METRO Friday, October 16, 2009 D METRODigest A US couple have admitted swapping a cockatoo and $175 (117) for two children. Paul and Brandy Romero from Louisiana pleaded guilty to two counts relating to the sale of a minor, but their five-year sentence was suspended in exchange for their testimony against the woman accused of selling the children. The Romeros say they didnt know the legal requirements for transferring children and they were just trying to provide a home for the youngsters. THE number of overseas visits to Ireland in the first eight months of this year was down almost 11 per cent on the same period last year, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The statistics agency says foreign trips by Irish residents were down by a similar amount between January and August. The number of visitors in August was down 13 per cent on the same month in 2008, with trips from the UK down by almost one-quarter. Overseas visits from North America were up 7.1 per cent during the month, but trips from Europe were down three per cent. Overseas visits down by nearly 11% Thousands of visitors will visit Stampa 2009, Irelands 38th national stamp exhibition this weekend at Dublins RDS. Some of Irelands most valuable stamp collections will be on view and experts will provide valuations and advice Picture: Maxwells ON STAMP DUTY Now all TDs will get say on Nama EVERY member of the Dil will get the chance to have their say during the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) debate. The Government has bowed to Op- position pressure to open the commit- tee stage of the debate to all TDs. The debate will now take place on two days next week and for four days the following week when the Dil it- self is on a mid-term break. While each member will be entitled to speak, only the members of the Fi- nance Committee will vote on the large number of amendments expect- ed to be tabled by the Government and Opposition. The draft business plan on the States bad bank was published late on Wednesday, and yesterdays order of business was dominated by com- plaints about it. The Government estimated that Nama will make a profit of 5.5bil- lion or 4.8billion after inflation by the time it is wound up in 2020. The agency plans to buy 77billion worth of loans for the reduced price of 54billion, thus freeing banks from their toxic loans to get credit flow- ing again. BY ROSS McDONAGH UNDER reforms announced yesterday, taxi drivers will no longer be able to sell their licences, and from 2010 new licenses will be given only to drivers whose cars are wheelchair accessible. As it is individuals with disabilities who are often most reliant on the door-to- door service offered by taxis, there is a need to increase the number of wheelchair-accessible vehicles, said Commissioner for Taxi Regulation Kathleen Doyle. The reforms also state that current licences can be sold on only once and can only be transferred to a standard saloon car under three years old. Ms Doyle said this was to make sure those entering the industry would do so at a high standard. New licences for wheelchair taxis only THE OBriens Irish Sandwich Bar brand has been acquired by Abrakebabra Investments Limited (AIL). The sandwich chain, which had 450 employees, went into liquidation last week after a rescue bid failed. AIL, which also runs Abrakebabra, the Bagel Factory and Gourmet Burger Kitchen outlets in Ireland, said it had taken a master franchise for OBriens in the Republic. We have over 25 years of experience in the franchise sector and we are looking forward to working with franchisees to ensure that in these testing retail times they feel renewed confidence in the brand, said Graeme Beere, one of the owners of AIL. Abrakebabra buys OBriens brand index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html