A ban on the burning of smoky coal is being considered by the Department of the Environment in addition to existing restrictions on the marketing, sale and distribution of the fuel.
In a review, the department said it was also considering extending the fuel ban to new urban areas which fall outside the current defined boundaries.
Details are contained in documents which are part of the review and public consultation announced by Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan today.
The ban on the marketing, sale and distribution of smoky coal was first introduced in Dublin in 1990 to deal with winter smog and currently applies to 20 cities and towns. Research suggested the Dublin ban resulted in some 350 fewer deaths each year as the air was cleaner.
The extension of the ban to newer areas of towns and cities, which are beyond the boundaries set in the legislation, are among the changes being considered.
The Environmental Protection Agency found elevated particulate levels in Wexford town possibly because the ban area (defined in 1998) is too small for the town.
The ban could also be extended to the only four towns with populations above 15,000 where the ban is not in place ( Letterkenny, Newbridge, Mullingar and Cavan). The EPA has found higher particulate matter in these towns..
Online advertising and sales makes enforcement of the ban more difficult, according to the document. The enforcement of the ban in smaller urban areas is also more difficult because people can easily travel to buy smoky fuel.
Dublin City Council has reported an increase on the supply of smoky coal for the first time in many years, the document said.
The public consultation is open until May 17th. For more see iti.ms/IaVfqx
Thousand’s of students expected at NUI,Galway open day on the 28th April
More than 3,000 prospective students and their parents from across Ireland are expected to attend NUI Galway’s Spring Open Day on Saturday, April 28. Tailored towards Leaving Certificate and mature students interested in studying at NUI Galway, the Open Day will give the opportunity for students, along with their parents and families, to sample university life at NUI Galway.
Taster sessions will run throughout the day, designed to give a real insight into studying at NUI Galway, with hands-on interactive Science Experience workshops and tours of the campus. New for 2012 is ‘Your Career with an Arts Degree’ – a special talk on the Bachelor of Arts providing an insight into the diverse range of careers from an Arts degree.
Tours of the campus will feature the state-of the-art sports complex and gym, and the new Engineering Building. Tours of student accommodation will also be available to visitors on the day. Popular highlights for parents will be the talks, ‘Focus on Your Career’ and ‘A Parent’s Guide to University’. With a packed programme of events for all ages, including entertainment for younger children, the event is an ideal family day out.
This year, all counties in Ireland will be represented by a team of ‘student ambassadors’, answering questions on specific courses and all aspects of university life. Lecturers and support staff will also be available at over 80 stands to deal with any queries about degrees, accommodation, finances and much more.
Caroline Loughnane, Director of Marketing and Communications at NUI Galway, said: “Choosing a university is one of the most important decisions a student will ever make and parents play a key role in supporting students as they take this important next step. Open Day is the perfect opportunity for parents to ensure they have access to all of the information they need to support sons and daughters through their university career. We are encouraging anyone with an interest in studying at NUI Galway to come along, talk to our lecturers and current students, find out about the courses, check out the facilities and decide for yourself whether NUI Galway feels right for you. Spring Open Day has proved invaluable in the past to many students, particularly those considering their options before the CAO change of mind deadline of 1 July.”
NUI Galway is an internationally recognised university with a distinguished reputation for teaching excellence and research. The University was recently awarded the top rating of stars in the latest QS Stars rating system for its exceptional developments in education, securing five stars for its teaching and facilities.
NUI Galway recognises the academic excellence of its Undergraduate students annually with the presentations of such awards as Entrance Scholarships, Sports Scholarships, Scoláireachtaí na Gaeltachta and the Dr James Massey Keegan Scholarship. The University also awards ten scholarships for Medical students who perform exceptionally well in the Leaving Certificate and the Admissions Test (H-PAT Ireland).
The NUI Galway Spring Open Day will run from 10am to 3pm and visitors can book a place and receive a programme in advance by logging on to www.nuigalway.ie/opendays, calling 091 494145 or emailing visit@nuigalway.ie.
