

Perry was sentenced to five years for the armed robbery at the O'Toole's shop the Jewel Shed to run concurrently with the murder sentence. 

For two separate armed robberies carried out in the week before the Jewel Shed offences Perry was sentenced to five years for each.

Justice Hollingworth ordered that two and a half years of each of
those sentences be accumulated on the sentence for murder.

Justice Hollingworth therefore introduced a total effective sentence of 27 years, and said Perry would serve 23 years before becoming eligible for parole. 

She said: "but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to a total of 32 years imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of 27 years."

In her sentencing, Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said: "Although the events in the Jewel Shed lasted for only about 30 seconds, in that short space of time you stabbed Mr O'Toole twice, stabbed at Mrs O'Toole multiple times, pushed them both around ... the CCTV footage shows you acting in a fast and frenzied manner entirely consistent with somebody on ice."

After the sentencing Mrs O'Toole and her three sons hit out at the parole board and Perry's jail term.

Trent O'Toole said the family was "devastated" by the 27-year jail term and called for reform of the parole system.

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Farmers to blockade meat factories for 24 hours

The first nationwide blockade of meat factories by farmers for almost 15 years will start at 3pm today.

The 24-hour protest, which has been organised by the Irish Farmers Association, represents a significant escalation of the beef crisis caused by poor factory prices for beef since last winter.

IFA President Eddie Downey said farmers have had enough and are not prepared to tolerate loss-making prices any longer.

Meat Industry Ireland, which represents the meat factories, says the blockade is misguided and counter-productive.

The IFA is angry over a price gap of €350 per animal that has opened up between what meat factories in Ireland and Britain are paying for cattle.

They say that Britain takes over half of Irish beef exports and they cannot understand how price increases in the UK have not been passed on to Irish farmers who have been making very significant losses on their animals since last winter.

From this afternoon farmers are going to prevent business as usual at every meat factory in the country for a 24-hour period.

The last time a blockade like this happened was in 2000.

On that occasion the courts imposed very significant fines on the IFA over their action.

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Murder inquiry under way after Dublin shooting

A murder investigation is under way following the shooting of a man in Dublin last night.

The man was shot in the upper body and face just before midnight at the rear of Killarney Court off Empress Place in the north inner-city.

He died at the scene.

Detectives are trying to establish a motive for the killing.

A man in his 30s and a woman have been arrested.

The man is being detained in connection with a robbery earlier of a taxi driver, the  woman is being held on suspicion of withholding information.

Both are being questioned at Mountjoy Garda Station.

Gardaí say there were other people in the area at the time and while they have spoken to them, there are still a number of others they wish to speak to.

Gardaí identified a person of interest in relation to the murder and a number of other crimes over a 24-hour period - including the robbery of a taxi driver at 7pm yesterday and an attack on a homeless person on Mabbot Lane at around 6am today.

A man in his 30s was arrested shortly after that assault, the victim was taken to the Mater Hospital. 

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Power travels to Ebola-stricken west Africa

The US Ambassador to the United Nations has travelled to west Africa on a mission to see first hand how the global response is failing to stop the deadly spread of Ebola in the region.

Samantha Power, a member of President Barack Obama's cabinet, left Washington yesterday bound for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Ebola has killed almost half of more than 10,000 people diagnosed with the disease - predominantly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - although the true toll is far higher, according to the World Health Organization.

Ms Power is on a mission to see first hand how the global response is failing to stop the deadly spread of Ebola in west Africa.
              
She said she hopes to gain a better understanding of what resources are missing so she can push other countries to offer more help.

It comes as as new rules in three American states mandating quarantine for health workers returning from the Ebola-stricken region drew criticism.

Mr Obama has resisted Republican calls for a travel ban on advice from health officials who say such a measure would be counter-productive.

Along with New York and New Jersey, Illinois has now imposed quarantines for anyone arriving with a risk of having contracted Ebola in west Africa.

But the first person isolated under the new rules called her treatment a "frenzy of disorganisation."

Kaci Hickox, a nurse returning from Sierra Leone, arrived at Newark airport on Friday and was questioned by protective-gear clad officials amid what she said was a misdiagnosis of fever, followed by a transfer to a hospital isolation tent.

Ms Hickox said she feared for what lies ahead for other US health workers trying to help combat the epidemic that has killed thousands in west Africa.

New York and New Jersey imposed 21-day quarantines after a New York City doctor who was diagnosed with the disease on Thursday, days after returning home from working with patients in Guinea.

The doctor's case and the fact he was out and about in the city in the period before his symptoms emerged set off renewed worries in the US about the spread of the disease.

Illinois will now also require a mandatory quarantine of anyone who has had direct contact with Ebola patients in those countries. The quarantines imposed by the three states exceed current US government guidelines, although the Obama administration is discussing similar measures.

