75% of Irish mortgages in long-term arrears still not yet restructured?
Dept of Finance says there has been a ‘significant rise’ in split mortgages
Houses under construction at Hamilton Place, Trim, Co Meath.
New figures from the Department of Finance show the number of mortgage accounts in arrears of more than 90 days has fallen to 79,782.
Nearly three-quarters of mortgages in long-term arrears have not yet been restructured, according to new figures from the Department of Finance.
The data shows 59,226 or 74 per cent of mortgages in arrears of 90 days or more have not yet been restructured.
The figures are based on data from the country’s six main banks – AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, ACC, KBC Ireland and Ulster Bank.
The Department of Finance said almost 14,000 permanent mortgage restructures and 6,571 temporary restructures had been agreed by the end of last year for mortgages in arrears of 90 days or more.
In total, the six main domestic banks have offered 51,188 permanent mortgage restructuring deals to mortgage holders who are in arrears, an increase of 6,011 accounts since the end of September 2013.
The number of mortgage accounts now in arrears of greater than 90 days has fallen from 81,156 to 79,782, a drop of 1,374 accounts over the same period.
The department of finance said there has been a “significant rise” in the number of split mortgages from 2,521 in August to 6,239 at the end of December.
AIB has meanwhile announced a €350 million New Homes Development Fund to support the construction and supply of new homes in the cities and suburbs of Dublin, Cork and Galway.
The fund, which was launched today, will be available to borrowers who can demonstrate prior experience in residential development.
“AIB recognises the acute shortage of available housing in key locations around the country and this €350 million fund will support experienced operators in constructing quality housing units to help meet demand,” head of business banking Ken Burke said.
Property Industry Ireland welcomed the new initiative, saying the lack of new housing has been the main contributing factor to the rapid increase in house-prices and rents.
Satellite centres of new children’s hospital ‘due by 2016′
Construction of satellite centres of the new children’s hospital will go ahead on the campus of Tallaght Hospital and Connolly Hospital, it has been announced.
Each centre will provide consultant-delivered urgent care, with observation beds (4-to-6 hour) and appropriate diagnostics.
It is anticipated that the centres will open from 7.30am to 10pm. The majority of patients attending the centre will be treated and discharged. Critically ill and injured children will be stabilised by appropriately-trained staff and transferred to the main site using a retrieval and transport service.
Similar models elsewhere show around 2 per cent transfer to the main site (in this model it may be 5-to-8%, depending on opening hours, as children who arrive close to closing time and require ongoing observation/care may need to be transferred). The centres are projected to provide 41% of urgent acute care in the Greater Dublin Area, equivalent to 50,000 attendances annually.
Both centres will be established in advance of the main children’s hospital opening, with an estimated completion date of mid-2016, subject to detailed site studies and planning consent. “I am confident that the locations selected will enable us to get these centres built in line with our target date of mid 2016 — well in advance of the opening of the main hospital,” said Tom Costello, Chair of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Group Board.
The satellite centres are being developed in order to enhance access to emergency/urgent care facilities for children in the Greater Dublin Area. As well as urgent care, each centre will also provide secondary acute outpatient services, including rapid access general paediatric clinics.
“For children in the Greater Dublin Area, the development of satellite centres ensures they have the best possible access to urgent care and outpatient services,” the Minister for Health Dr James Reilly said. “We have been careful to ensure that we can still develop specialist outreach from the main hospital to paediatric units around the country, for children throughout Ireland.”
These two satellite centres will each provide urgent care — to be established well in advance of the main hospital opening. Each centre will also provide secondary outpatient services, including rapid-access general paediatric clinics.
This configuration improves geographic access to urgent care for a significant number in the Greater Dublin Area, supports primary and community care paediatrics and significantly reduces emergency department and outpatient attendance on the main site. Both satellite centres will be located on the site of an acute hospital.
Co-locating satellite units with an adult hospital provides the opportunity to share clinical and non-clinical support services with the adult hospital, such as pathology, pharmacy, sterile services, biomedical engineering, facilities management and diagnostics.
A number of criteria were identified against which location options were considered. These are paediatric population density; level of deprivation experienced by the population; accessibility; clinical advantages; site suitability; and cost.
Man dies after falling while trying to gain access to Sligo City hotel
Gardaí are investigating incident which they have described as a ‘tragic, freak accident’
The entrance to the Sligo City Hotel on Quay Street in the town.
The man is understood to have suffered serious head injuries after he fell from a height of about 5 metres.
He was taken to Sligo Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead at around 2.30am.
A woman, who was with him a the time, is understood to have sustained an ankle injury in the incident, but her injuries are not thought to be serious.
It is believed that the man was trying to gain access to the first floor of the hotel at the time of his fall.
Gardaí are investigating the incident.
A spokesman said Gardai were satisfied the death was not suspicious and described it as “a tragic, freak accident”.
The Sligo City Hotel is located beside City Hall close to the centre of the town.
Safefood Ireland calls for sweet-free checkouts
Irish supermarkets are being called on to make checkout areas sweet-free zones.
The call was made by Safefood as part of its ongoing campaign aimed at tackling the serious issue of childhood obesity. Currently, one in four Irish children is overweight or obese.
The organisation has already approached the CEOs of Aldi Ireland, Lidl Ireland, Dunnes Stores, Musgraves Group and Tesco Ireland, asking them to cut down on the amount of unhealthy foods at checkout and queuing areas.
A recent survey of customers carried out by Safefood found that at least seven in 10 people believe that having sweets and other unhealthy treats at checkout areas contributes to obesity.
