Taoiseach Enda Kenny inspecting the guard of honour during an official welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday.
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The travel industry professionals in Ireland welcomed yesterday’s decision to extend a visa waiver scheme for Chinese tourists, but said more needed to be done to improve access and visas to bring large numbers to Ireland.
The visa waiver scheme was brought in last year on a trial basis to encourage visitors from emerging markets such as China to visit Ireland when they are visiting Britain, without the hassle or cost of applying for a separate visa.
“My government wishes to see many more Chinese visitors coming to Ireland. Our approved destination status is an important factor in attracting tourists but we also welcome individual and independent tourists,” said Taoiseach Enda Kenny as he launched the initiative.
Ireland was granted approved destination status, an approval granted to a foreign country by the Chinese government, back in 2004.
Tourism Ireland in China said the decision to extend the waiver prompted an immediate boost to interest in Ireland – with nine leading Chinese tour operators deciding to include Ireland in their 2012 programmes for the first time.
Fiona O’Sullivan, of Custom Ireland International, which specialises in custom travel and events, said the Taoiseach’s presence would do much to boost Ireland’s profile in China, but the key issues – access and visas – remained unresolved.
Like Britain, Ireland is not in the Schengen area. This means anyone who gets a non-Schengen visa for Ireland and Britain cannot go to mainland Europe, whereas if they get a Schengen-area visa they can visit all 25 countries in that zone. And Chinese travellers want bang for their buck.
“The two big issues are access and visas and we have to make it easier for tourists to come to Ireland. There is a need for a direct flight between China and Ireland,” she said.
Susan Barrett, also of Custom Ireland International, told of how a group of Chinese investors last year had wanted to bring 15,000 Chinese tourists to Ireland in a year on condition there was a direct flight from mainland China to Ireland.
Wayne Xu, associate president of China Travel Service, one of the biggest travel companies in China, has organised tours to Ireland for a couple of years now and said the visa waiver move was one in the right direction.
“Tour groups focus on Britain and Ireland, and many who plan to go to Britain also plan to visit Ireland by the way. We need as many free independent travellers to go to Ireland. Its a premium market, with fresh air, clean water, green grass and is a very attractive one for Chinese travellers,” said Mr Xu.
The extension of the visa waiver was announced by Mr Kenny at an event in Beijing attended by leading Chinese travel trade, media and airline representatives and was organised by Tourism Ireland as part of this week’s trade mission to China.
Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said around 10,000 Chinese visitors come to Ireland each year, but this has the potential to increase considerably, especially given China’s strong economy and growing population, whether they come sightseeing, to play golf or as business tourists.
“The extension of the visa waiver scheme and the introduction of the short-stay visa for individual travellers is a significant step in helping us to grow visitor numbers from China in 2012 and beyond,” he said.
In the past decade, the spend by Chinese travellers has risen four-fold, making them the fourth-biggest spending tourists in the world. More than two million Chinese visit Europe every year.
11 sites are identified by NAMA as possible location for the new children’s hospital
The Irish glass bottle site in Ringsend and an 11-acre site on the south circular road in Dublin have been identified by NAMA as possible locations for the new National Children’s hospital.
NAMA have identified 11 possible sites for the children’s hospital
The Irish glass bottle site in Ringsend and an 11-acre site on the south circular road in Dublin have been identified by NAMA as possible locations for the new National Children’s hospital.
Speaking in the Dáil today, Minister for Health James Reilly said the Agency had identified 11 possible sites for the hospital.
The expert group on the new hospital is due to hold its first meeting this week.
Dr Reilly did not reveal the sites identified by NAMA but sources say they include the Irish Glass Bottle site, which was bought in 2006 for €411m.
Another site identified by NAMA relates to some 30,000 square metres of vacant space in the Elm Park development on Merrion Road close to St Vincent’s Hospital.
Other NAMA sites already in the public domain include 15 acres at North wall quay and another site close to Newlands Cross.
Dr Reilly said the expert group would not be inspecting sites, as this could delay the process by years, but said it would advise on the pros and cons of each option so the Government can make a decision.
