Donie's all Ireland daily news Blog

The rich v the poor? Gap gets bigger in Ireland

Ireland’s poor get 20% poorer as the rich get 4% richer

   

Ireland’s poorest families experienced an income drop of almost 20% in one year while income of the richest increased by 4%.

The figures released today by Social Justice Ireland are calculated from the latest CSO data and relate to 2010.

There was a drop of more than 18% in the disposable income bracket (after taxes are paid and social welfare received) for the poorest households during the year.

Social Justice Ireland has blamed government policy for continuing to increase the income of the richest 10% of households and widening the gap between the wealthy and the rest of society.

It says the top 10% of the population receive almost 14 times more disposable income than the poorest 10% — it was eight times more in 1980.

Social Justice Ireland director Sean Healy said the current strategy by the Government was making the situation worse.

“There is something profoundly wrong with government decisions that produce this lop-sided distribution of income favouring the richest when Ireland’s poor and middle income people struggle to make ends meet in these extremely difficult times.”

The independent thinktank is concerned that decisions have been taken that have seriously damaged Ireland’s most vulnerable people.

Mr Healy, an SMA priest, said the Government’s approach to fiscal adjustment — emphasising cuts rather than broadening the tax base — was unjust and unnecessary.

“Decisions have been taken that have seriously damaged Ireland’s most vulnerable people, that place a disproportionate burden on their shoulders, and seriously damage the social infrastructure on which they depend,” he said.

Mr Healy said the Government’s budget last December was likely to make the situation worse because it hit the bottom income level rather than the top.

He pointed out that both Social Justice Ireland and the ESRI had shown that the budget was totally skewed against people on low incomes.

Mr Healy said the Vat change alone — from 21% to 23% — had seriously affected people with the lowest incomes.

Social Justice Ireland has called for an assessment of the impact on society’s most vulnerable people of any proposed policy initiatives aimed at achieving the fiscal adjustments required by the EU/IMF bailout and the Government’s multi-year budgetary plan.

“The Government is facing a very difficult situation but there is a real danger that the policies to deal with it are going to produce a series of worse divisions in Ireland, where the vulnerable are bearing an unfair proportion of the hit,” said Mr Healy.

Over the past two years, Social Justice Ireland showed how the Government’s borrowing reduction target could be reached without the vulnerable taking the major part of the hit.

Mr Healy said: “The Government does have options but it appears that it does not have the protection of the vulnerable as one of its major priorities. It may have it in rhetoric but it certainly does not have it in practice. I think in this area, it is what people do that counts, not what they say.”

Irish Government spends €10.5m on 18 overseas IDA offices

   

The Irish Government has spent more than €5m to date running the IDA’s offices in the US, it has been revealed.

Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton has confirmed operating the development agency’s six offices there ran to €5.4m, while the IDA’s total of 18 overseas bureaus cost €10.5m to maintain.

The IDA has functions in New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta,Irvine and Mountain View in California, London, Paris, Frankfurt,Tokyo, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangalore,Australia, Russia and Brazil.

“It is not possible to give a breakdown of the cost of each individual office, but the total costs associated with the six offices in the US are €5.4m; the three European offices are €2.5m; and the nine remaining offices in Asia and growth markets are €2.5m,” he said.

Last year, the IDA enjoyed its best year since 2002 with client companies generating 13,000 new jobs last year.

Negotiations

In response to a Dail question from Sinn Fein’s Martin Ferris on the issue of overseas office costs, Mr Bruton explained: “The IDA’s network of overseas offices is required to underpin the agency’s overall strategic plan, Horizon 2020.

“Its overseas offices are the first point of contact for potential new investors into Ireland and also provide ongoing contact between the agency and its existing clients.”

He added: “By their nature multinational corporations are located in various regions globally. The sourcing of any individual project is a team effort involving negotiations with more than one branch of the multinational corporation.”

The US remains a key IDA market, with 72pc of foreign direct investment in Ireland originating from the US. Europe is the next biggest market, with Germany leading the way followed by the UK and France.

The IDA has 1,004 client companies which provide full-time employment to more than 130,000 people. Just over half of the companies are based in the US. The European market accounts for 399 client companies providing employment to 29,000 people while the remaining Asian and growth markets account for 90 client companies employing 5,600 people.

So far this year, 49 investment announcements have been made with the potential to create almost 5,500 jobs, and 37 of these investments were from US companies.

Too much TV time for children results in a larger waistline

     

As a child, remember your mother warning you that watching too much television would give you square eyes? 

That might not be true, but a new study has found that the more hours young children spend watching TV, the worse their fitness and the larger their waist size as they approach their teens.

Too much TV as a tot could also have health consequences in adult years.

It is recommended that children under the age of two should not exceed more than two hours of TV viewing a day, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics in the US . However, evidence suggests that an increasing number of parents now use the television as an ‘electronic babysitter’.

Researchers from Canada set out to determine whether there is a correlation between the number of hours spent watching TV in early childhood and children’s physical fitness as school-going children.

They assessed the number of hours the child spent watching TV per week at 29 and 53 months of age.

