More than 85% of households have not paid the Household Charge ahead of the 31 March deadline.
Big problem on the horizon boss? where do we go from here?
Those opposed to the charge say it shows that householders are not prepared to pay it. More than 85% of households have not paid the household charge with just over two and a half weeks to go before the deadline.
The body responsible for collecting the payments says its confident more people will pay closer to the deadline.
However, those opposed to the charge say it shows that householders are not prepared to pay it.
So far just over 224,000 households have paid the charge – just 14% of the 1.6m households thought to be liable.
The Local Government Management Association is responsible for collecting payments.
Today it met with the ESB electricity network to discuss how they can share information in order to track down those who do not pay.
The Data Protection Commissioner says its awaiting a response from the parties as to how they will do this within their code of practise.
Householders have until the 31 March to pay the charge and the body responsible for collecting it says it will be able to cope with a last minute surge in payments.
However, it says it will make no exceptions if people fail to pay on time and that anyone who misses the deadline will be subject to a fine.
World’s tallest man reaches his peak as scientists discover a way to stop his 8ft 3in body from growing
The world’s tallest man may have finally stopped growing at 8ft 3ins and 29-years-old thanks to a pioneering new treatment. Turkish farm labourer Sultan Kosen suffers from the rare disorder acromegaly which causes his body to continually produce the growth hormone.
Mr Kosen’s condition was thought to have been caused by a tumor in the pituitary gland which is located in bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain.
Tall order: Doctors at the University of Virginia have developed a treatment for the world’s tallest man Sultan Kosen which they say has finally stopped him growing at 8ft 3ins
Doctors though they had cured him in 2008 when they removed the tumour but he continued to grow at a rate of half and inch a year.
But researchers at the University of Virginia Medical Center, who have developed a new treatment after he visited in 2010, say he has finally stopped growing.
Mr Kosen’s hands measure 10.8in across and his feet are 13.7in long – which are also world records.
The farmer, who wears size 28 shoes, is one of only ten people ever to top 8ft and the first in a decade.
The gentle giant grew normally until he was ten but the tumour then caused him to develop the medical condition.
When other children were little more than 4ft, he was already well over 6ft.
‘The kids used to tease me and I found that very difficult,’ he said on a trip to the UK in 2010.
‘But now I am really proud of being tall.’
Property prices fall ‘more than what is reported’ More like 68% fall since the tiger was about?
Property prices have fallen by 48 per cent from the peak according to official figures, but a small sample based on auctions show this decline could be greater. Property prices have fallen by 68 per cent since their peak, significantly more than official figures suggest, a new report said today.
Tough credit conditions, an oversupply of housing and weak domestic demand have weighed on the residential property market in recent months, while a lack of transparency has helped draw out the property crash.
The report from Goodbody Stockbrokers shows property has fallen by 68 per cent from peak asking prices, based on property prices recently achieved at Allsop Space auctions. That compares with an average decline of 48 per cent nationally reported in the Central Statistics Office’s residential property index.
The Allsop Space auctions represent a small sample size, Goodbody said. However, the officially compiled residential property index excludes cash sales, and with an increasing number of anecdotal evidence from estate agents indicating that the real decline is far more severe.
Mortgage lending levels have fallen to a level that is “unsustainably low”, Goodbody said. The number of mortgages drawn down in Ireland last year amounted to 0.5 per cent of the housing stock. That compares with 1.9 per cent in the UK and a long-term average of 3.6 per cent.
“Allied to tight credit conditions, housing oversupply and a weak domestic demand environment, the lack of transparency on sales prices in the Irish residential property market has contributed to the prolonged nature of the Irish housing market crash,” said Goodbody chief economist Dermot O’Leary. “People don’t really have a true idea of what level transactions are happening at.”
Unlike private sales, auctions do not face privacy restrictions. However, that is set to change this summer when the Government-backed house-price database is established. Due to be online by the end of June, house prices will be collated from the Revenue Commissioners, and will be searchable by address.
“Any element of knowledge and transparency has to help things,” Mr O’Leary said.
The house price crash has also brought new value to the residential property market.
The price to income ratio has adjusted “significantly” the report said, and assuming an official figure of 60 per cent decline from the 2007 peak by the end of next year, the ratio will decline to 3.7x, compared with 8.6x in 2006.
Based on the current data from Allsop Space auctions, however, that ratio is currently at 2.8x. “Property prices often undershoot in a crash,” the report said.
The average rental yield is now 8.8 per cent, which Goodbody said indicated that prices are close to long-term value.
‘No Irish need apply’job advertisement in Perth sparks backlash in Australia
“NO dogs, no blacks, no Irish.” That’s what an ad for a bricklayer reminded Irish emigrants of when they saw it online.Despite the massive migration of tens of thousands of Irish Down Under, it appears as if we may have outstayed our welcome.
One employer posted a simple advertisement on a free website looking for a bricklayer in the Perth region. But the man, named only as Simon, specified that he wasn’t interested in Irish people.
“Bricklayer needed start ASAP $250 a day, no part time workers and NO IRISH,” the notice stated.
But the advertisement quickly attracted massive criticism online.
One commentator wrote on Twitter: “Thought the times of ‘No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs’ were gone? Apparently not in Australia…”
The advertiser said that he had “no trouble with Irish people” but said that he had to let a lot of people go due to inexperience.
“I’ve lots of Irish people say they have experience bricklaying but come over and have no clue how to lay bricks,” he said.
He confirmed that he was aware about the strong anti-discriminatory legislation in Australia.
But he said that it wasn’t worth his while to take on people from here.
“I’m very busy and don’t have time to be watching over them,” he added.
The Australian Embassy reacted swiftly to the advertisement, saying that the Australian Government had “no tolerance for racism and discrimination and this is reflected in a broad range of anti-discrimination legislation in Australia”.
“The Government has an unwavering commitment to a multicultural Australia and greatly welcomes the contribution made by people of all backgrounds, regardless of origin, gender, or colour, to Australia’s culture, society, and prosperity,” a spokesman said.
Online, Irish people were angry at the tone of the advertisement and the posting went viral within just a few minutes.
Many were outraged that after years in the boom time, employers were turning their back on Irish emigrants.
“Australians like the Irish. When they are good, they’re very good and when they are bad, they are horrid … ” said one tweet
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