HSE to go out of existence by 2014
Director General Cathal Magee to step down without compensation
The Health Service Executive will cease to be in 2014 under planned new legislation published today by Minister for Health Dr James Reilly.
The Health Service Executive Governance Bill 2012 provides for a Director General and six Directorates.
It covers areas such as hospitals, primary care and public health.
Dr Reilly said the changes will improve patient care and make the system more accountable to the minister.
He said that current HSE Chief Executive Cathal Magee wrote to the Department of Health on Friday indicating his intention to step down and Cathal Magee has said his decision to step down has “nothing to do” with his relations with Minister for Health James Reilly.
Mr Magee said he had decided to waive any right to compensation for the remaining three years of his contract because of the “national circumstances” and the ailing financial state of the HSE.
Mr Magee was appointed in September 2010 for a five-year term and has waived his right to compensation for his remaining three years.
Dr Reilly said Mr Magee had not resigned and will be leaving during the transition period.
The changes come at a crucial time for the HSE, with a budget overrun of €280m and a projected overrun of €500m by the end of the year.
The Programme for Government promised to abolish the HSE and replace it with new structures.
Mr Magee denied suggestions that there are serious differences between him, Health Minister Reilly and the Department of Health about the way the health service is managed.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Mr Magee also said that Minister James Reilly’s actions and approach had nothing to do with his decision to step down.
Mr Magee said he took his decision because of Government plans to replace the existing HSE structure.
A new directorate with a Director General is proposed and Mr Magee has no interest in taking on this role.
He said his decision to step down was not taken quickly.
Mr Magee said that it had involved careful consideration over recent months when the emergence of the new structure was clear.
He said there were tensions and difficulties that go with the health portfolio at Ministerial and political level and at the level of the Chief Executive of the HSE.
However, he denied that his decision had anything to do with these tensions.
Reacting to the announcement of the reforms the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said they would not have any major consequences in the delivery of health care.
Dave Hughes, from the IMNO, said the changes were necessary but were of a technical and administrative nature.
He said the reforms would mean the minister would have more direct control of funding.
Meanwhile, the Patients Association said it remains to be seen how successful the changes will be.
Stephen McMahon said the record of the management of change in the public service is not good and said today’s announcement is an opportunity to ensure we get things right once and for all.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said the planned changes were cosmetic but not fundamental.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Six One News, he said the HSE was not really being abolished, because the same health professionals would continue to work in hospitals and the same management systems would continue to exist.
Earlier in the Dáil, Mr Martin said Dr Reilly is a volatile minister and senior personnel have left the HSE because of his behaviour.
He said Mr Magee is a man with integrity and was put in an impossible position 12 months ago when the HSE board was abolished.
He said it was without question that Mr Magee was shoved from his position in an unacceptable manner.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he was not shoved and Mr Magee indicated his intention to step down as new structures were agreed for the HSE.
Minister of State at the Department of Health Róisín Shortall has expressed regret to learn from media reports that Mr Magee intends to step down.
She said his departure is a ”significant blow to the health service” and that he will be badly missed ”in this very challenging time of severe budgeted pressures”.
Sinn Féin health spokesperson Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said Mr Magee’s departure raises “serious concern”.
Mr Ó Caoláin said: “He was an able administrator and engaged openly with the Oireachtas.
“It is very significant that Minister of State Róisín Shortall has expressed regret at the departure and has said she learned of it from the media.”
Some 400 protesters continue marches over household & water taxes
A protest march organised by the Campaign against Household and Water Taxes on their way from the Central bank to Leinster House today
Up to 400 people marched to the Leinster House this evening in protest against household and water charges.
Organised by the Campaign Against Household and Water Charges, the march began at the Central Bank at 5pm before moving to Kildare Street, holding up rush hour traffic for a time.
The organisers urged those who had not already registered for the household tax to “tear up” any letters from the Department of the Environment asking them to do so.
Some 105,000 letters have been issued in the past fortnight, warning people about non-payment. More than 10,000 people have registered since receiving the letters.
As of Friday last, 986,676 properties had registered for the charge. Some 962,283 had paid the €100 tax while owners of 17,993 properties had registered for a waiver. The remaining 6,400 applications were awaiting resolution of queries.
The protest was attended by anti-household charge groups from around the country with banners from Cork, Offaly, Dublin, Tipperary, Waterford and Carlow.
Addressing the event, Socialist Party TD for Dublin West Joe Higgins described the charges as part of a “vicious regime of austerity to make the working class pay for the bailout of bankers and bond holders”.
