D Monday, February 1, 2010 News Upkeep of State websites from 62.99 to 523,000 THE Government has defended its website maintenance costs following Opposition accusations of frivolous over-spending. Fine Gael Senator Paschal Donohoe claimed some Government websites cost 8,300 times more to run than oth- ers, and questioned whether taxpay- ers were getting value for money. He said the motor tax website, with more than 4million in traffic, cost 523,000 to maintain in 2009; the Company Registration Office site, with 600,000 visits, cost just 5,000 and the Fisheries & Food for the Ani- mal Welfare Advisory Councils (www.fawac.ie) costs 62.99 for the year, with more than 20,000 visits. The figures show very large dis- crepancies with the up-keep of one site costing little more than 60 and another totalling more than half a mil- lion, Senator Donohoe said. However, the Department of the En- vironment called the senators state- ment a ridiculous, false claim. You are not comparing like with like, a spokesman said, adding the site saves millions of euro for both the State and motorists. The actual cost per use is minimal, he said. By Ross McDonagh Niamh and Megan Costello from the National Performance Art School joined a flash-mob that danced a Glee-style performance on Grafton Street to promote Steve Coopers Dublins 98fm show Sister act Kidnap yacht pair in plea for help A DESPERATE plea for help by a British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates while sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania has emerged. A gaunt-looking Rachel Chandler, who is being kept separate from her husband Paul, said they were being treated cruelly by the pirates who kidnapped the couple in the Indian Ocean more than three months ago. She begged to be reunited with him and pleaded for help to secure their release in a new film broadcast by Sky News. Drunken Rip Torn breaks into bank TROUBLED actor Rip Torn has been arrested after breaking into a bank while drunk and brandishing a loaded revolver. Police found the Men In Black star inside the Salisbury bank near his Connecticut home. The actor (pictured) smashed a window thinking the bank was his home before breaking in, police said. The banks manager told celebrity site TMZ no-one was in the building at the time and he did not think Torn was trying to steal anything. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html