Donie's all Ireland news BLOG update

Thursday 12th December 2013

Three quarters of Irish mortgages in arrears are still not restructured

   

DATA ALSO SHOWS MARGINAL RISE IN BUY-TO-LET MORTGAGES SLIPPING INTO ARREARS

The most popular mortgage restructure methods for lenders in difficulty include a term extension of a mortgage, going interest only, and arrears capitalisation.

An additional 3,855 residential mortgage accounts were restructured in October, while the number of mortgages in arrears of more than 90 days fell by 302 accounts during th emonth, the Department of Finance said today. However, more than three quarters (75%) of mortgages in arrears of more than 90 days, have still not been restructured.

Based on information from the six main banks – AIB, Bank of Ireland, PTSB, ACC, KBC Ireland and Ulster Bank –engagement between consumers and lenders has led to 49,032 permanent mortgage restructures, an increase of 3,855 accounts in October.

Total mortgage accounts in arrears (all arrears 1 day past due) fell during October by 727 accounts, while the number of mortgage accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days decreased from 81,156 to 80,854, a drop of 302 accounts.

Temporary restructures continue to fall, “indicating a move towards a greater utilisation of permanent restructures” the Department said.

The most popular mortgage restructure methods involve a term extension of a mortgage (14,804 accounts); interest only (13,682); and arrears capitalisation (13,093).

With regards to buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages, among the six main banks total mortgage accounts in arrears past one day increased marginally this month, up from 34,192 to 34,237. There was also a slight increase in the number of mortgage accounts in arrears greater than 90 days, up to 26,489.

For BTL mortgages the number of permanent restructures increased by 214 on September, up to 10,020, while restructures of accounts in arrears greater than 90 days, increased marginally, up to 5,391. The predominant restructure type for BTL arrears is temporary interest only, with 8,004 accounts in this category, followed by arrears capitalisation (3,481).

Meanwhile a survey from PIBA, the country’s largest group of financial brokers and covering the third quarter of 2013, showed that interest only arrangements remain the most prevalent option for lenders in coming to an arrangement with mortgage holders, at over 65 per cent. The second most popular resolution was a split mortgage (37.7%), followed by repayment break (15.9%) and debt forgiveness (14.5%).

Rachel Doyle, chief operations officer at PIBA, said that the situation is “still far from desirable”.

“We are a long way off what is required. Our brokers are reporting that the interest only arrangements favoured by lenders are not long term solutions for many of those in difficulty. We need to see lenders facing up to the reality that write downs of part of the borrowings is the only suitable arrangement for many who will never be in a position to repay in full,” she said.

If breast cancer spreads, surgery does not necessary help

   

Surgery and radiotherapy do not necessarily ensure longer survival for women with Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) — cancer that has spread to other vital organs in the body.

Chemotherapy and hormonal treatment can achieve almost similar benefits, a landmark study by the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) has established.

The study presented in the ongoing San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in US could alter the way MBC is managed and save many patients from needless surgery or exposure to radiation.

It also solves the dilemma most cancer surgeons face when presented with MBC. In 5-20% of breast cancer patients, the cancer has already attacked other vital organs by the time of their first visit to a doctor. In India, where there’s a dearth of preventive screening programmes, a significant majority of women get diagnosed for breast cancer long after the cancer has spread.

The trial involving 350 women was carried out between February 2005 and May 2013, where they were divided into two groups. One group had 173 women who underwent surgery and radiotherapy while another group of 177 women were spared these. Both groups had undergone six successful rounds of chemotherapy before their recruitment into the trial. Women who underwent surgery had the primary breast tumour, where the cancer had originated, and lymph nodes removed, followed by several weeks of radiation.

The average survival rate for both groups was found to be between 18 to 20 months. “We found there was no difference in overall survival between those who received loco-regional treatment (surgery and radiation) and those who did not,” said Dr Rajendra Badwe, director of TMH in a statement.

“A lot of oncologists who believe in conventional wisdom and don’t provide loco-regional treatment will feel a lot more comfortable looking at the results,” he added. There was an insignificant 7% excess death rate noted in patients who underwent surgery and radiotherapy.

The findings could change the way MBC is handled the world over. At least 30-50% of patients are given the surgical option. “The efficacy of surgery and radiation was always a debated area as most studies were retrospective and gave conflicting results,” said Dr Sudeep Gupta, TMH professor of medical oncology.

Tata Hospital had stopped operating on MBC patients long ago. “Many more women would be spared the anxiety of undergoing a breast removal surgery,” Gupta added.

Ashwini Budrukkar from the hospital’s department of radiation oncology said in cases where patients are advised surgery and radiation the patients easily spend around 2-3 months for surgery and radiation sessions. “We will not only be saving resources but patients too will be relieved of a financial burden,” she said.

Badwe added that treatment options like surgery and radiotherapy should be reserved for palliative reasons.