They then followed up with tests on the children in the second and fourth grade to measure their muscle strength and abdominal fitness. They did this using the standing long jump test and waist circumference.

The researchers found that each hour per week of television watched at 29 months-old corresponded to a 0.361 cm decrease in the standing long jump test, indicating a decrease in muscle strength.

An extra hour’s increase in weekly TV exposure between 29 and 53 months of age predicted an extra 0.285 cm reduction in test performance.

Also significant was that waist circumference at fourth grade increased by 0.047 cm for every hour of television watched between the ages of 29 and 53 months, corresponding to a 0.41 cm increase in waistline by age 10, or a 0.76 cm increase for those who watched more than 18 hours of TV a week.

Since physical fitness is directly related to future health and longevity, increased waist size and reduced muscular strength that carries into adulthood could predict negative health outcomes later in life.

The team’s lead investigator, Dr Caroline Fitzpatrick from New York University who conducted this research at the Université de Montréal and Saint-Justine’s Hospital Research Centre, commented: “TV is a modifiable lifestyle factor, and people need to be aware that toddler viewing habits may contribute to subsequent physical health.”

She continued: “Further research will help to determine whether amount of TV exposure is linked to any additional child health indicators, as well as cardiovascular health”.

Four men charged following €730,000 drugs haul in Mervue and Oranmore Galway

             

Four men are to appear at Galway District Court this morning, after a major cannabis seizure in the city yesterday.

Two growhouses in the Mervue and Oranmore areas of the city were raided by Galway Gardaí on Sunday evening as part of an ongoing investigation into the sale and supply of cannabis in the region. Quantities of the drug with a street value of €730,000 were seized and the four men, three of whom are in their 20s and one in his 30s, were arrested and detained at Mill Street Garda Station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996.

They were questioned by gardaí overnight and will be formally charged before Galway District Court this morning at 10.30am in relation to the incident.

That burger meal with all the trimmings? 

You would need to look at it again

     

Fat and salt is in a burger meal – and what about the calories?

A new report reveals that what may be a lunchtime treat for some contains more than a day’s worth of calories, fat and salt for adults.

Safefood has published new research that shows that eating a burger meal with extra toppings, large portion side dishes and a large soft drink can provide up to 100 per cent of an adult’s Guideline Daily Amounts for calories, fat, and salt.

Children

Children don’t escape either – the research looked at ‘kids’ burgers and found that one third of takeaway burgers marketed as ‘kids’ size are actually larger than a ‘regular’ size burger.

The research carried out across 240 takeaways found that an adult ordering a standard quarter pounder with all the trimmings (bacon and cheese topping), a regular portion of chips and a medium soft drink would be consuming, in one sitting, approximately 1,500 calories.

This contributes to over two thirds of the adult guideline amount for calories without accounting for other food consumed during the day.

If some larger portions are added, the recommended calorie intake for an adult for the entire day could be met.

Without the trimmings the burger alone provided greater than 50 per cent of an adult’s guideline amount for protein and almost 40 per cent of the guideline amount for fat.

Fast food

According to safetrak research, 24 per cent of people across the island of Ireland said they ate fast-food or a takeaway once or twice a week.

Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan, Director of human health and nutrition at safefood said:

Almost a quarter of food adults consume today is prepared outside of the home, and consumers consistently say they want the appropriate information to make better choices. While takeaway burgers are a source of iron and protein they contain considerable levels of fat and salt.

In addition, the usual burger meal is not balanced and is practically devoid of vegetables and fibre.

An examination of 240 burgers within three categories (kids, regular and quarter pounder) from 47 takeaways found:

An average ‘quarter pounder’ takeaway burger had almost twice the calories of a ‘regular’ sized burger
There is no difference in the nutritional content of burgers per 100 grams between independent takeaway outlets and international franchises
Independent takeaways provided larger size ‘kids’ burgers compared with international takeaway premises
A topping of cheese and bacon on a regular burger can add 200kcals
In theory, ‘kid’s’ size burgers should be proportionately smaller in size when compared with an average ‘regular’ sized burger. However the research found that both burger types were similar in size, weighing on average 4oz (113 grams).

Portion sizes

Foley-Nolan said that people “need to be aware of portion sizes when it comes to ordering takeaway burgers”.

Takeaway burgers are a meal and should not be considered as just an in-between meals or late-night snack. More often than not, when ordering burgers, people also order a portion of chips and soft drinks. Some of the ‘kids’ burgers (meat and plain bun only) that were analysed contained up to a quarter of recommended calories and saturated fat and roughly half of recommended salt intake for a child.

She said that people need to consider healthier options when eating takeaway burgers:

Ask for smaller burgers or a regular burger without toppings ie; bacon and cheese
Eat more vegetable such as lettuce, tomato, onions, and pickles
Ask for lower fat cheese options
Consider eating chips or the bun rather than both so we don’t have too many starchy foods in the one meal
Reduce or do not ask for sauces on burgers
If choosing sauces opt for relish, tomato ketchup or low fat mayonnaise
Consider burgers as an occasional food