‘No sign’ of health service reforms in Ireland despite pre election promises ‘Says Doctors’
Dr Ronan Boland expressed scepticism that the Government will implement its planned new system of universal health insurance within the timescale it has set itself
There has been little sign of the Government’s promised radical reforms of the health service over the last year, the outgoing president of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said.
In an address at the opening of the annual conference of the doctors’ trade union today, Dr Ronan Boland also expressed scepticism that the Government will implement its planned new system of universal health insurance within the timescale it has set itself of during the course of a second term in office.
He said while there had been some changes in goverance structures at corporate level in the health service over the last 12 months, at the coalface it was a case of “as you were”.
He said there were more patients, more procedures, fewer beds, fewer staff and fewer resources.
He said if radical reform was at hand it felt little closer than it did when the IMO last met in conference a year ago.
Dr Boland said it was perhaps telling that the number of invitations to discuss universal health insurance had lessened as the last year went on, “persumably as realisation grew that Rome will not be built in a day”.
“A country on the brink of insolvency is not in the best position to fund dramatically improved access to more and speedier health care, irrrespective of who is writing the cheque.”
Dr Boland said there had been no transformation programme for general practitioners. He said there had been no movement by the Government in honouring commitments it had made repeatedly in relation to changing competition law. Official interpretation of existing legislation in this area is that the IMO cannot negotiate with the State in relation to fees for GPs on the basis that they are independent contractors and not employees.
“The only solution to the current impasse is one which guarantees in law the protection of this organisation in its unencumbered representation of general practitioners in relation to their work carried out on behalf of the state. Until the Government recognises this and takes the appropriate action, progress on any reforms involving general practice will be difficult if not impossible.”
Dr Boland said some progress had been made on the implementation of the Croke Park agreement for consultants, non-consultant hospital doctors and public health doctors, but that real challenges remained.
“Contracts continue to be flouted and recruitment and retention of medical expertise in Ireland becomes ever more difficult.”
Dr Boland said during his year as IMO president he had urged the newest doctors, where possible, to stay in Ireland and help build a better health service.
However he said if the latest reports were to be believed, “more than half of the new doctors I addressed are already booking their one-way tickets to Australia, New Zealand and Canada”.
“Much in our system still needs fixing badly”
The highest Irish consumer prices rise in 4 years with annual rate of 2.2% in March 2012
Irish Consumer Prices in March 2012, as measured by the CPI (consumer price index), increased by 1.0% in the month. This compares to an inflation increase of 0.9% recorded in March of last year. Annual prices on average, as measured by the CPI, were 2.2% higher in March compared with March 2011 and at the highest level since 2008.
The CSO said that the most notable changes in the year were increases in Education (+9.4%), Transport (+7.6%), Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+3.9%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+3.7%). There were decreases in Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (-2.1%), Recreation & Culture (-0.7%) and Clothing & Footwear (-0.7%).
The most significant monthly price changes were increases in Transport (+4.0%), Clothing & Footwear (+2.7%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+1.7%). The main factors contributing to the monthly change were as follows:
- Transport rose due to an increase in airfares and higher petrol and diesel prices;
- Clothing & Footwear increased due to a further recovery from sales. Miscellaneous Goods & Services rose due to increases in health insurance premiums.
CPI sub-indices
The annual rate of inflation for services was 3.3% in the year to March, while goods increased by 1.0%. Services, excluding mortgage interest repayments, increased by 3.7% in the year since March 2011.
The CPI excluding tobacco for March increased by 1.1% in the month and was up by 2.1% in the year. The CPI excluding energy products was up by 1.0% in the month and increased by 1.5% in the year. The CPI excludin
IBEC senior economist Reetta Suonperä said: “The headline inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index remained broadly unchanged at 2.2% in March. The sharp jump in the EU harmonised measure (the HICP) to 2.2% from 1.6% in the previous month, however, should sound a warning bell to Government.