Ebola, spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person, is not transmitted by people who are not showing symptoms.

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Funeral of Donegal couple on Tuesday

The bodies of Jimmy and Kathleen Cuddihy will be removed from the Chapel of Eternal Rest, Mountain Top, Letterkenny in Donegal this evening.

They will be removed to the home of their son James in Carndonagh.

The funeral of the couple, whose bodies were found in their home on Thursday morning, will take place in Carndonagh on Tuesday. 

On Friday night,  at a special sitting of Ballyshannon court, Julian Cuddihy was charged with the murder of his parents.

The 42-year-old was remanded in custody and Judge Kevin Kilraine directed that the prison authorities have him undergo a psychiatric assessed as soon as is practicable. 

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Ukraine votes in parliamentary elections

Ukrainians vote today in an election that is likely to install a pro-Western parliament and strengthen President Petro Poroshenko's mandate to end separatist conflict in the east, but may fuel tension with Russia.

Voting started in the first parliamentary election since street protests in the capital last winter forced Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych to flee and ushered in a pro-Europe leadership under Mr Poroshenko.

A loose political grouping that backs Mr Poroshenko is expected to become the leading force in the 450-seat assembly, giving him a mandate to pursue a peace plan for the east and carry out deep reforms sought by Ukraine's European Union partners.

Mr Poroshenko said in a televised address yesterday he wanted a majority to emerge that would see through laws to support a pro-Europe agenda and break with the Soviet past.

"Without such a majority in parliament, the President's programme ... will simply remain on paper," he said.

With diminished pro-Russian influence and following a strong European integration agenda, it will be one of the most radical parliaments since Ukraine gained independence in 1991.

The emergence of a strong force committed to a united Ukraine could place new strains on ties with Russia that the Kiev leadership blames for backing rebels in a conflict that has killed more than 3,700 people and destroyed the economy.

There were no immediate reports of heavy clashes during the night in the east, where a fragile ceasefire has been in force since 5 September.

A gas pricing row with Russia, which has the potential to disrupt supplies to European Union countries via Ukraine, also rumbles on unresolved despite a meeting between Mr Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Poroshenko called the snap election with the aim of clearing out Yanukovych loyalists and securing further legitimacy for Kiev's pro-Western direction after the "Euromaidan" protests.

The protests were broadly supported by the West but denounced by Russia as a coup after Yanukovych's fall. A month later, Russia annexed Crimea and separatist rebellions,supported by Russia, erupted in the industrialised east.

The ensuing crisis, in which the United States and its Western allies have imposed sanctions, is the worst between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.

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AIB, BoI and Ulster Bank pass ECB test

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said the the ECB's Comprehensive Assessment overall confirms the strength of Irish banking system.

The results confirm that AIB, Bank of Ireland, Merrill Lynch International Bank and Ulster Bank are sufficiently capitalised for the ECB's baseline stress and adverse stress scenarios. 

The Minister said the test was a strict and comprehensive examination of the European banking system and the results for the Irish banks highlight the strength of the banking system and the significant progress that has been made since 2011. 

AIB has welcomed the results of the EU-wide bank stress tests, which show that its capital levels are sufficient under all the test's scenarios. 

The results from the ECB show that AIB has an adjusted Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 14.64% - a key measure of the bank's financial strength. This falls to 12.43% in the baseline scenario, and 6.92% in the stress scenario.

Under the tests, the CET 1 was set at 8% for the baseline stress test scenario and at 5.5% in the adverse stress test scenario. 

"The results mean that AIB does not require any further capital from the state or from other sources. This is another important external validation of the bank's ongoing recovery and the success of the strategy that we are implementing," commented the bank's chief executive David Duffy. 

"Crucially, it also means that, as a bank, we can continue to focus on supporting our customers and economic recovery while working towards returning capital to the Irish state over time," Mr Duffy added.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said that the positive results for AIB are an important milestone and acknowledge that the bank is well capitalised. 

"These results will allow my officials to move to the next phase of crafting our plans to return some of the large investments made between 2009 and 2011 to the taxpayer," the Minister said in a statement.

The overall result for Bank of Ireland also confirmed that the group has passed the test with substantial capital buffers over the threshold capital ratios in both the baseline and adverse stress test scenarios.

Bank of Ireland has an adjusted CET1 ratio 11.82%, but this rises under the baseline scenario to 12.43%. Under the stress scenario it drops to 9.31%

The bank said it would issue a third quarter trading statement on Friday, October 31.

Mr Noonan said today's results should be supportive of the value of the State investments in AIB and Bank of Ireland. 

Ulster Bank says test results reflect bank's progress

Ulster Bank said today that the positive outcome of the ECB's comprehensive assessment demonstrates the progress the bank has made over the last number of years. 

