Pages

Friday, May 31, 2013

Donie's all Ireland daily news BLOG Thursday

HSE West claims the reorganisation of public hospitals will result in improved patient outcomes?

 

THE HSE WEST STRESSED THIS WEEK THAT THE REORGANISATION OF PUBLIC HOSPITALS INTO HOSPITAL GROUPS WILL RESULT IN GREATER EFFICIENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY AND IMPROVED OUTCOMES FOR PATIENTS. THE GROUPS COME AS A TRANSITION TO INDEPENDENT HOSPITAL TRUSTS.

The Minister for Health’s decision will mean that the west/north west group will consist of University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park Hospital, Sligo Regional, Letterkenny General, Mayo General, Portiuncula and Roscommon County Hospital. NUI Galway will be the academic partner for this group.
The rationale behind the formation of the groups was the large number and range of acute hospitals operating in relative isolation, the duplication and fragmentation of resources, and the difficulty in recruiting and retaining key staff. The inequitable distribution of workloads and resources was another reason for setting them up, a meeting of the HSE West’s regional health forum was told this week.
Bill Maher, the chief executive of the Galway and Roscommon University Hospitals Group, said the new hospital groups have been described by the health minister as the “most fundamental reform of the Irish acute hospital system in decades”. It is recommended there should be six such groups in Ireland.
He outlined the group has more autonomy to manage resources, both funding and staffing, in a way that is appropriate to the needs of patients.
“We have already started developing our strategic plan, working to national standards of quality and care. This will outline how we will play to the strengths of each of the hospitals in the group so that they will develop services that meet the needs of their patients and of which their locality will be proud.
Steering group
“In addition we have plans in place for a steering group to progress integration and prepare for our transition to a trust. It is our intention to become the first hospital trust in the country.”
The HSE West has already had a head start with part of the group already up and running for more than a year now.
“We have developed effective corporate and clinical governance structures along with quality and safety systems for patient care. This will make it easier to integrate all the hospitals into a common governance arrangement and put structures in place to bring the seven hospitals to the next level of performance and accountability.”
Mr Maher outlined that the Minister had approved the appointment of five non-executive directors to the group.
‘The board has met four times this year including meetings in Roscommon and Portiuncula. Our next board meeting will take place in Galway on 18 June and will be held in public. This is the first of two public board meetings planned for this year which will provide real local accountability to the public we serve.”
However, Cllr Padraig Conneely, the chairperson of the HSE West’s regional health forum, expressed concern about the geographical spread of the new hospital group. He feared there would be a return to the “bad, old days of the HSE” with a “very huge geographical spread and fragmented accountability”. Sligo and Donegal were a long way away from a management perspective, he felt.
He said Mr Maher was doing a “good job” but wondered if he would be able to control such a large group. He feared the new group with its seven hospitals would be “awkward” and “hard to control”.
A number of other forum members from outside Galway voiced similar concerns saying the hospitals within Mr Maher’s remit had now gone from four to seven.
Mayo Fine Gael councillor Seamus Weir said Galway to Letterkenny was a long way and he feared the hospitals in between would not just be “squeezed” but “pulled apart”.
Letterkenny Fianna Fail councillor Ciaran Brogan feared Donegal would become the “poor relation”.
Bill Maher said he was confident the HSE will build on the success of the local hospital group. He said he recognised the geographical aspect of it and while it did concern him he said the HSE had a “very good way” of doing things and with support these new bodies will be successful.

Irish consumer sentiment hits a four-month high for May 2013

  

Irish consumer sentiment registered its strongest rise in four months in May though confidence in the country’s economic prospects remained fragile, a survey showed on Wednesday.

