The
Household charge has to be collected ‘so says the Troika’ 
Many disgruntled property
owners still refuse to pay the household charge. But their neighbours, having paid it, now face cuts to local
services.
A war of words is simmering in communities where funds for facilities are being slashed because of low rates of collection of the charge. In some counties, nearly half of homeowners still refuse to pay the €100 levy. Others have complied but still face punishment with local cuts.
There have been protests, hate mails, confusion over collecting the levy and bitter words exchanged. But the scene is bound to get uglier with potentially huge numbers of non-paying property owners dragged before the courts this year.
Local Government Management Agency chief executive Paul McSweeney says he understands that some families are facing financial difficulties.
However, the Dublin man tells the Irish Examiner in an interview that he intends to rake in the full €160m from the household charge.
Setting up a property database for it was not easy, he says. "We intend to collect every penny of it, steadily, incrementally and relentlessly," he says.
"I have friends who are unemployed, I have friends who are struggling. I know this. But the Government has told us this must be paid. They are under pressure from the troika; the troika are beating them over the head.
"It won’t go away, there’s no write-off here. It is inevitable that some people are going to be brought to court because we don’t have a choice in the matter."
A third set of warning letters targeting all property owners, rather than just landlords, will be sent out in September.
"Once we go to three letters, we have to seriously look at taking court proceedings. If people we have identified choose not to pay it, then undoubtedly some proceedings will be initiated," he said.
"We have taken advice from the law agents in the local authorities on this. We are looking at what will be required," he added.
But Independent Donegal TD Thomas Pringle, who opposes the levy, says the agency and councils are unlikely to take hundreds of thousands of property owners to court.
"They [the LGMA] are going out to try and frighten as many people as possible. Thousands of these letters have also gone to people who’ve already paid."
But more sinister elements have now entered the debate.
Gardaí are investigating the sending of a shotgun cartridge to a senior member of staff in the LGMA. Mr McSweeney also says he has become the focus of hate mail and online threats.
"I got thrust into the public eye and that was never the intention. You are carrying out the lawful instructions of the Oireachtas which a minority of people find offensive, then some people will decide that they’re going to make their feelings known in a strong way," he said.
Some 1,000,017 properties have been registered to date. But 600,000 have yet to be registered by owners, a job that may go to Revenue when it takes over collection of the levy next year.
"Revenue don’t deal in cash, where local authorities do deal in cash. A lot of people may still want to pay in cash and they’re going to have to deal with this."
Suggestions that the new property tax, which will take over from the charge, could amount to several hundred euro per property means that owners with more than one may have difficulty paying. The LGMA has advised Revenue to allow owners to pay the tax in instalments.
"You need to do that because if people are paying a few hundred euro per property, you have to be able to spread that out a bit, and through different mechanisms," Mr McSweeney said.
There’s also the question of when local authorities — some having pulled in large amounts in charges — will see the fruit of their work.
"We collect the money. It goes to the Department of Environment. The department use equalisation methods. We distribute that back out to the local authorities."
Ex-Irish Nationwide staff give witness statements in reckless loans inquiry
Chief executive Michael Fingleto the subject of legal proceedings by IBRC
The central Bank has taken witness statements from former staff of Irish Nationwide as part of its investigation into reckless lending by the former building society during the tenure of chief executive Michael Fingleton.
Former employees of the building society received letters from the Central Bank containing detailed questions about how Irish Nationwide approved loans and whether they were signed off by the society’s credit committee.
The Central Bank has followed up the letters, sent earlier in the year, and staff responses to the correspondence with detailed interviews from which witness statements have been taken.
Some former staff members sought assurances from the Central Bank in advance that their legal costs would be covered but these requests were refused.
The investigation, which is at an advanced stage, is focusing on specific customer accounts as examples of reckless lending by the building society, while lending practices within Irish Nationwide’s commercial loans department are also coming under examination.
The Central Bank investigation, led by the regulator’s enforcement division, is looking in particular at lending by the building society at the height of the property boom, 2004-2008, when most of the building society’s losses, which have led to a €5.4 billion Government bailout, were incurred.