The stress test results from the ECB show that Ulster Bank had an Asset Quality Review Common Equity Tier One ratio of 11.55%, which dropped to 10.02% in the baseline scenario, and fell to 6.21% in the stress scenario.

Ulster Bank's chief executive Jim Brown said that this progress has continued into this year with its return to profitability and an acceleration of the disposal of legacy assets. 

This will result in an expected Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of about 17% at the end of September, he added. 

As outlined in its parent group's - Royal Bank of Scotland - trading update in September, Ulster Bank said it expects lower arrears over the coming months.

A trading statement is also expected from the bank next week.

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Permanent TSB fails bank stress test

Permanent TSB said it can cover over 80% of an €855m capital hole identified in European bank stress tests and is finalising plans to raise capital from private investors to fill the rest. 

The other Irish banks included in the assessment - Bank of Ireland, AIB, Ulster Bank and Merrill Lynch International Bank - have passed all aspects of the tests.

The 99.2% state-owned bank said the shortfall at the end of 2013 would largely be dealt with by financial actions taken so far this year and existing contingent convertible bonds held in the bank. 

PTSB recently sold two portfolios of mortgage loans and has hired Deutsche Bank and Davy Stockbrokers to help raise funds. 

Permanent TSB's chief executive Jeremy Masding said the bank would "very probably" seek to raise additional capital on top of the residual shortfall he put at around €125m. The mechanics of the deal had not yet been discussed. 

The bank was tested against a series of adverse scenarios such as a 1.3% fall in gross domestic product this year and a 3.5% drop in house prices. 

The Government expects the economy to grow by almost 5% this year while house prices are up 15% year-on-year. 

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said PTSB would seek to raise the capital in the first half of 2015. 

The Government could cut the shortfall by converting €400m worth of contingent capital notes it holds in the bank, known as CoCo bonds, into equity.

In a trading update released on Friday, PTSB said it had for the first time reduced the amount of money set aside to cover losses on bad loans in the third quarter as it made further progress towards profitability.

The mortgage lender sees a return to group profit by 2017. 

PTSB, which has two weeks to respond to the ECB with its capital raising plan, has been awaiting a verdict from the European Commission on a restructuring plan submitted last year to carve a "good bank" out from its troubled loans.

It said it would shortly submit an updated plan.

Permanent TSB Bank is one of 25 European banks to have failed the ECB stress tests. 

Under the stress test results, PTSB has been told it faces a gross capital shortfall of €854.8m.  

The comprehensive assessment carried out by the ECB was in two parts - an Asset Quality Review (similar to the Balance Sheet Assessment carried out on the Irish banks last year as part of the Troika process), and a Stress Test, involving a baseline and a stress scenario. 

The stress level was viewed as much tougher than previous tests, and lasts for a three year period from the beginning of 2014 to the end of 2016.

PTSB passed the baseline scenario in all years, but failed the stress case at the end of 2016, leaving the bank with a large capital shortfall.

The Central Bank said today the results should have no adverse impact on customers or on the day to day operations of the banks.

Under the baseline scenario, banks are required to have at least 8% common equity tier one capital - a key measure of of a bank's financial strength - at the end of 2016.  In the stress case scenario, the banks are required to have CET1 of 5.5%.

At the end of 2013, PTSB had a CET1 ratio of 13.13%.  Under the Asset Quality review this comes down very slightly to 12.84%.

Under the baseline scenario of the stress test, its CET1 falls to 8.82%, but under the stress case scenario it falls to 0.97%.

To meet the minimum capital requirement under the stress case scenario, PTSB has to raise a gross sum of €854m.  However the actual amount it will have to raise will be less than this, as it already has some sources of additional capital it can call on.

PTSB already has €400m of a type of bond known as a Contingent Convertible note, which can convert into equity in the event of a shortfall. How much of this will finally be allowed to offset against the gross shortfall is to be decided in talks with the regulator in the coming weeks.

It can also use any profits it makes to fill in the shortfall, and it can raise money by selling off parts of the business.

Because PTSB has not had a restructuring plan approved by the European Commission, the stress tests have been carried out on a so called "static" basis, assuming no change in the size and composition of the banks balance sheet over the next three years.

In reality the banks is downsizing, which will affect its capital structure.

Today's results from the ECB show that AIB has an adjusted CET1 ratio of 14.64%, which falls to 12.43% in the baseline scenario, and 6.92% in the stress scenario.

Bank of Ireland has an adjusted CET1 ratio 11.82%, but this rises under the baseline scenario to 12.43%.  Under the stress scenario it drops to 9.31%

Ulster Bank has an AQR adjusted CET1 ratio of 11.55%, which drops to 10.02% in the baseline scenario, and falls to 6.21% in the stress scenario.