“The fact that 50 per cent of householders, representing two million or so of our people are maintaining a boycott against the intimidation and the threats that have been heaped upon them is a show of huge determination to defeat this tax,” he said.
He said he said any attempt to break the campaign by “driving decent people through the courts” would be “met with massive resistance”. Mr Higgins said if Fine Gael and Labour deputies attempted to do this “they will go down in shame and ignominy”
People Before Profit/United Left Alliance TD for Dún Laoghaire Richard Boyd Barrett told protesters it was vital that they “stay visible and organised”.
He described the campaign as “a war of the super rich, the bankers, the corporate elite and the financial elite against the poor and against ordinary workers”.
Protesters were also addressed by Independent TDs John Halligan from Waterford, Seamus Healy from South Tipperary, Thomas Pringle from Donegal South West and Unite’s Irish regional secretary Jimmy Kelly. People Before Profit TD Joan Collins and Socialist Party councillor Ruth Coppinger also attended.
Government issues policy statement on Ireland’s North-South
Electricity interconnector infrastructure
The Irish Government issues policy statement on Ireland’s energy infrastructure
The Irish Government has issued a policy statement concerning Ireland’s energy infrastructure and in particular the proposed North-South electricity interconnector and the development and renewal of Ireland’s energy networks.
As regards the North-South electricity interconnector, proposals for the transmission line between Meath and Tyrone had been in development since 2006.
However, Eirgrid had suspended its plans the project until the Government had considered the report of the International Expert Commission (IEC), which it had asked to review the case for, and cost of, undergrounding all or part of the 400KV power lines.
The results of that independent report were released back in January when the Commission confirmed that overhead AC lines represented the most cost-effective option for this project. The IEC said that the best alternative technological option, using HVDC undergrounding cables would be at least three times more expensive to construct.
Referring to the North-South electricity interconnector, Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte, TD, spoke in the Dáil this afternoon.
“The matter should immediately return to planning in order to meet the delivery date of 2017,” he said.
About Ireland’s energy networks in general, he had this to say: “The Government reaffirms the imperative need for development and renewal of our energy networks in order to meet both economic and social policy goals.”
Rabbitte said that the formal Government Policy statement was agreed at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting and will be circulated to all stakeholders.
“Local Government planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála will be required to have regard to this policy from now on.
NEXT STAGE FOR NORTH-SOUTH INTERCONNECTOR
As regards the interconnector project, he said he had advised Government colleagues that it is “now an operational matter for Eirgrid” to complete preparations for re-submitting a planning application to Bord Pleanála, adding that such an application would need to take appropriate account of the reports of the Commission and the Committee, including the Government’s policy statement.
He said it would be a matter for Bord Pleanála to address all relevant factors in arriving at a final decision.
IRELAND’S ENERGY NETWORKS
Other key aspects from the policy statement, from the Government’s perspective, include calls for the “imperative need” for the development and renewal of Ireland’s energy networks, in order to meet both economic and social policy goals.
The Government has also stated that State network companies are required to address and mitigate human, environmental and landscape impacts when delivering engineering solutions during energy projects.
It said that the high voltage electricity transmission system under Eirgrid’s Grid 25 Programme is the most important such investment in Ireland’s transmission system for several generations.
Rabbitte also said that he agrees with the Joint Oireachtas Committee that Eirgrid must respect the need for early, ongoing and transparent engagement with stakeholders and local communities in progressing its planning application for the North South Electricity Interconnector.
Irish Permanent TSB closing branches
‘list to be revealed within days’
The Permanment TSB is to reveal the number of branches it is to shut as part of a wider restructuring plan within the next week.
Speaking to the Oireachtas Finance Committee this afternoon, chief executive Jeremy Masding said the group intends to reduce the number of branches down from its current 92 locations.
During his address, the CEO insisted that any changes will not “unduly impact” on customer service. A reorganisation of the head office and the reduction of operating expenses are also key components to the proposed restructuring plan, which was drafted to “secure the future of the bank”.
The progress made under the proposals will be reviewed by the Troika in early-October.
Masding, who took the top job at PTSB in February, said that the Troika “had made it very clear that time is of the essence and that they will be reviewing progress on this plan when we next meet them in October.”
The British banker told the committee that his objective at PTSB was to create a viable, customer focussed and competitive bank. He said the plan to rebuild the group would require the separation of a “new” PTSB from an Asset Management Unit where the bank’s uneconomic loans would be managed.
