EU commission release an additional €1.7bn in loans to Irish Government under bailout scheme
The EU commission have now cleared the release of another €1.7 billion in emergency loans to the Government under the bailout scheme.
The disbursement brings to some €36.7 billion the total amount of European loans released to Ireland since the EU-IMF-ECB programme began in late 2010.
The latest payment includes €1 billion from the funding stream controlled by the European Financial Stability Facility, owned by euro-zone countries, and the European Financial Stability Mechanism, which is operated by the EU Commission.
A further €700 million comes from the bilateral loan scheme through which Britain, Sweden and Denmark are contributing to the bailout.
The latest payments follow the summer review of the Ireland’s bailout performance by the EU-IMF-ECB “troika” which was carried out in July.
That review, which went to finance ministers last weekend, found the programme is on track despite a challenging domestic and external backdrop.
The commission’s report, details of which were published last month by The Irish Times, said downside risks to the programme have increased, mainly due to “growing headwinds” in the economies of Ireland’s main trading partners. It called for “better targeting of the social support schemes” and said there should be a “further broadening of the tax base”.
This would help mitigate the adverse impact of the necessary consolidation on growth and the most vulnerable, it added.
“More needs to be done to alleviate or eliminate work disincentives and unemployment traps caused by some features of Ireland’s benefits system (eg, the broadly flat and open-ended unemployment benefits that do not diminish with the duration of the unemployment spell) and the recent move to de-couple housing support from unemployment status should be further advanced.”
However, the Commission said growth would depend in the near-to-medium term on export demand and performance.
Asylum children in refugee centres in Ireland ‘in extreme poverty’
An asylum-seeker pictured in the Globe House reception centre in Sligo.
A damning report on the plight of children in the State’s asylum process suggests many families are living in circumstances of extreme poverty in overcrowded accommodation with inadequate food.
The report, published today by the Irish Refugee Council (IRC), paints a grim picture of the State’s system for accommodating asylum seekers, known as direct provision.
It documented frequent instances of malnutrition among children and expectant mothers as well as illnesses related to diet among babies and young children.
The study, which reviewed the provision of direct accommodation in Ireland over the past decade, highlighted cases of weight loss among children and hunger among adults because of strict family rationing.
In one case, a reception centre in Co Mayo stipulated that once a child reached six months, no more baby or toddler foods would be provided and the children would only be supplied with food “consistent with the rest of the residents”.
The report found that, in many instances, asylum-seekers and their families were subject to severe levels of overcrowding, with many families confined to single rooms for long periods. In one case, a family of five was confined to single room, with three children made to sleep in one bed, despite repeated complaints.
Irish scientists invent technology (nano-science) to keep the fizz in our beer
Irish scientists invent technology to keep the fizz in beer
Multinational brewing company SABMiller is to invest in a project at Trinity College Dublin’s CRANN that will see nanoscience used to develop a new material to prolong the shelf life of beer in plastic bottles.
The project, led by Prof Jonathan Coleman and his team at CRANN, have used nanoscience to create a new material that when added to plastic bottles makes them extremely impervious.
As a result, oxygen cannot enter and neither can carbon dioxide escape – as a result preserving the taste and fizz.
The team will exfoliate nano-sheets of boron nitride, each with a thickness of about 50,000 times thinner than one human hair. These nano-sheets will be mixed with plastic, which will result in a material that is extremely impervious to gas molecules. The molecules will be unable to diffuse through the material and shelf life will be increased.
As well as increasing the shelf life of the beer itself, less material is required in production, reducing cost and environmental impact.
The technique has been published in the journal Science.
IRELAND IS SIXTH IN THE WORLD FOR NANO-SCIENCE
“This partnership with SABMiller highlights the applicability of nanoscience and its relevance to everyday products,” Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, executive director, CRANN, explained.
“Improving every consumables, from our lighting, our cars, our electronic devices, medicines, clothing, and food and drink, is being researched by nanoscientists worldwide. Ireland is amongst the world leaders in this area, ranked sixth globally for materials science.
“Because of the work like that of Prof Coleman and his peers, last year CRANN received over €5m in non-Exchequer funding to progress research projects. Companies worldwide, like SABMiller, are taking notice. We are delighted to partner on this exciting project and look forward to its results,” O’Brien said.
Ireland’s children’s referendum now set for November 10th 2012
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton on their way to a Jobs announcement for Electronic Arts in Galway today.
Mr Kenny told the Dail this afternoon the wording of the Children?s Referendum would be published tomorrow.
The children’s referendum will be held on Saturday, November 10th, the Taoiseach told the Dáil today.
Enda Kenny told the House he would announce the wording of the referendum tomorrow and also name the Referendum Commission chair.
He said he would brief Opposition leaders tomorrow in advance of the wording being published.