Merrill Lynch International Bank has an AQR adjusted CET1 ratio of 14.89%, falling to 10.94% in the baseline scenario and 9.47% in the stress scenario.

None of these banks require any further capital under the terms of the ECB's comprehensive assessment.

In a statement, the Central Bank said that the ECB's Asset Quality Review resulted in an average capital adjustment equivalent to just 0.3% of risk weighted assets for Irish institutions. It said this confirmed the "robustness" of the balance sheet assessments undertaken by the Central Bank at the end of last year. 

"The results of the stress scenario show all Irish based institutions meet the ECB requirements to have, under the baseline scenario, at least 8% common equity tier one capital through to end-2016," a statement from the Central Bank said. 

PTSB says test results will have no impact on customers

Permanent TSB has confirmed that it is in advanced planning with international investment bank, Deutsche Bank, to raise capital from investors in the coming months. 

Group chief executive Jeremy Masding said the lender has already addressed over 80% of the €855m shortfall that the ECB identified in the adverse scenario to the Group's Balance Sheet at the 31 December 2013.  

"The tests were based on our position at the end of December last and we've made huge progress since then on a number of fronts so we've already provided for over 80% of the shortfall that the ECB identified," Mr Masding said in a statement. 

"We look forward to bringing international investors on board now to raise the remaining amount which will leave the bank fully in line with the ECB requirements," he added.

Speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme, he said the bank needed around €125m, and he believed that PTSB will be an attractive investment option for the markets.

Permanent TSB also confirmed that the result of the stress rests will have no effect on the day-to-day operations of the bank and no impact on customers. 

"Customers are unaffected by these tests are are not required to do anything as a result of today's news," the bank's CEO added.

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ECB says 25 banks fail health check of the sector

The 25 euro zone lenders that failed the European Central Bank's landmark health check of the banking sector had a capital shortfall of €25 billion at the end of last year, the ECB said. 

12 of the 25 banks that failed the exercise, which was based on the banks' financial positions at the end of 2013, have since covered their capital shortfalls by increasing their capital by €15 billion in 2014

Italy's financial sector faces the biggest challenge with nine of its banks failing the test, according to watchdog the European Banking Authority, which coordinated the fourth EU stress test with the ECB.

Monte dei Paschi had the biggest capital hole to fill at €2.1 billion, even after its money raising efforts so far this year. 

The EBA said three Greek banks, three Cypriots, two from both Belgium and Slovenia, and one each from France, Germany, Austria, Ireland and Portugal had also fallen short as of the end of last year. 

The ECB has spent the last year reviewing the leading banks' assets and subjecting them to rigorous stress tests - an exercise aimed at flushing out any problems before it begins supervising the sector from November 4. 

The ECB's pass mark was for banks to have high-quality capital of at least 8% of their risk-weighted assets in the most likely economic situation for the next three years, and capital of at least 5.5% under a bleaker scenario. 

Banks with a capital shortfall will have to say within two weeks how they intend to close the gap. They will then be given up to nine months to do so.

The EBA required 123 lenders from across the EU to submit themselves to theoretical shocks such as a three-year recession and said 24 flunked in total.

The ECB's test included a higher number in the euro zone as it also included subsidiaries of big banks.

The ECB has staked its reputation on delivering an independent assessment of euro zone banks in an attempt to draw a line under years of financial and economic strife in the bloc. 

But there is no certainty that bank lending will now pick up as the ECB hopes, to breathe life into a moribund euro zone economy. 

Digging down into bank's balance sheets, the ECB said as of the end of last year, banks' book values needed to be adjusted by €48 billion and that non-performing loans had increased by €136 billion to €879 billion. 

The ECB will not immediately force those lenders with overvalued assets to take remedial action but they will have to hold more capital eventually, leaving less room to expand, lend or pay dividends. 

For lending, the more fundamental question is whether the demand for credit is there. The ECB is about to take on its new regulatory responsibilities but it may be its monetary policy powers that the euro zone needs most. 

The ECB has spent the last year reviewing the assets of the euro zone's 130 biggest lenders and subjecting them to rigorous stress tests - an exercise aimed at flushing out any problems in the sector before it begins supervising the lenders from November 4. 

The central bank also wants the review to draw a line under persistent doubts about the health of the euro zone's banking sector, with a view to boosting investor confidence in the region and helping support its flagging economy. 

"This unprecedented in-depth review of the largest banks' positions will boost public confidence in the banking sector," ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio said in a statement. 

"This should facilitate more lending in Europe, which will help economic growth," he added. 

The fourth EU stress test of banks is being coordinated by the bloc's banking watchdog, the European Banking Authority (EBA), which required 123 banking groups from across the EU states to submit themselves to theoretical shocks such as severe recession. 