A study shows Ireland’s older population is set to double over next 20 years

 

The older population will almost double over the next two decades, new figures have shown.

Ireland’s older population will almost double over the next two decades, new figures have shown.

As life expectancy rates rise with the average woman predicted to live until 87 and the average man until 83 come 2031, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) predicted the population of Dublin alone could rocket by between 96,000 and 286,000.

The projections were based on birth and death levels across the country’s eight regional authorities and the potential of people moving from one area to another between 2016 and 2031.

“The report is not an attempt to predict the future, but rather presents how the population of the various regions will evolve under different scenarios by making assumptions about future trends in migration, both internal and external, and fertility,” the CSO said.

The Greater Dublin population, made up of the capital and the Mid-East regions, is projected to have risen by between 174,000 and 401,000 in 18 years’ time.

This could see an annual population increase in Greater Dublin of up to 20,100 each year.

One scenario considered by the CSO would see the number of over-65s almost double across every region between 2016 and 2031.

The most marked increase would occur in the Mid-East with a hike in pensioners of 136.5%.

The number of over-65s in the Midland region is expected to increase by 95.1%.

Meanwhile, on a national level, men are expected to live an average four and a half years longer by 2031 than they were in 2011, and women by over three and a half years.

As people move from one region to another, some areas will see a population rise that is disproportionate with births.

For example, while the Border region has projected births of 123,000, its population will increase by just 18,000, and while the West has projected births of 97,000, its population is likely to rise by just 15,000.

Elsewhere, one scenario envisaged by the CSO will see the number of young people aged from birth to 14 increasing in the Mid-East by 4.7% between 2011 and 2031, while all other regions will experience a decrease in the population of this age group.

Race is on for the recruitment of 300 new Garda jobs

  

More than 1,000 people applied for up to 300 new Garda posts in the first few hours after they were advertised

More than 1,000 people have already applied for up to 300 new Garda posts in the force’s first recruitment in five years.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said he expects 20,000 men and women to apply to be one of the new recruits who will begin entering the Garda College in the middle of next year.

They will undergo eight months of training in Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary, before being assigned to Garda stations with full policing powers.

Mr Shatter said it was an important day for the force.

“It is in the public interest and in the interest of the force itself that new members are recruited to bring their personal skills and insights and a fresh dynamic to the force in the context of it undertaking its very important duties,” he said.

Mr Shatter said 1,000 applications have already been received since the posts went live on publicjobs.ie this morning.

It is the first time trainee gardai have entered Templemore since May 2009, before the recruitment moratorium was put in place.

The new course will cut the time trainees spend in the Garda college to 32 weeks.

When moved to stations they will also undergo a further 72 weeks of on the job learning – bringing force levels back to over 13,000. After two years they will be awarded a BA in Applied Policing.

Mr Shatter said despite the reduction in Garda force numbers because of the financial difficulties in the state, it was important to acknowledge a cut in most crime areas over the last two years.

“Their specialised and targeted approach to a variety of forms of crime has resulted in significant arrests and the gardai securing significant convictions in our courts of those engaged in serious crime,” he said.

“I want to congratulate all members of the force for what they have achieved through their hard work, dedication and expertise.”

The announcement was made as 93 Garda reserves – 71 men and 22 women including Irish, Ukranian and Polish nationals – graduated in Templemore.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan said he expects many of the reserves to apply for the new posts, which will boost morale.

There are currently 1,290 Garda reserves, including 1,107 fully attested and 183 in training.

“I think it’s a natural assumption to make that the reserves will have a certain advantage,” he said.

“After all they have received initial training here, they have been working with colleagues on the force.

“I think any interview board will take that in to account when dealing with these people.”

Deputy Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan watched on proudly as her son Ciaran McGowan graduated as a reserve.

The 25-year-old photographer, whose father is Detective Superintendent Jim McGowan, will be based at Clontarf Garda Station.

His mother said she will worry about him the same the same way she worries for all the men and women in the force.

“I think he would love to be one, he would love to join the full time guards,” she said.

“My ambition was always that they would do what they want to do.”

Deputy Commissioner O’Sullivan joined An Garda Siochana in 1981 and is the most senior female in the force.

“It’s a great organisation,” she said.

“It has got much more dynamic, it is much more diverse as well, there is much more of a national and international dimension to it.

“We have always been lucky to have the support of the community but that is one of the most important things we do.”

Baby mangabey joins Dublin Zoo family

  

The baby is the third addition to Tema and Danso’s family.

Parents Tema and Danso and the staff at Dublin Zoo are celebrating the birth of a female white-crowned mangabey.

The baby was born on November 11 and weighs 400g.

Yet-to-be-named, she is the third addition to Tema and Danso’s family.

Helen Clarke-Bennet, Team Leader at the African Plains, said: “We are very proud of the new mangabey arrival at Dublin Zoo. This is Tema’s third baby and she is a fantastic mum. She takes everything in her stride and Danso is a very protective dad.