After learning about details in the bank’s submission to the Government and the regulator on Monday, the Irish Independent reported that PTSB is set to shut at least 25 branches.
Mortgage interest rates
Commenting on the group’s high-than-average mortgage rates, Masding said that with cuts of 85 basis points over the past eight weeks, the bank had “significantly improved” its comparative position. The recent drop in rates “ended its ‘outlier’ status in respect of variable rates, he added.
Although he did not rule out further rate cuts, he did say they would be dependent on the bank’s ability to reduce the funding costs it faced.
“The cost of deposits in this market is expensive,” he explained. “If it reduces, and I hope it does, I believe we’ll be able to reduce our variable rates further. That’s how a rational banking system works. We won’t proactively chase down mortgage rates.”
Ireland’s choice
Mr. Masding said that Ireland faced an important choice in respect of banks which have been supported by the taxpayer – whether to “persist with an emasculated banking system which is forever reliant on taxpayer support, lives the lie of artificial pricing and which is incapable of normal business” or “to take the difficult decisions necessary to restore strength and vigour to our banks so that they can be weaned off taxpayer support and, ultimately, return to the normal business of banking; the raising of money from deposits at reasonable rates, supplemented by selective levels of wholesale funding, funds that are then lent to borrowers at reasonable rates.”
He also stressed to the committee the appreciation of the bank – and his own appreciation – for the support of the Irish Government during the financial crisis and emphasised the bank’s commitment to protecting the investment which the taxpayer has made in the bank.
Minister Hogan gives deadline to those blamed for pyrite damage repairs
Environment Minister Phil Hogan Building has blamed suppliers, mortgage and insurance firms at fault for pyrite-damaged homes and they have until the end of September to come up with solutions to the 450 million euro crisis.
Minister Phil Hogan has threatened to hit companies involved in construction and development of 10,300 affected homes with full repair bills if they do not strike a deal.
It is expected to cost 45,000 euro to fix each of the buckling homes.
The so-called Pyrite Panel report concluded that anyone with direct or indirect responsibility for the problem should bear the costs of repairs. It identified five quarries out of about 1,000 as a possible source of the defective material.
Mr Hogan said the pressure will be on the Construction Industry Federation, the Irish Concrete Federation, HomeBond, the Irish Insurance Federation and the Irish Banking Federation to find a way forward.
“In the absence of viable practical solutions from these obvious stakeholders I will be left with no option but to advise the Government that a solution along the lines recommended by the panel must be imposed,” he said. “My preferred option is for responsible stakeholders to take ownership of this problem and to work with me to advance solutions which will lead to a resolution for the homeowners concerned.”
The defective building material pyrite, sometimes known as fool’s gold, is a natural mineral found in stone which becomes unstable when exposed to air or water. The most obvious structural damage in buildings is cracking, splitting and buckling of walls, floors and ceilings.
Buildings including houses, apartments, nursing homes and social homes in Fingal, Meath, Dublin city, Kildare and Offaly have been badly affected since it was first detected about three years ago.
The Pyrite Panel report found that, at most, 74 estates with 10,300 homes need to be repaired by having the crumbling hardcore removed. The study found another 850 homes have a claim with a guarantee provider and another 1,100 have been repaired or are in the process of being fixed.
In public projects, the report said that three local authorities – Fingal, Dublin City and Meath – had identified about 850 social and affordable units in 18 developments with suspected or confirmed cases of pyritic heave. The Department of Education has recorded three suspected cases of pyrite in schools
Bid to win protected species status for Irish salmon
Irish salmon could soon join an elite club
THE IRISH SALMON COULD SOON JOIN AN ELITE CLUB THAT FEATURES LOUGH NEAGH EELS, THE ARMAGH BRAMLEY APPLE AND THE COMBER SPUD.
An application is under way to win protected geographical indication (PGI) status under European law.
It is the first all-Ireland application for protected status.
The granting of PGI status would mean Irish salmon joins high-quality European products, including Parma ham, Champagne wine and Stilton cheese.
PGI legislation came into force in 1993 and provides for a system for the protection of food names on a geographical or traditional recipe basis.
The scheme highlights regional and traditional foods whose authenticity and origin can be guaranteed.
Under this system a named food or drink registered at a European level will be given legal protection against imitation throughout the EU.
Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “”A product, such as the Irish salmon, receiving PGI registration would be good news for the agri food sector and would help local suppliers to market the product domestically and further afield, and would also provide protection against imitation.”
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