Mr Kenny said Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald would also publish the Adoption Amendment Bill tomorrow
The Taoiseach said the Government was “committed to ensuring the Irish people have all the information they need to make an informed decision”.
He said the Referendum Commission would be well-resourced. “The protection of children is an issue that concerns us all,” he said. “Numerous reports over many years have called for dedicated constitutional provisions for children.”
Mr Kenny said the referendum proposals, when combined with other reforms to improve child protection and welfare services, represented an historic step forward. He pointed out that there had been good co-operation on a cross-party basis about the issue over many years.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said the Taoiseach should have consulted the Opposition before making the announcement. It would have been “common courtesy”, Mr Martin said, particularly on an issue pertaining to the amendment of the Constitution and it was “proper parliamentary procedure”.
Meanwhile, Ms Fitzgerald said the referendum would be one of the most significant in the history of the State.
“I am very pleased by the decision of Government to hold this historic referendum on a Saturday,” she said in a statement..
“This referendum proposes a child-centred change to our Constitution and I think it is only right that we are taking a similar, child-centred approach to the holding of a Referendum, by naming a Saturday as polling date.”
‘Clear & robust’ wording is needed on Ireland’s children’s rights amendment
Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald.
The proposed children’s rights amendment to the Constitution will be “a strong robust article designed to enhance the constitutional protection of children from abusive situations”, Government sources said last night.
The wording agreed at Cabinet yesterday – and to be announced today – would, if approved by the electorate, “provide a clear instruction to judges from the Constitution to place a much greater focus on children”.
This would particularly include “the interests of children in cases that affect the critical elements of their lives”.
The referendum will take place on Saturday, November 10th, when, as usual, much of the balloting throughout the State will take place on school premises.
“It means children don’t have to be taken out of school,” a Government source said.
The wording is to be based on the “core principles” of the text published by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children in February 2010. In particular, it is expected to contain five elements in a single article. The first would recognise the natural and imprescriptible rights of children.
The second would be similar to the current article 42.5, which the amendment proposes to delete, relating to the State supplying the role of the family in exceptional cases. It is expected to contain a form of words making clear this intervention can take place irrespective of parents’ marital status.
The third element is likely to provide for the adoption of children whose parents, again irrespective of marital status, have failed for a period of time prescribed by law in their responsibility. It will also allow for voluntary placement for adoption, meaning married parents can consent for the first time to having their children placed for adoption.
The fourth part is expected to say the best interests of the child must be a “paramount” consideration in judicial and custody proceedings. The fifth element is expected to say that in such proceedings the views of children must be heard and taken into account, having regard to the child’s age and maturity.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald will brief Opposition leaders on the wording in meetings this morning, with a view to achieving all-party consensus.
Fianna Fáil spokesman on children Robert Troy said: “We are still waiting to see the exact wording of the changes proposed for the Constitution, but I welcome the fact that there are indications that the wording will be along the lines of that agreed by the all-party committee during the last Dáil.”
Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said his party was “disappointed we did not have prior sight and a longer opportunity to evaluate the Government’s proposed wording”. However, Government sources said changes could be proposed in the Oireachtas debate on the legislation.
A Good night’s sleep is important & can help you to lose weight
Getting a good night’s sleep is just as important as diet and exercise when trying to lose weight, Canadian scientists have claimed.
There is a growing body of evidence that a lack of sleep enhances hunger signals in the brain and increases levels of hormones which affect our appetite, causing us to eat more
A variety of studies suggest that getting at least seven hours’ sleep every night can significantly improve the chance of losing weight while on a diet.
There is a growing body of evidence that a lack of sleep enhances hunger signals in the brain and increases levels of hormones which affect our appetite, causing us to eat more.
Writing in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers said sleeping habits ought to be addressed along with diet and physical exercise in programmes designed to help obese people lose weight.
In one recent experiment, they found that people who shifted their sleeping pattern from less than six hours to between seven and eight hours a night put on 2.4kg less weight over a six-year period.
In another recent study by a separate team, participants were allowed to sleep for either five and a half or eight and a half hours each night for two weeks, while eating a low-fat diet.
The experiment showed that the lower amount of sleep resulted in stress which caused participants to burn off muscle while storing their body fat.
Compared with those who slept for eight and a half hours each night, the sleep-deprived group lost 55 per cent less body fat and 60 per cent more muscle over the two week period.
The researchers, from the Eastern Ontario Research Institute and Laval University in Quebec, wrote: “An accumulating body of evidence suggests that sleeping habits should not be overlooked when prescribing a weight-reduction program to a patient with obesity.
“Sleep should be included as part of the lifestyle package that traditionally has focused on diet and physical activity.”
Further research should identify the causes which prevent us getting a full night’s rest, such as watching television in the evening, they added.
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