The blanket of debt that rests on top of many Irish households is smothering the economy, and the government is under massive pressure to implement the right solution to solve this problem.
After many years of lobbying for new debt laws, it ultimately took an economic nightmare and a major external impetus, in the form of the troika, for the government to finally address the issue.
Tackling personal debt and mortgage arrears is key to breathing life back into the Irish economy, a fact pointed out by the troika when agreeing the terms of Ireland’s rescue package.
2012 saw the publication of the Personal Insolvency bill, which was signed into law late last year. Three new debt relief procedures have been established under this law, and the bankruptcy rules have been revised.
Then in early 2013, the government and the Central Bank kept the ball rolling on tackling debt when they announced that lenders would have to offer indebted borrowers sustainable solutions or else face capital penalties.
However, there are some gaps in the government’s approach to tackling personal debt. A report by the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs), which was published last week by the Department of Social Protection, revealed that one of the long-term forbearance solutions currently forming part of the suite of options on offer from lenders is not necessarily a goer.
Split mortgages, where part of the debt is parked until some future date, are one of a range of options that lenders are considering for indebted borrowers. However, the Mabs report warned that split mortgages were not a viable option for borrowers of a certain age profile as they would be unlikely to be “in a position to repay the “warehoused” portion when the time came”.
It’s inconsistencies like this, which perhaps highlight a lack of joined up thinking, that raise concerns about the state’s approach to problem personal debt.
Are the suite of long-term forbearance options on offer from lenders enough to turn the mortgage arrears problem around? And does the new personal insolvency regime offer a viable route out of debt?
Irish Government all over the place over water charges issue
INDEPENDENT TD ROISÍN SHORTALL HAS ACCUSED THE GOVERNMENT OF BEING ALL OVER THE PLACE ON THE ISSUE OF WATER CHARGES.
It is unclear when the new charge will be introduced.
The Environment Minister Phil Hogan said that households will be expected to pay from January 1, 2014 but Ministers Pat Rabbitte and Brian Hayes said that will not happen.
Deputy Shortall also told Northern Sound that there could be an element of political tactics involved:
“The reality is the government had said they wouldn’t introduce water charges until there was a full metering system in place,” she said.
“It seems they’re all over the place, I think the government is at sixes and sevens on this they don’t actually have a clear plan for where they’re going and that’s why you have the conflicting information coming out last week
“I think it’s very unfair to people I think the government needs to get its act together and sort this problem out.”
Minister Ruairi Quinn wants Irish Catholic bishops to be generous in the transferring of primary schools
MINISTER FOR EDUCATION RUAIRI QUINN HAS SAID HE HOPES THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS WILL BE GENEROUS AND CONSTRUCTIVE IN RESPONDING TO PROPOSALS TO TRANSFER SOME PRIMARY SCHOOLS TO MULTI-DENOMINATIONAL PATRONAGE.
Addressing the AGM of the Catholic Primary School Manager’s Association the minister criticised what he called scaremongering carried out by some Catholic schools during a recent survey of parents to measure the need for change.
Mr Quinn said he had heard of campaigns operated by some schools during the survey process that claimed there would be a unilateral handing over of Catholic schools to non-Catholic parents.
The Minister called this regrettable.
Ruairi Quinn said he fully supported the framework, as outlined by the church, which saw new arrangements for diversity of choice in place by September 2014.
Mr Quinn told Catholic school managers he hoped the final responses of the bishops, due in October, would pave the way for greater diversity in 29 areas around the country.
On the subject of the time allocated to the teaching of religion in schools, Mr Quinn said recent OECD figures suggested that Ireland and Israel spend considerably more time than any other OECD countries on religious instruction in schools.
He called for public discussion on the matter.
Meanwhile, the CPSMA has called on the minister to restore, as a matter of urgency, a grant that enabled schools to carry out small but vital repairs.
At its AGM the CPSMA said 67% of Primary schools were now in deficit as a result of the abolition of the Minor Works Grant.
The Association’s Deputy President Fr Denis McNelis said a primary school with 100 mainstream pupils and five special needs pupils had lost 20% of its funding in recent times, the equivalent of almost €10,500.
Science reveals why you can’t eat just one potato chip
DO YOU SUFFER FROM HEDONIC HYPERPHAGIA? THAT MEANS ‘EATING TO EXCESS FOR PLEASURE RATHER THAN HUNGER’ AND IT PLAGUES MILLIONS AROUND THE WORLD.
Tobias Hoch, Ph.D., who conducted the study, said the results shed light on the causes of a condition called “hedonic hyperphagia” that plagues hundreds of millions of people around the world.
“That’s the scientific term for ‘eating to excessfor pleasure, rather than hunger,’” Hoch said. “It’s recreational over-eating that may occur in almost everyone at some time in life. And the chronic form is a key factor in the epidemic of overweight and obesity that here in the United States threatens health problems for two out of every three people.”
How the study was done
The team at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, in Erlangen, Germany, probed the condition with an ingenious study in which scientists allowed one group of laboratory rats to feast on potato chips. Another group got bland old rat chow. Scientists then used high-tech magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices to peer into the rats’ brains, seeking differences in activity between the rats-on-chips and the rats-on-chow.