The Central Bank said the investigation was being conducted under its “administrative sanctions procedures into historic lending practices at INBS”.
“Until this has concluded, no decisions may be made as regards any future potential action,” the regulator said in a statement.
The Central Bank said it could not comment further or provide additional details for legal reasons, citing confidential obligations under its own regulations.
Mr Fingleton ran the building society from the early 1970s until April 2009 when he stood down following pressure over his refusal to hand back a €1 million bonus paid in the weeks after the Government introduced the bank guarantee covering Irish Nationwide and the five other financial institutions. The investigation is being guided by two reports compiled by accountants Ernst Young and Dublin law firm McCann FitzGerald into lending practices and corporate governance failures at Irish Nationwide.
The Central Bank can fine firms up to €5 million and individuals up to €500,000 but these will double under new legislation, the Central Bank (Supervisions and Enforcement) Bill 2011.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said last October that his department had received the two reports but they were “of an interim nature”, confidential and subject to legal privilege.
“In view of the sensitive nature of their reports and their potential, if made public, to prejudice any future actions that may arise, I do not propose to publish the reports referred to at this time,” the Minister said in response to a parliamentary question.
Mr Noonan said in February the reports had also been passed to the Garda and they could not be published before the conclusion of the Central Bank’s investigation, any Garda investigation and civil legal proceedings taken by the former Anglo Irish Bank, which is winding down Irish Nationwide.
Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, previously known as Anglo, issued legal proceedings against Mr Fingleton and other former directors of the building society at the end of March over breach of contractual obligations.
The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement told The Irish Times last year that it had no power to investigate Irish Nationwide as building societies do not fall under company law.
Mediators should be trained to include children
While much emphasis has been placed on the importance of a referendum on children’s rights in providing an opportunity for children to have their voices heard in Irish family law, the question must be asked whether we are, in the interim, ignoring opportunities to begin to make progressive changes to draft legislation which is now the subject of debate.
If one looks, for example, at the Oireachtas debates following the publication of the General Scheme for Mediation Bill 2012 in March of this year, the discussion has focused solely on the procedural and commercial implications of the proposed Bill for mediators, the legal profession and various interested parties who see an opportunity to gain employment by providing training and information services.
While 11 interested organisations have engaged in these Oireachtas debates, one issue that has not been raised during them by any of the represented organisations is the proposal under Head 18 of the scheme to involve children in family law mediations. Head 18 proposes that if “a mediator considers it appropriate to involve the child of a party directly in the mediation process, the mediator shall:
(a) obtain the agreement of the parties,
(b) obtain the consent of the child, and
(c) provide or ensure the provision of appropriate facilities for involvement of the child in the process.”
The inclusion of this important issue in the draft scheme is to be commended. The provision as currently drafted is of little use to children where the mediator chosen by their parents deems it inappropriate to consult with them in an individual case, but nonetheless it can and should be used as a platform to begin a debate into the role of children within the mediation process.
At present, children have little or no role in the mediation process in Ireland. However, research carried out internationally, for example in Australia, has shown that there are direct benefits in child-inclusive mediation. It is important to clarify that child-inclusive in this context does not mean children sit in on all mediation sessions and witness conflict between their parents. Rather, their views are sought by the mediator in an age-appropriate way and relayed to their parents.
The research has shown children value the opportunity to have some input and to be treated with respect. Significantly, parents who took part in the research indicated the feedback they received from their children had been cathartic in terms of enabling them to reach more family-friendly resolutions.
My own research in Ireland with young adults whose parents have separated clearly indicates children want matters to be explained to them in a civilised, respectful, age-appropriate way, and indicates such explanation and reassurance from their parents alleviates many of their fears and enables them to trust their parents will promote their best interests. The mediation process has the potential to provide a “safe” place to have this discussion.
The impetus from the Government appears to be to promote mediation as a viable, recession-friendly alternative to the court process. Parties are strongly encouraged to consider the process, with on-site mediation being offered in pilot projects such as the initiative run by the Legal Aid Board and the Family Mediation Service at Dolphin House.