“The new arrival will stay close to her mother for about a year but will eventually become more independent.”

Dublin Zoo says: “White-crowned mangabeys are listed as endangered in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list because their population is decreasing rapidly.

“Dublin Zoo is one of 12 zoos in Europe participating in a breeding programme and has a very successful breeding record, with 18 white-crowned mangabeys born at the Zoo in the last 10 years.”

Record cold temperature and growing ice chills towards global warming growing rapidly

  

These days the big news from Antarctica is the -135.8 degrees Fahrenheit on the planet recorded record cold temperature is the lowest temperature.

It seems to be going unreported , what Antarktikarek cold on the southern ice sheet faster than account for the theory of Global Warming is growing at a rapid pace.

Around Antarctic sea ice in November 17,160,000 square kilometers ( 6.63 million square miles ) average. The average term of içinuz 16:30 November 1981 2010 million square kilometers ( 6.29 million square miles) is . All the arguments seem to camp Climate Change ” Whatever , it still is evidence of Global Warming . “

Conflicting evidence against the global emerging as record cold temperatures -can you , as proving the hypothesis eşitayn sited really can be called science ? Ice in these events stridently Global Warming as “proof” would be sited ( for the past dozen or more years had yapılıyortahm days ) quickly reduce the Antarktika’daki low temperatures creep upward increasingly been seen . Climate change their supporters will agree contradictory claims with any evidence or event do you have ?

Recorded in recent years ısınmanınmutlak about the lack questioned , Climate Change camp quietly , reluctantly , one will confess “pause . ” A pause they know warming, this lack just a short one heck of a show is going on any given day , going on now . In doğruiklimgeçmiş they had never , been able to predict what is going to do.

” Greenhouse gases ” considering the economy paralysis had no interest seems to countries like China by the record levels of the atmosphere is pumped to the time of this “pause” , today, is currently taking place ” scientific consensus . ” Maybe, in the Antarctic ice growing and record cold cold Chinese global It is theorized caused warming is a scam .
Works Both Ways ‘ Scientists’ Consensus ‘

Geophysical Review Letters , Science and Nature magazine found in August as a scientific literature analysis , more than 500 science adamımevcut anthropogenic ( man-made) Global Warming theory suggests that conflicting articles have been published . Many of the articles more than a dozen 1500 -year cycle ” Warmings back” is responsible for the connection to the last Ice Age has generated evidence . Whatever man , which had no effect on . History has always been Warmings , just bağlısonu modern warming is primarily to fluctuations of solar radiation much more reasonable.

“These data and science adamlarınınliste a scientific consensus ‘ cause you artışlarının global temperatures since 1850 as a procession of people are blaming the recent allegations ,” Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Dennis Avery, he said. ” All of these researchers would describe themselves as global warming skeptics not ,” Avery said, “but there is no çalışmalarındakanıt to see all their own . “

Peer review process itself , has come under a lot of scrutiny lately . Traditionally, personal friendships or philosophical differences that may be caused to eliminate potential bias , an editor will review and explanation of yaşıtlarınamakal , then send you want to remove an author’s name . A “double- blind ” peer review process, kept everyone honest .

Unfortunately, billions of dollars in research money to influence policy trillions of dollars in ” climate science ” today’s politically charged , grants hungry world, peer review has become something less than honest . No longer applied ” double-blind ” There is just . Great climate magazine editors all views of yüzdenyorumcu ” in crowd ” rubber stamp , for a life gönderilenbelg they üzerindeyazar names of other newspapers have taken leaving .

This system also ” in crowd ” can be prepared from the appropriate digestion down until the global warming evidence against keeping can work for : Rochester’s David Douglass, University of Climatology International Journal a paper offered time , indicating that a large at high altitudes warm tropical ” enhanced greenhouse effect ” alleged changes hangianaht factor climate only (thus ” global warming ” foretoldıpcc computer models , however, unequivocally , is proving not editördoğr players counterpoint can write much pressure kaldırdıgerçek observed data ) with interest .

Global warming “evidence” seems to overwhelm the data Bütüngözlen . Sea levels increased significantly failed. Storms verilenkorkunç warnings about the dangers of global warming completely contradicts the more frequent and there is light . In fact, only 13 named storms formed in 2013 içinatlantik , only two of them became hurricanes .

Tropical Storm Andreadüny about 70 percent of the post- 1850 warming occurred before 1940, was the only one to make landfall in the United States . This yüzdenpost – WW2 build industry veküresel a safe bet that the economy has nothing to do with it. More importantly , the total net post -1940 “warm up” totals only a tiny 0.2 degrees C

Fifteen years ago , nobody would have dared Global Warming camp a ” growing ice sheet ” or in Antarctica for 2013 ” record cold ” weather . Loudly questioned the sanity of someone saying these things , or at least could have gotten their own identity . Why book with all of these things together have been expected to believe now ?