The KBC Bank Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index improved to 61.2 in May from 58.9 a month earlier, to hit its highest level since January.
Only 10% of around 800 consumers surveyed expected to see an improvement in their personal financial situation in the coming year compared to 56 percent who see a further weakening.
“A broadly stable sentiment reading for May suggests Irish consumers remain cautious,
” Austin Hughes, economist at KBC Bank Ireland, said.
“While they may read or hear of an improvement in some economic indicators, this hasn’t translated into more meaningful measures such as their own financial situation,” he said.
The survey’s authors said that low inflation and a cut in European Central Bank interest rates may have helped sentiment, but this fell short of the feelgood factor evident in recent German and U.S. consumer sentiment data.
The May reading will likely add to calls for the government to ease its programme of spending cuts and tax hikes in the 2014 budget from the 3 billion euros ($3.9 billion) planned, Hughes said.
“A slightly smaller adjustment than previously envisaged might reduce downside risks to sentiment and spending later in 2013 and into next year,” he said.
The survey’s sub-index to measures consumers’ perceptions of their future financial situation rebounded to 51.3 following three monthly declines.
The index of current economic conditions increased by 0.6 to 76.0.

Irish drinkers consuming over the recommended units of alcohol a day are risking cancer

  

Irish people are consuming more than 700 times the recommended safe level of alcohol needed to prevent drink-related cancers, a major European conference has been told.

Overall, the risk of developing cancer is smaller if you stick within the guideline amounts, which are around:
  • One standard drink a day for women e.g. a glass (175ml) of wine or a pint of beer or cider.
  • Two standard drinks a day for men e.g. 2 glasses (175ml) of wine or 2 pints of beer or cider.
We don’t yet fully understand the link between alcohol and cancer, but research has proven two things:
  1. Alcohol damages your DNA, which is a risk in itself
  2. Alcoholic drinks have a lot of calories; being overweight also increases your risk of cancer
Alcohol is a known carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) and is responsible for one in 10 male cancers and one in 33 female cancers in Ireland. This amounts to around 900 cases of cancer every year.
Alcohol can increase the risk of a number of types of cancer, including liver, breast, colon and mouth cancer.
Speaking at the official conference of European Week Against Cancer, which is being hosted by the Irish Cancer Society (ICS), Prof Peter Anderson, of the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University in the UK, explained that the average Irish person who drinks alcohol and consumes around 37g per day. This is over 700 times the recommended exposure level set by the European Food Safety Authority to prevent food and drink-related cancers.
“The guidelines for alcohol consumption are not strong enough, particularly when considering it as a carcinogenic. By comparison, there are more stringent guidelines in place for restricting the use of pesticides on fruit than there are for controlling alcohol consumption in humans,” he pointed out.
He told the conference that from a public health perspective, the government should ban all alcohol advertising and sponsorship, as it has done for tobacco products.
“Alcohol advertising helps foster more favourable drinking experiences and promotes social approval for consumption. It will not be possible for Irish society to develop a healthier relationship with alcohol if alcohol continues to be marketed in such an aggressive fashion,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, according to ICS head of advocacy, Kathleen O’Meara, Ireland has one of the highest rates of cancer in the world and the role of alcohol can no longer be ignored.
“We now know that one in 10 cancers in men and one in 33 in women are caused by drinking. When people smoke as well as drink, the two work in combination to substantially increase the risk of cancer. Alcohol and tobacco are estimated to account for about three-quarters of oral cancer cases in Europe,” she explained.
She said that reducing the number of people who develop cancer ‘will require all decision-makers to make this a priority issue and work together to develop solutions’.
The conference was told that even heavy drinkers can reduce their risk of cancer. For example, research has shown that the risk of developing cancer of the mouth throat and oesophagus falls over time if a person stops drinking.
“Alcohol is one of the key determinants not only for cancer but also of other chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It is crucial that we work together to make the European public aware of the risks of drinking too much alcohol,” added Prof Maja Primiz-Zakelj, president of the Association of European Cancer Leagues.

Avatar therapy helps schizophrenia patients silence their tormenting voices

A PILOT STUDY SHOWS THIS?

  

Psychiatrists are developing a system that can help people with schizophrenia control and sometimes silence the tormenting voices in their heads by confronting a computer avatar of them.