“Recent Government decisions are now adding considerably to inflation. For instance, the cost of health insurance jumped by 6.3% in the month and is up 13.9% in the year. The recent VAT hike is also adding to price pressures, though many retailers have not passed it on as they struggle with weak demand. Consequently goods price inflation remains modest at just 1%.
“Throughout the crisis Ireland’s inflation has been one of the lowest in the eurozone, allowing a significant improvement in competitiveness. This is needed to ensure Irish companies can compete successfully and create new jobs. In just one month, however, the differential has narrowed from over one percentage point to just 0.4%. It is crucial that Government decisions do not undo the efforts of the private sector to restore Ireland’s competitive position.”
Men’s Private parts left out to dry after Ben Dunne removes hair dryers from his gyms
BEN Dunne has removed hair dryers from the male changing rooms at all his gyms, after seeing male members use the dryers on their private parts.
The gym mogul told The Evening Herald that he felt compelled to remove hair dryers on hygiene grounds as he had witnessed several gym users drying their nether regions.
He said “When you see people using a hairdryer on other parts of their bodies and then putting it back, there is no way you can allow that to go on in any business. I will not allow that to go on in my business.”
The former Dunnes boss dismissed suggestions the decision was a Ryanair style cost cutting measure, saying “if it was to save electricity, I would take the plugs out so they could not plug in their dryers.”
Mr Dunne said any gym patrons unhappy with the move will be entitled to a refund of their membership fee.
Meanwhile the outspoken businessman also slammed what he views as the removal of Christian religion from Ireland and says he prays everyday during the Angelus. He told Classic Hits FM: “I am disgusted to hear what is being said in parliament in Europe about taking Christianity out of our lives.”
“It’s now got worse and they want us to do away with crucifixes, they want us to deny we are Christians publicly.
He continued “We are a Christian country and there is nobody going to take that out of me or the vast majority of people in this country.”
Study says: Baboons can recognise four-letter words on a computer screen,
‘French scientists state’
A baboon from the study performs a word recognition task (Right picture)
Researchers found the monkeys could tell the difference between actual words and nonsense letter combinations.
After being trained, the baboons were able to make this distinction, despite not being capable of reading.
The results suggest the ability to recognise words could more closely relate to object identification than linguistic skill.
The baboons received a treat for correctly identifying words
The study, completed by Dr John Grainger and Dr Joel Fagot from the Aix-Marseille University was published in the journal Science.
“It was by no means a foregone conclusion that the baboons would be able to master our word-non-word discrimination task, so we were quite excited about the simple fact that they did succeed,” said Dr Grainger.
The researchers tested a group of Guinea baboons in a specially built facility at the university.
“In this research, the animals are completely free to participate, and are automatically identified by the test computers when they quit their social group to voluntarily enter one of the 10 possible test systems,” explained Dr Fagot who designed the system.
Inside the test booths the baboons were presented with a computer screen that displayed either a four-letter word or a nonsensical jumble of letters.
To earn a treat from the automated system, they had to correctly touch either a plus sign to signify a non-word or an
- Baboons are Old World monkeys found across Africa and Arabia
- They live live in large social groups, known as troops, numbering up to 500 individuals
- There are five different species, of which the Guinea baboon is the smallest
Dr Fagot explained that the baboons had extensive training: performing the tests up to 61,000 times.
“The monkeys pay maximum attention to what they are doing because they decide to participate,” he said.
One in particular, named Dan, could recognise up to 300 words correctly.
“Cognitive abilities vary among humans too, and it is not so surprising that differences emerge between the individual [baboons],” said Dr Fagot.
Dr Grainger told BBC Nature that recognising letter sequences – previously considered a fundamental “building block” of language – could be related to a more simple skill.
“The baboons use information about letters and the relations between letters in order to perform our task… This is based on a very basic ability to identify everyday objects in the environment,” he said.
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