The ECB has also scrutinised the balance sheets of 130 banks in the euro zone, a higher number as it also includes subsidiaries of big banks while the EBA test looks at group holding companies. 

The ECB exercise has been billed as more transparent and rigorous than previous efforts, and included a forensic assessment of whether banks had properly valued their assets and a stress test - with 'baseline' and 'adverse' scenarios - to see if they had enough capital to withstand another crash.

The ECB said its adverse stress test scenario showed banks' capital would be depleted by €263 billion, reducing their median core capital ratio to 8.3% from 12.4% - more than in similar tests in the US. 

Banks in Italy, France, Germany, and Spain would take the biggest hits under such adverse conditions. 

The ECB has said lenders will have six months to cover capital shortfalls reported in its asset quality review or the baseline stress test scenario, and nine months to cover any capital shortfalls from the adverse stress test scenario. 

Over the past year, more than 6,000 experts combed through the euro zone's 130 largest banks' books - including household names like Bank of Ireland, AIB, Deutsche Bank, Santander and BNP -  to unearth any hidden losses and weaknesses.

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Man sought over sex assault in west Dublin

A man is being sought in connection with a sexual assault on a woman in her 30s in west Dublin on 18 October.

The woman was attacked at around 7.30am last Saturday at Carpenterstown Park, known locally as Tir Na nÓg Park, on Diswellstown Road.

The woman was approached and assaulted by a man while walking through the park.

The man is described by gardaí as being Caucasian, around 5'8" (1.76m) tall.

He is aged in his late 20s, with straight brown hair that is short at the back and longer in the front and has braces on his teeth.

He spoke good English with a foreign accent. 

The man was wearing a grey hooded-top and dirty, beige trousers at the time of the incident.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information.

Anyone who was in the vicinity of Carpenterstown Park on Saturday morning between the hours of 6.45am and 7.45am are asked to contact them at Blanchardstown Garda station.

The garda station can be contacted on 01 6667000, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666111 or any Garda Station. 

Anyone who may have noticed any activity in the park over the last number of weeks is also asked to call Blanchardstown Garda Station.

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Three arrests after fatal Belfast shooting

A 28-year-old man has died in hospital after being shot in west Belfast yesterday.

The PSNI are investigating the shooting, which happened in an entry between Divis Street and Clonfaddan Crescent at around 5.10pm.

The man was shot in the stomach and thigh and seriously wounded.

He underwent emergency surgery in the nearby Royal Victoria Hospital but died there this morning.

It is thought the shooting may have been connected to a fight in the area a short time earlier.

Two men in their 30s and a 31-year-old woman have been arrested in connection with the incident. 

Police say one of the men arrested was treated in hospital for stab wounds sustained in a "related incident".

Detectives are appealing for witnesses. 

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SF 'not part of any conspiracy' to protect abusers

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has said party members are not part of any conspiracy to protect child abusers.

Speaking at a party rally in Belfast, Mr Adams referred to criticism of Sinn Féin by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the Dáil during the week.

The criticism was made during Leaders' Question when debate was dominated by the accusation made by Belfast woman Maíria Cahill that she had been raped by a member of the IRA in the 1990s.

Maíria Cahill made the accusations in a BBC Spotlight documentary.

Ms Cahill alleged she was raped by a member of the IRA in 1997 when she was a teenager.

She alleged that she was later interrogated by the IRA about her accusations and she says she was forced to confront her attacker.

Ms Cahill went to the police and a case was brought against the alleged rapist and those said to have been involved in the IRA inquiry.

All charges were subsequently dropped after Ms Cahill withdrew her evidence.

Ms Cahill has said Mr Adams' claim that he had asked her uncle, Joe Cahill, to urge her to go to the RUC, was not true.

She said she did have a conversation with her uncle in August 2000 following her own meeting with Mr Adams.

Ms Cahill noted that during that meeting Mr Adams did not tell her to go to the RUC.

She said, in fact, it was made clear during that conversation that if she did, the RUC would try to use her to gain information about IRA members.

Ms Cahill said her uncle told her that if he had known about the abuse before her alleged abuser had left the jurisdiction, he would have told her to go to the police.

She said not only had she been told not to go to the RUC, her family were all told not to go to the RUC.

In the Dáil this week, Mr Adams said there had been no cover-up by him or Sinn Féin.

This morning, Mr Adams rejected what he called "allegations made against myself and named Sinn Féin members by Maíria Cahill." 

This assertion came early in his speech at the Sinn Féin rally, but after he said that nobody doubts that Ms Cahill has been through great distress and I have never doubted that she suffered abuse.

Later, in what party officials say is a significant development, Mr Adams called on any former IRA volunteers who may have any information about any allegations of sexual abuse to pass this on to the appropriate authorities.

He was critical of Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and accused opponents of using the controversy to to further their narrow political agenda.

Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin has said Mr Adams still has questions to answer as to how his party and the IRA dealt with allegations of sex abuse within their own ranks.  

"Mr Adams opted to use his speech this morning to attack his political opponents for continuing to pursue the truth, and demand answers about the manner in which sex abuse allegations were handled by members of the IRA and Sinn Féin.

"This vain attempt to deflect attention from the cover-ups within those organisations, which are now emerging is sickening", he said in a statement.

On Tuesday Northern Ireland's Director of Public Prosecutions Barra McGrory QC announced he is establishing an independent review into three cases linked to the alleged rape.

Mr McGrory said he believed an independent external scrutiny of the processes and procedures in relation to the cases was warranted.

He said all aspects of the prosecutions would be reviewed.

Elsewhere, the Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has said that in any other party people with speak out and suggest that Gerry Adams should step down.

But he said that he thought it was of real concern that members of the party have towed the party line on the issue.

Minister Varadkar said only a few months ago, Gerry Adams was detained in a police station in connection with questions about the murder of Jean McConville.

He said there were now these allegations about the treatment of Ms Cahill, and allegations that child abusers were exported South by the republican movement.

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Iran hangs woman despite international campaign

Iran has hanged a woman convicted of murdering a former intelligence officer she claimed had tried to sexually assault her, defying international appeals for a stay of execution.

Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, who had been on death row for five years, was put to death at dawn.

A message posted on the homepage of a Facebook campaign set up to try to save her noted the "sad news" of her death, adding the words "Rest in Peace" alongside pictures of Jabbari as a young child.

Amnesty International said in a statement issued late yesterday that the young Iranian woman, an interior designer, was due to be executed for the 2007 stabbing of Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi.

Iranian actors and other prominent figures had appealed for a stay of execution, echoing similar calls in the West.

Iran's judiciary had given several deadlines for Mr Sarbandi's family to spare Jabbari under an Islamic sharia law provision.

The provision allows a death sentence for murder to be commuted to a prison sentence with the agreement of the victim's family.

But relatives of Mr Sarbandi, a 47-year-old surgeon who earlier worked for the intelligence ministry, refused to grant clemency, demanding, according to Iranian media, that Jabbari tell "the truth."

A UN human rights monitor said the killing came in self-defence after Mr Sarbandi tried to sexually abuse Jabbari.

They said that the condemned woman's trial in 2009 had been deeply flawed.

But a medical report, prepared for the judiciary and quoted by IRNA in its dispatch today, said Mr Sarbandi was stabbed in the back and that the killing had been premeditated.

Efforts for a commuted jail sentence had intensified in recent weeks but Mr Sarbandi's family and Jabbari remained at loggerheads over the circumstances of the killing.

According to Jalal Sarbandi, the victim's eldest son, Jabbari testified that a man was present in the apartment where his father was killed but she had refused to reveal his identity.

He told two of Iran's reformist daily newspapers, Shargh and Etemad, in April that his family "would not even contemplate mercy until truth is unearthed," about her alleged accomplice.

Jabbari's mother was allowed to visit her for one hour yesterday, Amnesty said, a custom that tends to precede executions in Iran.

According to the United Nations, more than 250 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2014.

The UN and international human rights groups have said that Jabbari's confession was obtained under intense pressure and threats from Iranian prosecutors, and that she should have had a retrial.

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN's human rights rapporteur on Iran, said in April that Mr Sarbandi had offered to hire Jabbari to redesign his office and took her to an apartment where he sexually assaulted her.

However, Mr Sarbandi's family dismissed her account and said Jabbari had confessed to buying a knife two days before the killing.

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Ebola death toll tops 4,900 as virus spreads

The death toll from the Ebola epidemic rose to 4,922 out of 10,141 known cases in eight countries up to Friday, the World Health Organization said today.

The virus, which reached Mali through a two-year-old girl who died on Friday, now threatens Ivory Coast, having infected people virtually all along its borders with Guinea and Liberia.

The three worst-hit countries of West Africa - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - account for the bulk of the world's worst Ebola outbreak.

In these countries they are recording 4,912 deaths out of 10,114 cases, the WHO said in its update.

The overall figures include outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal, deemed by the WHO to be now over, as well as isolated cases in Spain, the United States and a single case in Mali.

But the true toll may be three times as much while the death rate is thought to be about 70 percent of all cases.

The WHO has said that many families are keeping infected people at home.

This is rather than putting them into isolation in treatment centres, some of which have refused patients due to a lack of beds and basic supplies.

The UN agency, sounding an ominous note, said that out of the eight districts of Liberia and Guinea sharing a border with Ivory Coast, only two have yet to report confirmed or probable Ebola cases.

It has also said trials of Ebola vaccines could begin in West Africa in December.

This is a month earlier than expected, and hundreds of thousands of doses should be available for use by the middle of next year.