However, if we are to comply with the international standards laid down in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is essential that mediators are trained in order that they are competent to facilitate a role for children, and that children are given an opportunity to participate and express their views as part of this process, should they wish to do so.
Therefore, the debate on facilitating the voice of the child in the context of mediation should start now. Issues that need to be discussed include the capacity of children to participate in the mediation process; the age at which it is appropriate to consult them; whether indeed there should be such age considerations at all or whether such consultation should be based on the maturity of a particular child; whether, as suggested by the draft scheme, the mediator should have discretion in this regard, or whether children should be consulted as a matter of practice.
Ensuring children’s voices are heard will not be achieved by one magical referendum alone but by the systematic reform of all legislation and judicial and administrative procedures that have the potential to impact on children’s lives.
Trade crime in Ireland costs the exchequer €861m a year says a report
A customs officer with counterfeited cigarettes seized at Dublin Port:
Illegal tobacco costs the exchequer an estimated €526 million in lost excise duty and VAT annually ,
Black market trading, shoplifting and other crimes affecting retailers cost the exchequer €861 million each year, according to a new report commissioned by Retail Ireland.
The report, prepared for the industry group by EPS Consulting, suggests that the sale of counterfeit and smuggled goods has “now reached epidemic proportions”.
Illegal tobacco accounts for much of the calculated loss, costing the exchequer an estimated €526 million in lost excise duty and VAT, the report estimates.
Fuel laundering costs the exchequer €155 million, while shoplifting and theft costs €110 million, it states.
“The scale of the lost revenue means it makes economic sense to invest more in tackling the problem. Additional Garda resources are required and much tougher sentences are needed as a deterrent,” said Frank Gleeson, Retail Ireland chairman.
Mr Gleeson said it was vital that the retail sector, already suffering as a result of the collapse in consumer spending, was not “further squeezed” by criminal activity.
Retail Ireland, which is affiliated to employers’ lobby group Ibec, argues that the current levels of convictions for black market trading do not act as a deterrent and calls for a “zero tolerance” approach.
The report recommends that instead of being fined, people and businesses found guilty of black market offences should have State payments or benefits reduced to the value of the loss to the exchequer of the goods smuggled, counterfeited or stolen.
It also suggests Garda resources should be redeployed from areas such as road traffic policing into enforcement of trade laws and calls for more regular checks on casual traders to ensure that counterfeit products are not for sale. The redeployment of resources in this way would pay for itself in economic terms, Mr Gleeson said.
People who report illegal trades via a confidential hotline should be given a reward of up to €10,000 if their call results in a summary conviction, while an awareness campaign should be launched to alert consumers that illegal activity pushes up prices, the report adds.
To tackle illegal tobacco sales – estimated to account for as much as a quarter of all cigarettes sold in Ireland – the Government should introduce a consumer awareness campaigned modelled on the Dodgy Cigs poster and radio campaign run by the British department of health and UK revenue officials, the report recommends. A similar campaign, focusing on the additional health risks of consuming “dubious” products, should be launched to highlight the dangers of bootleg alcohol, it adds.
Retail Ireland wants more frequent inspections of fuel distributors to help reduce increasing rates of fuel laundering. It is estimated that about 12 per cent of all diesel sold in Ireland is illegal.
The Revenue Commissioners indicated in April that solid fuel merchants would be among those targeted for audits this year, as officials continue a crackdown on the evasion of excise duty on diesel.
Since 2010, 19 fuel laundries have been detected and closed, while 52 filling stations in breach of licensing laws were shut.
“In fairness to the Revenue, they have been doing a really good job here. But the problem is not getting fixed yet,” said Mr Gleeson. “We need to see some significant convictions.”
The estimates in the report are compiled from sources including the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers’ Advisory Committee, the Irish Petrol Retail Association, the Centre for Retail Research and black market specialists Havocscope.
At €250 million, the Revenue Commissioners’ estimate of the cost to the exchequer of illegal tobacco is less than half the industry estimate in the report.
“I would say the Revenue tends to be conservative, whereas the retailers have a more realistic view of it,” said Mr Gleeson. The black market in cigarettes is “hugely profitable” for sellers but ultimately cost local “corner shop” jobs as well as exchequer revenue.