In a pilot study of 16 patients who underwent the British experimental treatment, known as “avatar therapy”, doctors found almost all of them reported a reduction in how often they heard voices and how severe the distress caused by them was.
The first stage in the therapy is for the patient to create a computer-based avatar by choosing a face and a voice for the entity they believe is talking to them.
The system then synchronises the avatar’s lips with its speech, enabling a therapist to speak to the patient through the avatar in real time. The therapist encourages the patient to oppose the voice and gradually teaches them to take control of their hallucinations.
“Even though patients interact with the avatar as though it was a real person, because they have created it they know that it cannot harm them, as opposed to the voices, which often threaten to kill or harm them and their family,” Professor Julian Leff, who developed the therapy, told reporters.
“The therapy helps patients gain the confidence and courage to confront the avatar, and their persecutor.”
Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder that affects around one in 100 people worldwide. Its most common symptoms are delusions and auditory hallucinations, or hearing voices.
Leff said patients often told him the voices were the worst feature of their condition. “They can’t think properly, they can’t concentrate, they can’t work and they can’t sustain social relationships,” the professor of mental health sciences at University College London told the briefing.
In the pilot study, three of the patients, who until the trial had been tormented by voices for between 3-1/2 and 16 years, stopped hearing them completely after working with the avatar system.
Each therapy session was also recorded and given to the patient on an MP3 player “so that the patient essentially has a therapist in their pocket which they can listen to at any time when harassed by the voices”, Leff said.
As a result of the early success, the medical charity The Wellcome Trust has given Leff’s team 1.3 million pounds ($2 million) to test the therapy in a larger group of patients.
Thomas Craig, a psychiatrist who will lead the larger trial at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, said auditory hallucinations were particularly disturbing for patients and can be extremely difficult to treat successfully.
“The beauty of the (avatar) therapy is its simplicity and brevity,” he said. “Most other psychological therapies for these conditions are costly and take many months to deliver.”
He added that if the larger trial proved successful, avatar therapy could be widely available within a few years, since the technology is relatively simple and many mental health professionals already have the skills needed to deliver it.

Scientists find the oldest feathered dinosaur yet in China

 

Scientists say this 160-million-year-old fossil, found in northeastern China, indicates that dinosaurs began evolving into birds earlier than previously thought

An on-line survey result below shows that Scientists outside of China should examine the fossil?
Yes    94%,  |   No       6%.
When did birds first emerge from among the dinosaurs? It’s an argument that has plagued paleontologists and cast a shadow over the reputation of Archaeopteryx, a feathered dinosaur that has long been considered the earliest known bird.
Now, scientists say they found an even older feathered dinosaur – one that reestablishes Archaeopteryx as part of the bird lineage even as it may simultaneously dethrone Archaeopteryx as the earliest known “bird.” The study, published online in the journal Nature, provides a key link in the evolutionary chain of events that led from dinosaurs to birds.
“It pushes [back] the origins of birds — or origin of animals that are very closely related to the bird,” said Luis Chiappe, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles who was not involved in the paper. “And that’s quite exciting.”
But some say the fossil may just represent a bird-like dinosaur, not a true bird — and in any case, could have been altered before scientists had a chance to study it.
The new find, christened Aurornis xui, was discovered in northeastern China in the Liaoning Province. The 20-inch, chicken-sized fossil is estimated to be about 160 million years old, about 10 million years older than Archaeopteryx.
After a thorough examination of the fossil researchers from Europe and China constructed a computer-generated family tree that puts both Aurornis and Archaeopteryx in the Avialae family – the group of dinosaurs whose only living representatives are birds.
“Around the origin of birds 160 million or so years ago, there were many fossils that were experimenting with birdness — getting more and more bird-like,” Chiappe said. “What exactly the line is that made it to birds is not entirely clear … and this is just one candidate.”
The study authors argue that Aurornis represents the earliest known bird, but other scientists say it could be part of a group of bird-like dinosaurs that were developing feathers and bird-like features but never quite got off the ground, evolutionarily speaking.
“You’re looking at an animal that is either a very primitive bird or something very closely related to birds,” Chiappe said. “I tend to think that it’s not a bird, but that it’s one of those true very close ancestors of bird.”
In any case, it’s possible the fossil has been altered because it seemed almost too good to be true – too perfectly preserved, Chiappe said. He noted that as many as 80% of fossils in Chinese museumsare thought to be artificially “enhanced” in some way.
“I’d like to see the animal at some point,” Chiappe said, referring to the fossil.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Donie's Ireland news BLOG Wednesday


Irish public-sector staff paid €285 on average more a week than the private sector

  v 

The average working week now stands at just over 31 hours, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.