With recent studies showing that two-thirds of Americans are obese or overweight, this kind of recreational over-eating continues to be a major problem, health care officials say.
Among the reasons why people are attracted to these foods, even on a full stomach, was suspected to be the high ratio of fats and carbohydrates, which send a pleasing message to the brain, according to the team. In the study, while rats also were fed the same mixture of fat and carbohydrates found in the chips, the animals’ brains reacted much more positively to the chips.
“The effect of potato chips on brain activity, as well as feeding behaviour, can only partially be explained by its fat and carbohydrate content,” explained Tobias Hoch, Ph.D. “There must be something else in the chips that make them so desirable,” he said.
In the study, rats were offered one out of three test foods in addition to their standard chow pellets: powdered standard animal chow, a mixture of fat and carbs, or potato chips. They ate similar amounts of the chow as well as the chips and the mixture, but the rats more actively pursued the potato chips, which can be explained only partly by the high energy content of this snack, he said. And, in fact, they were most active in general after eating the snack food.
Although carbohydrates and fats also were a source of high energy, the rats pursued the chips most actively and the standard chow least actively. This was further evidence that some ingredient in the chips was sparking more interest in the rats than the carbs and fats mixture, Hoch said.
Brain activity monitored
Hoch explained that the team mapped the rats’ brains using Manganese-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MEMRI) to monitor brain activity. They found that the reward and addiction centres in the brain recorded the most activity. But the food intake, sleep, activity and motion areas also were stimulated significantly differently by eating the potato chips.
“By contrast, significant differences in the brain activity comparing the standard chow and the fat carbohydrate group only appeared to a minor degree and matched only partly with the significant differences in the brain activities of the standard chow and potato chips group,” he added.
Since chips and other foods affect the reward centre in the brain, an explanation of why some people do not like snacks is that “possibly, the extent to which the brain reward system is activated in different individuals can vary depending on individual taste preferences,” according to Hoch. “In some cases maybe the reward signal from the food is not strong enough to overrule the individual taste.” And some people may simply have more willpower than others in choosing not to eat large quantities of snacks, he suggested.
If scientists can pinpoint the molecular triggers in snacks that stimulate the reward centre in the brain, it may be possible to develop drugs or nutrients to add to foods that will help block this attraction to snacks and sweets, he said. The next project for the team, he added, is to identify these triggers. He added that MRI studies with humans are on the research agenda for the group.
On the other hand, Hoch said there is no evidence at this time that there might be a way to add ingredients to healthful, albeit rather unpopular, foods like Brussels sprouts to affect the rewards centre in the brain positively.
Salt and potassium diet changes would have major health benefits
Cutting down on salt and, at the same time, increasing levels of potassium in our diet would have major health and cost benefits across the world, according to studies published on bmj.com.
Such a strategy would save millions of lives every year from heart disease and stroke, said the experts.
Much evidence has shown that reducing salt intake lowers blood pressure and thereby reduces the risk of stroke and heart disease. Less is known about the potential benefits of increasing potassium intake, but lower potassium consumption has been linked with elevated blood pressure.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has therefore set a global goal to reduce dietary salt intake to 5-6g (about one teaspoon) per person per day by 2025, yet salt intake in many countries is currently much higher than this. In the UK, NICE recommends a reduction in salt intake to 3g per day by 2025 for the adult population.
The first study examined the effects of modest salt reduction on blood pressure, hormones and blood fats (lipids) from 34 trials involving more than 3,000 adults.
It found a modest reduction in salt for four or more weeks led to significant falls in blood pressure in people with both raised and normal blood pressure.
The effect was seen in white and black people and in men and women, thereby reducing strokes, heart attacks and heart failure across populations. However, the researchers believe current recommendations “are not ideal” and said a further reduction to 3g per day “should become the long-term target for population salt intake”.
Similar results were found in a second analysis of 56 studies, of which 37 were high-quality studies reporting blood pressure, blood lipids, catecholamine levels or renal function. It found that reduced salt intake reduced blood pressure and had no adverse effect on blood lipids, hormone levels or kidney function. Moderate-quality evidence in children also showed that a reduction in sodium intake reduced blood pressure.
Lower sodium intake was also associated with reduced risk of stroke and fatal coronary heart disease in adults. “The totality of evidence suggests that reducing sodium intake should be part of public health efforts to reduce blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases, and will likely benefit most individuals,” concluded the authors.
A third study analysed data on potassium intake and health from 33 trials involving more than 128,000 healthy participants. Potassium is found in most fresh fruits and vegetables and pulses (legumes).
The results showed that increased potassium intake reduced blood pressure in adults, with no adverse effects on blood lipids, hormone levels or kidney function. Higher potassium intake was linked with a 24 per cent lower risk of stroke in adults and may also have a beneficial effect on blood pressure in children, but more data are needed.
The researchers also suggested an increased benefit with simultaneous reduction in salt intake.
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