The WHO says 15 African states including Ivory Coast are at highest risk of the deadly virus being imported.

In the last 10 days it sent teams to both priority Mali and Ivory Coast to help national authorities gear up their capacity to detect and treat potential cases.

Four WHO experts are travelling this weekend to Mali to reinforce the team there.

The agency warned yesterday that many people in Mali had potentially been exposed to the virus because the little girl was taken across the country while ill.

43 people with whom she was in contact, including 10 healthcare workers, are being monitored for symptoms that include fever.

In all, 450 health care workers have been infected to date - including one in Spain and three in the United States - leading to the death of 244 of them, the WHO said.

A medical worker quarantined in New Jersey on her return from treating Ebola victims in West Africa was being evaluated in a hospital isolation ward today.

New contagion-control safeguards have been imposed for America's biggest urban centre.

Isolation wards have been used for medical personnel returning from Ebola zones since Craig Spencer, a doctor who treated patients in Guinea for a month, came back to New York City infected.

Mauritania closes its border with Mali

Elsewhere, Mauritania has closed its border with Mali after a case of Ebola was confirmed in western Mali near their shared frontier.
              
Chief medical officer in Kobenni Limame Ould Deddeh, a town in eastern Mauritania near the Mali frontier, said the government in Nouakchott had sent orders to close all land crossings.

A second Mauritanian official confirmed the move.
              
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali had earlier his country would not shut its border with Guinea.

This is even though the Ebola case in Mali was a girl who brought the disease in from Guinea, which has been battling the disease for months. 

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Thousands gather for anti-water charges protests

Around 6,000 people have gathered at Limerick City Hall to take part in a protest march against water charges.

Organised by the Anti-Austerity Alliance and the 'We won't pay campaign' the crowd chanted a number of anti-Government and anti-water charge slogans.

Anti-Austerity Alliance councillor Cian Prendiville said this march demonstrated a revolt against water charges.

He said postponing the charges was not enough, they want them completely abandoned.

Earlier around 1,000 people attended an anti-water charge protest in Tralee in Co Kerry.

The march and rally in Tralee was organised by Sinn Féin.

Two thousand people have attended a march in Cork City where traffic was at a standstill as far as the suburbs.

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UN says 824,000 displaced by Ukrainian conflict

The conflict in Ukraine has driven more than 824,000 people from their homes, the UN refugee agency said this morning.

The UNHCR warned that it had to quickly prepare aid to offset the impact of winter.

At least 430,000 people had been displaced within Ukraine as of this morning, UNHCR said, 170,000 more than at the start of September.

"With the crisis in Ukraine entering its first winter, UNHCR is racing to help some of the most vulnerable displaced people cope with expected harsh winter conditions," the UN agency said.

"Ongoing fighting in the east, and the resulting breakdown of basic services, continues to drive more people from their homes."

Around 95% of the displaced people are from conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.

UNHCR said that the need for humanitarian aid was greatest around Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kiev and in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions.

In addition to those displaced within Ukraine, another 387,000 have fled to Russia, while 6,600 have applied for asylum in the European Union and 581 in Belarus, UNHCR said.

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Man charged with Jonny Cooper attack

A 31-year-old man has been charged in connection with a knife attack on Dublin footballer Jonny Cooper last month.

The 24-year-old was treated at the Mater Hospital following a stabbing in the early hours of 20 September at Dorset Street in the city.

Mark Lavelle, originally from Bollingbrook, Swinford in Co Mayo, but with an address on Basin Street, Dublin 8, appeared at Cloverhill District Court today.

He is charged with assault causing harm to the Dublin and Na Fianna footballer.

Mountjoy Garda Les O'Rourke told Judge Victor Blake that he arrested Mr Lavelle at the court this morning.

The court heard that when charged and cautioned, Mr Lavelle replied: "I don't remember anything. The Government took my medical card. I was without my medication."

Defence counsel John Cleary told Judge Blake that a bail application was not being made at this point.

He said he needed to examine psychiatric reports on Mr Lavelle and he had to take instructions.

The reports did not mention a fitness to plead issue, the court also heard.

Garda O'Rourke said directions from the DPP have to be obtained and time was also needed to prepare a book of evidence.

Judge Blake remanded Mr Lavelle in custody to appear again next Friday, when a bail application is to be made.

Free legal aid was granted to the unemployed man, who has not yet entered a plea to the charge.

A decision also has to be made on whether the case will be dealt with at district court level or instead be sent forward to the circuit court which can, on conviction, impose lengthier sentences.

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First water bills to arrive at end of January

Irish Water is to issue its first bills at the end of January as the Commission for Energy Regulation has extended the validation campaign until the end of November.

The CER said it has accepted the proposal from Irish Water to extend the deadline beyond the end of this month.