And there was little difference in the average number of hours clocked up between public and private sector workers in the year to the end of March.
The CSO said that weekly earnings in the private sector increased marginally in the year, and fell in the public sector.
Despite this, public sector workers earned about €285 on average more per week than private sector employees in the first three months of the year.
Across the economy, average weekly earnings stood at €696.59 in the first three months of the year, down slightly on the €696.67 figure for the same period in 2012.

Other key findings include:

  1. Average hourly earnings were €22.31 in the first quarter compared with €22.15 in the same period last year. 
  2. * Hourly earnings rose in six of the 13 economic sectors, with administrative and support services increasing 8.4pc to €17.28, followed by transportation and arts to by 2.6pc to €20.47.
  3.  Average weekly earnings in the private sector in the first three months of the year was €628.26 and €913.25 in the public sector.
  4.  In the four years to the end of March, average public sector weekly wages fell by €20.75 compared with a decrease of €3.56 for those in private firms.
  5. Average weekly paid hours fell to 31.2, down 1pc. 
  6.  The biggest increase in working hours was in the IT sector, moving from 36.2 to 36.7 hours, while the largest drop was in administrative and support services, falling from 30.8 hours to 29.4 
  7. Average weekly paid hours in the private sector was 31.1 and 31.5 in the public sector.
  8. There were 5,000 fewer public servants in the public sector in the first three months of 2013 than in the same period in 2012. Some 37,500 have left the public sector in the last four years.                             
The CSO pointed out that earnings are gross amounts and do not take account of deductions for PRSI, tax and other levies, including the public sector pension levy.

Irish Nurses are set to accept new public service pay deal

  

The country’s largest nursing union is to recommend its members to accept new public service pay proposals.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said that following ‘detailed consideration of the new Haddington Road proposals’, it plans to recommend its members to accept the deal in a forthcoming ballot.
Earlier this year, the INMO had been vehemently opposed to the new Croke Park deal, with 95% of its members voting against it. That deal eventually fell apart when other unions, including SIPTU – the largest public service union – also voted against it.
Public service workers had been warned that pay cuts would be introduced via legislation if a new deal could not be worked out. These Haddington Road pay proposals now look set to be accepted by a majority of public service union members.
The INMO insisted that ‘taking all aspects of the new proposals into account’, it had decided that they were ‘in the best medium to long-term interests of the membership’.
“This was a very difficult decision for my executive council to make, but the choices are very stark. The improvements secured, following the rejection of previous proposals, are significant,” commented INMO general secretary, Liam Doran.
He added that the union feels that these are ‘the best set of proposals which can be obtained through negotiation and are much better than the government’s alternative draconian legislation.’

Minister of health James Reilly anticipates a cigarette plain pack challenge

 

Minister for Health says tobacco industry will try to stop introduction of plain packaging