Ulster University have to admit the 100 extra students after error made
The University of Ulster is to accept about an additional 100 students to take engineering courses even though they have not achieved the required exam grades for admission.
The university last week ended up in the embarrassing position of offering places to all 370 students who had applied to do engineering even though only 194 places were available.
The embarrassing and costly mistake was made after an email with the unconditional offer was sent to all the students rather than to the specified number.
Several of the 370 who sought to do engineering at the university would also have applied to study at other third-level colleges and the university estimates that about 100 students who did not make the required grade will benefit.
Prof Richard Millar, dean of the faculty of computing and engineering, said the error was likely to cost the university “tens of thousands of pounds” but that it felt it had a “moral” duty to honour the original commitment.
He acknowledged that the North’s Department of Employing and Learning (DEL) was likely to impose a financial penalty on the University of Ulster because with the extra places the university will exceed this year’s student admission cap.
Prof Millar argued that taking the additional students who had not met the required level of exam results would not mean a reduction in standards at the university. He said the results they achieved were similar to the standard required to accept engineering students up to about three years ago.
“For all students for whom we have a complete set of examination results, we are able to honour the offer made. These decisions are being communicated to the individual students,” he said.
“This means that all applicants that received the congratulatory email in error from the faculty, and for whom the university has a full set of examination results, are now having their place in the university confirmed,” he said.
“In the light of the extra student numbers we are now admitting, the university will put in place additional teaching and pastoral support,” he added.
The university vice-chancellor, Prof Richard Barnett, apologised for any anxiety and distress caused to applicants and their families. “The university is grateful for the understanding shown by the DEL Minister, Dr Stephen Farry, and will be in discussions with him and his officials,” he said.
The university is trying to discover how the mistake was made.
Researchers write a book of 50,000 words in DNA
GEORGE M. CHURCH is Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School
Researchers have encoded a full book in DNA, the largest amount of information stored on the biological medium yet.
The data encoded is the digital version of the book, made up of more than 50,000 words, 11 images and one computer program. The overall size of the data is around 0.7 megabytes, report the scientists, led by George Church of Harvard Medical School. For their work, the researchers have used only off-the-shelf technology.
In their article, published on-line by Science magazine, the scientists argue that DNA has unique advantages for data storage. They calculate that their method has by far the highest data density of any medium until now, beating flash media or even quantum holography by orders of magnitude. This is partly because DNA is three dimensional while other storage techniques are restricted to two dimensions.
Yet the main advantage of DNA storage may be durability. DNA can survive millennia unharmed, as demonstrated by the sequencing of genetic information from ancient fossils. At the same time, the tools and techniques necessary for reading out the information will be present in future generations, because they are ubiquitous in nature, the scientists write.
The main disadvantage at this time is expense. The authors admit that the cost and time needed to encode the information make it largely impractical at the moment, except for highly specific applications, like century-scale archiving.
But they point out that the cost of DNA synthesis and sequencing has been dropping by a factor larger than five each year, much higher than the rate for electronic media, albeit from a much higher starting point. The scientists conclude that DNA is becoming an increasingly practical storage medium, at a time when digital information is accumulating at an exponential rate.
For their work, the researchers split into pieces the information of the book “Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves,” co-written by Church. They then synthesized short DNA fragments of around 160 nucleotides — the bits in DNA. Each fragment carries part of the book, information about its position, as well as parts necessary for reading and replicating the piece.
In the process, the scientists have created 70 billion copies of the book. When reading out the information, the data was recovered with but 10 errors overall.
The first demonstration of encoding information into DNA dates back to 1988. Until now, the largest amount of data encoded in nucleic acid has been only 7,920 bits, around one-700th what Church’s team has accomplished. The authors report on a number of improvements over previous methods that make this feat possible, including a more flexible method of encoding data, using shorter and thereby easier to handle DNA pieces, and next-generation technologies for synthesis and sequencing.
For the future, the researchers propose improvements in compression and accuracy, to make the storage denser and less error-prone.
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