Separately, a number of alternative proposals have emerged since An Bord Pleanála refused to grant planning permission for the hospital at the Mater site.
They include sites at the Coombe and Connolly hospitals, and two other greenfield sites – one offered by Noel Smyth near Newlands cross and another one near the airport offered by a group of farmers.
Enda Kenny calls for the payment of the €100 household levy charge by the 31st
The Taoiseach Enda Kenny: has called on the public to pay the €100 household as the deadline looms for payment of the levy and he said the charge would go towards paying for local service .
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A total of 395,232 households 24.7% of the targeted 1.6 million have paid the household charge by 5pm today Tuesday, with just four days to go before the deadline. Today’s figure includes 31,754 households that have paid since 4pm yesterday and a total of €39,523,200 has been collected to-date.
Speaking in China today, Mr Kenny called on people to pay the charge.
“I encourage everybody during the course of this week to make the payment. It’s for their own local area – it’s for their own local services,” he said.
Speaking this evening, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan, who has responsibility for introducing the charge, said there had been some confusion over the payment of the levy.
Citing issues surrounding data protection laws and EU tendering laws, Minister Hogan told RTE’s Prime Time that the only means of payment open to the public are online, by cash to local authorities or by postal order through An Post.
Mr Hogan said nobody would go to jail over non-payment of the levy and that it could be deducted at source from those who go to court over non-payment.
He said the collection of the levy was the responsibility of the local authorities.
“At the end of the day, the local authorities have to get in the money. It’s €160 million they require to fund these services. Otherwise you face the prospect of having a cut in services. Local authorities need this money for playgrounds and fire services and street cleaning and it’s up to them to make sure they bring in the money,” he said.
Mr Hogan said an administrative cost in the region of “3 or 4 per cent” associated with the introduction of the charge would be recouped from the €160 million.
“I want to give a solemn undertaking to the people of Ireland that may not have paid yet that if they do pay this charge that it will be ring-fenced for provision of local services,” Mr Hogan said.
Speaking in the Dáil earlier today, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore denied accusations of bully-boy tactics over the introduction of the charge.
“I’m not bullying anybody, I’m not threatening anybody,” he said.
“I’m simply stating what is a fact. The fact is the Government introduced a household charge of €100. We don’t think that it serves any value for anybody to be bullying or threatening.”
Thousands attended a rally at the National Stadium on Saturday in protest against the charge while another rally is planned for the Fine Gael Ard Fheis in Dublin this weekend.
“We have a difficult road to travel and part of that difficult road is the introduction of the household charge,” Mr Gilmore added.
“Nobody likes additional charges but it’s a reality and it has to be paid by March 31st.”
Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins warned Mr Gilmore that hundreds of thousands of people will refuse to do so because it is an unfair tax on “ordinary, decent” folk.
“You are threatening the ordinary, decent backbone of this country that you will drag them through court – people who pay their taxes,” said Mr Higgins.
Minister of State for Europe Lucinda Creighton said earlier today that the Government is determined to move ahead with the household charge despite mistakes being made in the way it has been handled. She said the Government’s only other option to raise the much-needed funds was to increase income tax and it did not want to have to do that.
This morning, Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin acknowledged people “prefer to receive a bill” but did not go as far as saying the Government had failed to inform people adequately about the charge
“There is a tradition that people like to get a bill so that they know what is owed and how to pay it… the proof of the pudding is in the eating and we need to ensure that everybody pays on time. It’s a fair and just imposition on people,” he said.
Mr Howlin said the Government needed to broaden the tax base and said he was confident that once people “made the connection” between the charge and maintaining local services they would pay the charge.
“We need to broaden the tax base and we need to ensure that people understand the link between payment at local level and services at local level. We want to ensure that local services are maintained into the future – the parks, libraries etc. And I think once people make that connection they will want to support their local community.”
Keeshya wishing for a certain type of diabetes control treatment
‘A HbA1c meter’
Chrys Ngwa helps his six-year-old daughter Keeshya measure her blood sugar levels.
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What breaks Chrys Ngwa’s heart is the fact that his six-year-old daughter Keeshya’s fingers are in danger of being calloused as a result of blood samples being taken from them six times a day to measure her blood sugar levels.