Minister for Health James Reilly has said he expects the tobacco industry to challenge his plans to introduce plain packaging of cigarettes in the courts.
Dr Reilly said that “without a shadow of a doubt” the industry would try to stop the measure, but this only proved how much of an impact it would have on its efforts to recruit new smokers.
Anti-smoking groups welcomed the Government’s plans to introduce plain packaging of tobacco products from next year. However, tobacco manufacturers and retailers claimed the move would boost the sale of illegal cigarettes by international criminal gangs because the standardised packaging would be easier to produce.
Ireland is set to become the first country in Europe, and the second in the world after Australia, to introduce plain packaging after the Cabinet yesterday approved proposals presented by Dr Reilly.
Dr Reilly said the legislation to be prepared later this year was justified by the fact that it would save lives. Over 5,200 people die each year in Ireland from tobacco-related diseases.
“The introduction of standardised packaging will remove the final way for tobacco companies to promote their deadly product in Ireland.” he said. “Cigarette packets will no longer be a mobile advertisement for the tobacco industry.”
Standardised packaging will remove all forms of branding, such as trademarks, logos, colours and graphics. The brand name would be presented in a uniform typeface for all brands and the packs would all be in one plain neutral colour.
Strong evidenceDr Reilly said there was strong evidence the measure would increase the effectiveness of health warnings, reduce false health beliefs about cigarettes and reduce brand appeal, especially among young people.
Plain packaging was one of a number of measures required to “denormalise” smoking in society, he said. Further initiatives in education and awareness, cessation services and an extension of the workplace smoking ban were also being considered.
The international tobacco industry is supporting a number of countries who are challenging the Australian ban at the World Trade Organisation.
Tobacco smugglingRetail Ireland said the Government was right to do everything it could to reduce the prevalence of smoking, but warned that the measure would make illegally imported cigarettes more attractive.
It said the health initiative should be matched by greater penalties for tobacco smuggling.
The Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation welcomed the proposed legislation, saying it would make children less likely to start smoking.
Attractive packet design was one of the last ways left for the industry to recruit new smokers, the two organisations said, and this meant the legislation was urgently needed.
Research from the UK has found adults and adolescents perceive cigarettes in plain packs to be less appealing.

Minor aftershocks likely following Irish Sea earthquake

     

THE SEISMOGRAMS AS RECORDED ON BROADBAND STATIONS NEAR THE EPICENTRE OF THE EARTHQUAKE

THE EPICENTRE OF THE EARTHQUAKE WAS IN THE IRISH SEA NEAR WALES. 

The Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) has said that further earth tremors are likely in the coming days in the Irish Sea and North Wales where a magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck this morning.The epicentre of the earthquake was 13km away from the town of Abersoch, Gwynedd, the British Geological Survey (BGS) said.
Tom Blake from the School of Cosmic Physics in the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) said there has been a significant increase in seismic activity in the area in recent months and that further minor earthquakes can be expected.
The quake happened at around 4.15am and was felt in Carlow, Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford and Dublin.
The BGS received more than 100 reports from people who felt the quake.
One described “the whole house rocking,” with many stating that windows and crockery rattled. The shaking typically lasted for 10-20 seconds.
The earthquake is the largest in North Wales since a magnitude 4.3 earthquake on 18 August, 1984.
“This was a larger than average earthquake, we get around one a year of this size.
“People have reported hearing an initial loud banging, followed by rumbling, and intense shaking,” a spokesperson said.
The Irish National Seismic Network suggested that today’s earthquake was moderate enough to have relieved any pressure built up in the region and that it was unlikely to be a precursor to a stronger earthquake.Tom Blake added: “It is unlikely that the magnitude of today’s earthquake will be exceeded in the Irish Sea in the coming days but aftershocks can be expected in the hours and days ahead, although many will be too weak to be felt.”

Ban salt call as Irish men still eating twice the daily limit recommended

  
Irish men are eating nearly twice as much salt is as good for them and women are eating 40pc more than they should.
Consumers are still adding too much salt to their meals as it can account for up to 30pc of their daily intake, a Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) seminar has been told.
   People who want to cut down on salt should ban the salt cellar from the table and from the kitchen, said Dr Wayne Anderson of the FSAI.
“Lots of people add salt without even tasting the food, they’ll add salt to a potato and then add butter containing more salt, but it only takes six weeks to retrain the palatte if you just stop adding it,” he said.
Although industry has cut back on the amount of salt it adds to processed meals, consumption is still well above the daily limit of 6g a day.
Irish men eat an average of 11.1g per day and Irish women eat 8.5g, with pensioners also far exceeding their recommended intake. This is serious because high salt intake is associated with increased blood pressure which is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
Meat and fish are the major source of salt in the diet – especially cured and processed meats such as ham and sausages – followed by bread and rolls.
These two categories of food alone contribute over half the salt in the Irish diet.
FSAI chief executive Prof Alan Reilly said the FSAI had worked with industry to bring about substantial reductions in salt content, particularly in foods such as bread and cereals.
“It is therefore considered time for the food industry to drive its own programme of reformulation of all foods, with the FSAI maintaining its independent monitoring role and oversight,” he said.
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) said the food industry was continuing to reformulate products on a scientific basis.
It intended to monitor the impact of this over the past five years and over the next five years to help inform future policy initiatives, said Shane Dempsey of IBEC’s food division.