Almost half of people admitted that they find it hard to resist such foods at the checkout, while one in three admitted to buying them on impulse while waiting to be served.
At least one in four said that they would be more likely to shop in places where these foods were not displayed at the checkout.
“Our childhood obesity campaign is focused on providing parents with advice on practical changes they can make with their families, for example, saying no to treats in the supermarket. Facing an array of foods high in fat and sugar at checkouts makes it much more difficult for all consumers, especially those shopping with children, to make healthier choices,” commented Safefood chief executive, Martin Higgins.
He added that he hoped supermarkets would support this important initiative by introducing sweet-free checkouts.
Over 2,500 Irish children on waiting lists for mental health services
Latest report of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service shows increase of 11% in number of cases seen.
More than 2,500 children and adolescents were on waiting lists for mental health services at the end of September last year, an increase of 24 per cent.
The figure is published in the 5th annual report of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) today.
It also reveals that staffing levels in the service are at just 44.6 per cent of the level recommended by official government policy.
In the twelve months from October 2012 to September 2013, some 9,616 new cases were seen by community CAMHS teams compared with 8,671 for the previous 12 months – an increase of 11 per cent.
There were 12,022 referrals in the same period, which is a 21 per cent increase on the previous 12 months, the report said.
Of the 9,616 new cases seen, a total of 1,551 (16 per cent) were aged 16 and over. This was an increase of 446 (40 per cent) compared with the previous year.
Half of all new cases were seen within a month of referral and 71 per cent were seen within three months.
The report said 9 per cent of new cases had waited between three and six months, 5 per cent had waited between six and 12 months and 4 per cent had waited more than a year to be seen.
Eleven per cent of children did not attend their first appointment.
As at the end of September last year, 2,541 children were waiting to be seen – an increase of 491 or 24 per cent on the same period the previous year.
ADHD and other attentional disorders were the most frequent primary presentation at 31 per cent of cases. Anxiety was the next largest at 18.3 per cent of primary presentations, the report said.
The autistic spectrum disorder category was more frequently seen in Dublin-Mid Leinster, accounting for just over 17 per cent of cases.
In the 16 and over age group, girls accounted for 51.6 per cent (788) of cases and boys 48.4 per cent (738).
Depression, followed by anxiety, self-harm and eating disorders were the most frequent primary presentation in girls. ADHD and other attentional disorders were the most prevalent issues seen in boys.
The report said, however, that the rates of emotional disorders, including depressive and anxiety disorders in boys had increased.
It noted the majority of illness burden in childhood and more so in adolescence was caused by mental disorders and said the majority of adult mental health disorders had their onset in adolescence.
One in 10 children and adolescents suffer from mental health disorders associated with “considerable distress and substantial interference with personal functions” such as family and social relationships and their capacity to cope with day-to-day stresses.
Minister of State for Mental Health Kathleen Lynch said the increasing service demands reflected in the report, together with the evidence-based good outcomes of early intervention by the services, reinforced her commitment to ensure best use was made of additional investment by the Government for mental health services, particularly those relating to children and adolescents.
The expansion of child and adolescent mental health services, with an increased number of teams and inpatient services are key recommendations of the 2006 policyVision for Change .
Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Brendan Doody, HSE national CAMHS advisor, said the report showed an increased demand for services and an increase in the level of service provided to young people and their families.
“It demonstrates the necessity for continued investment in the development of services to meet this demand, so that children and adolescents can access appropriate services in a timely manner and achieve the best possible outcomes. Supporting the work of our dedicated workforce is key to achieving this most important objective.”
In 2012 an additional 150 new posts were allocated and 134.5 of those posts had been recruited by last November.
A further 80 posts were allocated last year and 24 had been recruited by November 2013. The balance of the 2012 and 2013 “priority posts” are expected to be in place by the end of the second quarter.
Early Britons loved their dairy food diet “A study tell us”
Britons embraced a “convenience food” lifestyle about 6000 years ago when they replaced hunting and fishing with dairy farming, scientists studies say.
Studies of old rubbish dumps and dirty dishes found the ancestors of modern Britain gave up their passion for fish and wild meats to begin a love affair with milk.
Early hunters feasted on venison and wild boar and ate large quantities of seafood, including seals and shellfish, research by the University of Bristol and Cardiff University found.
But when experienced immigrants introduced domestic animals 6000 years ago, Britons quickly gave up wild foods and fishing was largely abandoned.
Seafood was shunned for the next 4000 years, reappearing in the British diet during the Iron Age and becoming a significant part of it only with the arrival of the Vikings.
The findings come from a large-scale investigation of British archaeological sites dating from about 4600 BC to 1400 AD.
Researchers examined millions of fragments of bone and analysed more than 1000 cooking pots to ascertain how ancient Britons ate.
More than 99 per cent of the earliest farmer’s cooking pots lacked seafood residues, while analysis of skeletons also showed a drop in fish consumption in the period.
Dr Lucy Cramp, a lecturer in archaeology and anthropology at the University of Bristol, was lead author of the study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Researchers from Cardiff University, led by Dr Jacqui Mulville, examined human bones for a unique chemical signature passed on to the skeletons of those eating seafood.
“Whilst we like to think of ourselves as a nation of fish eaters, with fish and chips as our national dish, it seems that early British farmers preferred beef, mutton and milk,” Dr Mulville said.
The ability to milk animals was a revolution in food production for our early ancestors, as it was the first time they did not have to kill animals to obtain food.
Milking stock requires a high level of skill and knowledge, which experts believe came into Britain by immigrants.
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