The first bills were due to be sent out at the start of January.

The CER said: "This means Irish Water will issue first bills to households at the end of January 2015 and these bills will include household and children free allowances provided that people register with Irish Water by the end of November."

Paul McGowan of the CER told a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Wednesday that it would make a decision on the proposal at some point this week.

Irish Water Managing Director John Tierney said 747,000 householders had so far responded to the campaign.  

He said additional staff had been put in place to deal with the high number of calls from customers.

Meanwhile, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has said the most important thing about Irish Water is to get back to first principles.

He said that over the last number of years, Ireland had been borrowing money from the markets to pay for water and invest in much-needed water services.

This was no longer sustainable, he said.

Mr Varadkar said it made sense to meter water and charge for it, so that people pay for what they use.

Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell earlier said the Government needs to consider capping water charges to help people in financial difficulty.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said that there "are a great deal of families" on the average industrial wage he believes will be struggling.

"Lessening the impact of those water bills was one of the purposes of the Budget announced last week," he added.

"Unfortunately because of the issues in relation to communication with Irish Water, really all of that good news [in the Budget] has been swallowed up by the issues and the controversy to do with Irish Water."

Mr Farrell said the Budget has gone some way to help people in difficulty, but said there may be need to amend the pricing structure to cap the overall charge.

There needs to be a prompt response from Cabinet, he said, but he believed this would happen.

Fine Gael TD, Sean Kyne has said that a cap on water bills, at a fixed rate, would give certainty and reassure householders.

He said that there is a concern among families with a large number of adults living in a house.

In relation to call-out charges, Mr Kyne said that there should not be an obligation on householders to use Irish Water if the problem is within their own property.

Independent TD, Clare Daly has said that she believes the decision by the Energy Regulator will encourage people in their protests at water charges.

Speaking on RTÉ's News At One programme, she said that she will not be paying the water charge and that if the water pressure is reduced in her house that she'd get a plumber to fix it, adding "sometimes bad laws need to be broken."

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Furious Cameron says UK will not pay EU bill

British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned he would not pay an "unacceptable" €2.1bn bill that the European Union had unexpectedly demanded to be paid by December 1.

"I am not paying that bill on the first of December," Mr Cameron told reporters at an EU summit in Brussels, thumping the lectern as he spoke.

"If people think that is going to happen they've got another thing coming.

"We are not suddenly going to take out our chequebook and pay that cheque."

The budget bust-up raises fresh questions over Britain's vexed EU membership, which Mr Cameron has vowed to put to a referendum in 2017 if he wins a general election next year.

A clearly furious Mr Cameron insisted repeatedly that Britain, one of the largest contributors to the EU budget, had been treated unacceptably.

He said the €2.1bn demand came virtually out of the blue from the European Commission.

"I first learned about this (on Thursday)," he said, "and I immediately set about finding allies such as Italy and the Netherlands," who also face back-bills.

Making the pill even harder to swallow for Britain, the same budget review gives struggling France a rebate of €1bn, while economic powerhouse Germany gets nearly €800m.

"We have asked a lot of questions (but) we have not had answers. I will go on asking those questions," Mr Cameron said.

"It is not an acceptable way to behave and (the EU) should not be surprised when some of its members say it cannot continue like that and that it has got to change."

Asked what impact the latest exchanges could have on the 2017 vote, Mr Cameron said: "It hardly helps," while stressing again his belief that Britain had a role to play in a fully reformed EU.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi last night announced his intention to make public the cost of the European institutions, as a row exploded over his country's budget plans.

European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso sharply criticised Italy earlier yesterday for publishing a letter from the EU requesting clarifications on its rule-breaking budget.

Mr Renzi responded with his promise to shed light on the EU's own spending.

"We will publish data on everything that is spent by these palaces. We're going to have some fun," he said on the margins of the summit.

He added that he was surprised at Mr Barroso's response to the publication of the EU letter, as the details had already been published by the Financial Times and an Italian daily.

"The Italian budget poses no problems," he insisted.

Hours before the EU summit, the Italian finance ministry released a letter from the EU's Economic Affairs Commissioner Jyrki Katainen, marked "strictly confidential", drawing the fury of Mr Barroso.

The president of the EU's executive said the commission was against this "unilateral" decision by the Italian government, preferring that negotiations on its budget take place behind closed doors.

Mr Barroso, who steps down on 31 October, said the commission was "in consultations" with several countries over infringement of the rules and "it's better this happen in a context of trust".

French President Francois Hollande said his country had also received an EU Commission letter requiring a reply by the end of the week.

The dialogue with EU officials continues "in very good conditions", he said, stressing France's commitment to EU budgetary rules but "with the maximum flexibility".

French officials said that there was no intention to publicise the details of the "a private letter".

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