A small but feisty prehistoric wesserpeton amphibian (Wessie) discovered

  

A SMALL BUT FEISTY SPECIES OF AMPHIBIAN THAT LIVED IN THE SHADOWS OF DINOSAURS HAS BEEN DISCOVERED BY SCIENTISTS.

The discovery of the wesserpeton fills a gap in the evolutionary history of a now-extinct group, the albanerpetontids, according to researchers at the University of Portsmouth.
The amphibian, nicknamed “Wessie”, was about the size of a small, modern-day newt and unlike most amphibians, albanerpetontids had a scaly skin and eyelids, showing that they spent most of their time on land. Details of the skeleton also suggest that they were well adapted to burrowing.
The creature lived on the Isle of Wight, which has gained the nickname Dinosaur Island because of the number of fossils found there, about 130 million years ago during the early cretaceous period, at the same time as dinosaurs such as neovenator, iguanodon and giant, long-necked sauropods.
The researchers believe that broken but healed jaws among the bones suggest Wessie was a feisty creature. Like some modern-day salamanders, it probably engaged in fierce battles for mates and territory and sharp chisel-like teeth indicate that it was a predator.
Steve Sweetman, of the university’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said: “When I started looking for the little animals that lived with the dinosaurs, a Wessie jaw was the first thing I found and I can still remember how excited I was. I also remember thinking that ‘albanerpetontid’ was a heck of a mouthful for such a tiny creature.
“Of the 50 or so new four-legged animals I have now found, Wessie bones are the most common and it was clearly well adapted to the ancient floodplain environment in which it lived.”
The researchers have no complete skeletons of Wessie but they have a large number of isolated bones representing almost all parts of the animal.
Dr Sweetman and his co-author, Jim Gardner of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Canada, named the animal wesserpeton because its bones come from rocks known as the Wessex Formation.
The discovery of Wessie neatly fills an evolutionary gap. Albanerpetontids are first found in rocks of middle jurassic age and their last occurrence is in the late pliocene.
During this period of more than 165 million years, skull bones known as frontals gradually changed from bell-shaped to triangular. Until now, part of this transition was missing from the fossil record.
Dr Sweetman said: “Until the discovery of wesserpeton, there appeared to be an abrupt transition from the more primitive elongated and bell-shaped frontals of the early albanerpetontids to the triangle-shaped frontals of later forms. The frontals of wesserpeton are elongated but they are also triangular, neatly filling the gap between the two.”

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Monday


Mortgage approvals rise by 23% in Ireland for April 2013

       

Latest figures from Irish Bankers’ Federation indicate renewed activity in mortgage market