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Keeshya is one of approximately 300 children attending Cork University Hospital (CUH) for the treatment of type 1 diabetes, an auto-immune condition usually diagnosed in childhood.
Her father says that “the number one thing I’d like to see available for Keeshya at the hospital is a HbA1c meter”. This is a laboratory test device that shows the average amount of sugar in the blood over three months and tells patients how well they are controlling their diabetes.
“Just one drop of blood is needed instead of taking a phial of blood and sending it to the hospital. I was so surprised when we went to the children’s hospital in Crumlin where a reading of Keeshya’s blood sugars was available after just seven minutes from the HbA1c device.
“It’s the best reading for a diabetic. The daily readings don’t matter as much. It’s the long-term performance that’s important. As far as I’m aware, Cork is the only main centre that doesn’t have this on-the-spot meter.
“The advantage of it is that kids only need to give a small piece of blood to get a reading very quickly.”
When it comes to the treatment of type 1 diabetes in children at CUH, there are other shortfalls.
Chairwoman of the Cork branch of the parents’ support group for children with the condition, Charlotte Pearson, points out that the three nurses are part-time.
“We should have three full-time nurses, according to best practice. We should also have two full-time dieticians as well as psychological support or social work support. We should have a dedicated space for the children.
“In the current climate, we’re not sure what we can get. We’ve achieved a lot over the past couple of years and we’re grateful for what we have. The workload of the nurses is unbelievable. We’d hate to see them burn out.”
The unit’s dietitian is currently on maternity leave. “She is being replaced by one of the dietitians from the adult diabetes ward. She’s only available to us on a part-time basis. But that’s good because the last time our dietitian was off, we didn’t get any cover.”
Pearson, a member of Diabetes Ireland, is the mother of 18-year-old Karen, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of five. She has been campaigning for better services at CUH for years.
“Now that we have our new doctor, Stephen O’Riordan, insulin pump therapy is becoming available.”
An insulin pump is a costly medical device used for the administration of insulin by a syringe or a pen. It’s an alternative to multiple daily injections of insulin and allows for intensive insulin therapy when used in conjunction with blood glucose monitoring and carbohydrate counting.
Dr O’Riordan, a paediatrician and endocrinologist, was unavailable for interview. A HSE spokesperson said that “a structured insulin pump education programme has commenced in CUH with a number of patients having commenced insulin pump therapy. The programme will be developed over the coming months.”
Pearson says patients in Cork felt somewhat neglected over the years. “If you wanted the pump therapy, you had to go to Dublin.
“A number of years ago, a pilot scheme was set up by Dr John McKiernan (Dr O’Riordan’s predecessor). He put five children on pumps and that was it. Everyone else had to travel to Dublin.
While Pearson welcomes the availability of insulin pump therapy, “there are certain criteria that patients have to meet. You have to be willing to learn how to use it properly. My daughter never used pump therapy. She didn’t want it when she was younger.”
Psychological support is “much needed at CUH. You’re talking about a chronic illness that is never going to go away. It can be difficult during puberty. Young people with the illness see themselves as being different to others.
“There can be discrimination in schools against them with people being fearful of the idea of injections. I think psychological support would help patients to get over the rough patches of having the condition.”
Pearson says there is a lack of awareness of type 1 diabetes. “If you speak to a member of the public, they know a lot about type 2 diabetes. But if you mention type 1, they say that’s the ‘bad one’. When you’re an adult and you get type 2 diabetes, you’re probably in your 60s or a bit younger the way things are going now.
“But when you get type 1 diabetes as a child, you have it all your life and have to be very vigilant.”
Type 2 diabetes can be related to diet as well as age, says Pearson. “With type 1, your pancreas is not producing insulin so that insulin has to be reintroduced to the body. It helps unlock the energy from the food consumed.”
There are 3,000-4,000 children, adolescents and young adults living with diabetes in Ireland, most of whom have type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is much more common.
Ngwa is concerned for his daughter. “Juvenile diabetes is less researched compared to adult diabetes. Children don’t have a voice. But we’re pushing to get a HbA1c meter in Cork. It’s expensive but affordable.”
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