Thumbs down

Vat's not fair: Ireland's competitiveness as a holiday destination is being seriously damaged by high Vat rates and rises in local government charges, an Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) report has warned. The report blames high Vat rates in Ireland relative to our European competitors and the non-recoverability of Vat as a business expense as hindering competitiveness.

Double trouble: The British Trading Standards Institute has urged parents to check product labels carefully after a survey revealed huge levels of salt and fat in many popular products. A child eating the highest-fat content breakfast cereal, snack, ready-made lunchbox, cereal bar, chocolate bar, ready-meal, dessert and drink would eat 133.7g of fat in a single day, well over the guideline maximum of 85g fat for 11 to 14-year-old boys and 70g for girls. Eating foods with the highest salt content, meanwhile, racks up 13.5g in a single day - double the recommended level.

High tea: Irish tea drinkers can look forward to paying more for a cuppa after a surge in the global price following a severe drought in Kenya - one of the world's biggest producers. Tea importer FitzPatrick & Company said the price of tea coming into Ireland has hit record highs, increasing by an average of 55 per cent.