New mortgage approvals rose by nearly 23 per cent in April compared with the previous month, according to the last figures from the Irish Bankers’ Federation (IBF).
A total of 1,433 mortgage with a combined value of €240 million were approved by lenders during the month.
The IBF’s mortgage approvals report indicated the vast majority (91 per cent) of approvals were for house purchase.
This segment of the market grew by 23 per cent in April on the previous month, and by 11.8 per cent on an annual basis.
With the total value of mortgage approvals for house purchases standing at €226 million in April, the average mortgage approval value for the purposes of house purchase was €167,418 – up 2.2 per cent on the same period last year.
The IBF’s director of public affairs, Felix O’Regan, said: “The increase in the number of new mortgage approvals recorded in April is welcome evidence of renewed activity in the mortgage market, a pattern which first emerged during the latter part of last year.”
“Following a more recent slowdown in activity in the first quarter of this year – due to seasonal factors and the expiration of mortgage interest relief – the latest approvals figures provide a firm indication of underlying growth in the market.”
Piba, the umbrella group which represents financial brokers, however, said the figures were “no cause for celebration”.
“Firstly it’s worth remembering that mortgage lending has dropped 95 per cent from peak. Secondly the figures are for approvals and the suspicion is that there may be quite a gap between approvals and drawdown,” Piba’s Rachel Doyle said.
“There is huge unmet need with the biggest impediment being a lack of lending. It is our experience that there has been a slight easing in the system of late and the April figure is likely to represent a further small improvement. However, it is not going even close to meeting current demand,” she said.
She said demand is being driven primarily by people believing that property prices are close to the bottom of the market (61 per cent) and the fact that it is as cheap to buy as rent (20 per cent).
“However, the biggest impediment to these people is the unnecessarily stringent conditions being imposed by lenders on people who do have the capacity to repay loans.”
Data collection for the IBF Mortgage Approvals Report began in August 2012 covering the period from January 2011.

Irish Men the biggest culprits for speeding on our roads

   

Half of all Irish drivers admit to breaking the speed limit – and men are the worst offenders, a new survey shows.

Research published today found 64pc of men admitted to speeding compared to 49pc of women.
Our top three bad habits are driving too fast, forgetting to dim lights when meeting on-coming cars and driving too close to the car in front.
Alarmingly, 10pc of drivers admitted to driving without a seatbelt in the past year, according to the survey carried for Liberty Insurance’s Safe Driver Campaign.
Both sexes are guilty of taking their eye off the road with almost one in five admitting to eating, shaving, applying makeup or brushing their hair while driving.
Almost half of Irish drivers have also experienced another driver forcing them to pull in to allow an overtake manoeuvre while only 4pc admitted to doing this.
Two-thirds of drivers have experienced another driver not using their indicator while overtaking but only 15pc admitted to this.
Most worryingly, only 1pc admitted to driving without a seatbelt while children were in the car while almost two in five drivers have said they observed this in the past year.
The research, conducted by Millward Brown, also saw men admit to suffering more from frustration on the road.
A total of 24pc of men admitted to unnecessarily beeping the horn compared to 16pc of women.
And a quarter of women admit to having taken more than three turns when trying to park compared to 17pc of men.
The campaign is aimed at encouraging motorists to think more about driver safety by examining their driver behaviour and that of others.
The top three bad habits that Irish drivers have admitted to are driving over the speed limit (56pc ), forgetting to dim lights when meeting on-coming cars (31pc ) and driving too close to the car in front (22pc).
Liberty Insurance head of marketing Annette Ni Dhathlaoi said: “ Many Irish drivers are guilty of bad habits such as tailgating, driving over the speed limit or taking our eye off the road which can lead to road accidents.”

Ireland will deploy ministers to counter ‘tax haven’ claims made in the USA

 
Dublin will mount a diplomatic offensive to dispute claims made by a US Senate committee that it is a tax haven amid concern that last week’s congressional hearings with Apple executives have tarnished Ireland’s reputation.
Richard Bruton, the Irish business minister, said on Monday the government planned to write to the US Senate’s permanent subcommittee on investigations to counter claims it is a tax haven or had agreed a special deal with Apple enabling the company to avoid paying taxes.
“The government is absolutely clear: talk of Ireland being a tax haven is wrong,” he told reporters. “There are no special deals in Ireland.”
The Irish government plans to send senior ministers abroad to explain its tax strategy to officials and in media interviews in an attempt to repair some of the damage caused by the committee hearings. Eamon Gilmore, deputy prime minister, will begin the charm offensive this week when he meets officials at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris. Lucinda Creighton, Europe minister, will also meet US officials in Washington.
Ireland is recovering from a deep financial crisis and is hugely reliant on foreign investment with 150,000 people in the country employed by multinationals. Dublin is alarmed that the attention given to claims made by Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate committee, could prompt international bodies such as the OECD and EU to force it unilaterally to change its tax code.
Last week the investigations committee accused Dublin of being at the centre of a complex tax avoidance strategy devised by Apple that enabled the company to save US tax on $44bn in “otherwise taxable offshore income”. The report also claimed Apple reached a special deal with Ireland to apply a tax rate of less than 2 per cent on any profits that are taxable in the country – well below the 12.5 per cent Irish corporate tax rate.
Also this month, a UK parliamentary committee focused attention on Ireland’s tax code when it highlighted how Google managed to reduce its tax bill using the so-called “Double Irish” tax avoidance strategy.
This mechanism relies on two Irish incorporated companies. The first is tax resident in Ireland and pays royalties to use intellectual property, which generates expenses that reduce the amount of tax it pays in Ireland. The other company, typically incorporated in Ireland but not tax resident in the country, collects the royalties in a tax haven such as Bermuda or the Caymans, thereby avoiding Irish taxes.
Mr Bruton said there were opportunities for aggressive tax planning for companies that sought to arbitrage through the tax codes of different countries and Dublin would support global efforts to stop this.
“Ireland supports initiatives to deal with such aggressive tax planning but they will be done through international forums such as the OECD,” he said.
Mr Bruton said other countries had special deals with companies and suggested moving unilaterally could hurt Ireland’s competitiveness.
“When I go into the boardrooms competing for mobile investment, I know there are companies coming in behind me from Switzerland or other countries with alternative offers who are going to be offering special deals. We don’t do that,” he said.

Property tax database will help flush out 32,000 rogue Irish landlords

  

The property tax database is going to be used to chase down almost 32,000 rogue landlords who have previously escaped detection.

Their identities are being revealed due to the fact that their tenants are contacting the Revenue to tell them that they are not the owners of the house. Under the law, all landlords are required to have registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board.
The Government is now going to change the law so that the Revenue can pass on the names and addresses of landlords identified by tenants to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB).
They are now facing the prospect of fines of up to €4,000 or six months in jail if they are found not to have fulfilled their obligation to register.
And they also face the prospect of a Revenue tax audit to discover if they have been avoiding paying tax on their rental income. Junior Minister for Housing Jan O’Sullivansaid she would be bringing through legislation to allow the PRTB to get information from the Revenue’s property tax database.
“The vast majority of landlords are compliant but the small ‘rogue’ element need to wake up to the fact that non-compliance won’t be tolerated and they will face the music,” she said.
According to the PRTB, there were 308,750 households living in private rental accommodation in the 2011 Census. But it currently has 277,000 tenancies registered – meaning that there are up to 31,750 landlords who have not signed up.

Science-funding agencies to forge a deal to allow US researchers to study in Ireland

  

The head of the science-funding agency Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Prof Mark Ferguson today signed an agreement with Dr Cora Marrett from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to pave the way for US researchers to do a stint in Ireland at one of SFI’s research centres.

Ferguson was in Berlin, Germany, today for a meeting of the Global Research Council where he forged the new partnership with Marrett, who is the acting director of the NSF.
Under the agreement, selected researchers from the NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship programme will be able to carry out research at one of SFI’s research centres for between three and 12 months.
Ferguson said the partnership will create new opportunities for young, talented researchers while also strengthening the academic ties between Ireland and the US.
Areas the US researchers will be involved in while they study in Ireland will include nanotechnology, big data, marine energy and medical technologies.
Marrett said graduate students being trained as scientists and engineers in the US will increasingly collaborate and compete with their peers from around the globe throughout their careers.
She said the Graduate Research Fellowship programme would prepare the NSF’s graduate research fellows to engage in the global research space by connecting them to scientists and research infrastructure in Ireland and around the world.
Besides Ireland, other countries that take part in this alliance with the NSF include Switzerland, Chile, Norway, South Korea, Denmark, Singapore, Finland, Japan, France and Sweden.