Irish State paid consultants a whopping €103m for advice on banks since 2011
The Irish State has spent a whopping €103m in consultancy fees to firms including Goldman Sachs and Arthur Cox for advice about the banks since the Coalition took office in 2011.
The Central Bank accounted for the lion’s share of spending.
It paid out €75m in consultancy and legal fees over the period, according to the figures released by the Department of Finance in response to a question from Fianna Fail’s Michael McGrath.
The level of fees being paid shows “an extraordinary over-dependence on consultants and a lack of expertise within the Department of Finance, the NTMA and the Central Bank,” he said.
The biggest single set of costs was €29m incurred by the Central Bank in relation to the so- called “stress tests” to assess the financial position of the banks in 2011.
The data provided by the Department of Finance does not say who received fees paid by the Central Bank.
Worryingly, the main banks will go through a new round of stress tests later this year.
The Central Bank spent €1m on advice in relation to the liquidation of IBRC last year, the figures show.
The bank recoups its costs from the lenders it supervises.
“It seems to me that any time a serious decision has to be made or a new initiative undertaken, expensive external consultants seem to be the first port of call,” Mr McGrath said.
“Some of the amounts paid to individual firms are truly breathtaking and you would have to ask how these fees can possibly be justified,” the Fianna Fail finance spokesman said.
The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has paid €22.7m to consultants for advice about the banks since the Coalition took office and recouped €8m from the banks, according to the figures.
COST
That includes more than €9m paid to Goldman Sachs, €7.69m paid to law firm Arthur Cox and €4.4m to management consultants McKinsey.
The Department of Finance itself paid a further €4.6m in fees to firm Arthur Cox over the same period, and a second law company, Matheson, was paid just over €1m, the figures show.
The cost of legal advice accounts for the bulk of the department’s €5.8m spending.
It recouped €2.4m of that from the banks, according to the official response to Mr McGrath but there is no breakdown of cash recouped from taxpayer-owned banks or private institutions.
Irish Government’s jobs plan for dole people is a community service sentence
Fianna Fáil has described a new scheme putting 800 long-term unemployed people to work for local authorities in Dublin as a “two-year community service sentence”, with people having to work almost for free or be forced off the dole.
Under the Gateway initiative, 800 dole claimants who have been on the Live Register for more than a year, will be paid an extra €20 per week on top of their jobseekers allowance.
They will work in a number of areas including: village enhancement schemes; landscaping; tourism ambassadors; animal control; and libraries.
The Dublin schemes will be followed by others in local authorities around the country and it is understood 3,000 people could take up positions before the end of the year.
According to the Department of Social Protection, “the scheme is intended to assist the personal and social development of participants by providing short-term work opportunities with the objective of bridging the gap between unemployment and re-entering the workforce”. It also said the scheme was designed to “benefit the local area”.
The participants work for an average of 19.5 hours a week and the placement lasts 22 months. They receive the same annual leave and public holiday entitlement as other employees. Once the scheme finishes they cannot re-apply for Gateway for three years.
Those selected as eligible for the scheme will be contacted by their social welfare local office and offered the opportunity to participate. As places are limited by the number of roles available, not all eligible people will be given the opportunity.
Fianna Fáil jobs spokes- man Dara Calleary said that, while he believed in the need for more training and work placements to help get people off the Live Register, “this bears allthe hallmarks of another populist headline rather than a useful initiative that will actually get people back to work”.
“On the face of it, this “initiative’ sounds more like a two-year community-service sentence, where people are forced to work for the local authorities virtually for free, or else be forced off the dole,” he said.
“The Department of Social Protection selects the 800 workers and it seems they will have no choice but to participate.
“A number of questions must be answered: Will there be any effort to match people’s skills with the work placements? Will there be any opt-out for job seekers whose skills bear no resemblance to work involved and who, therefore, do not stand to benefit at all? How will the scheme be administered? Will local authorities be given any additional funding to manage the scheme?”
Mr Calleary said he was concerned the Government would just use this scheme to drive down the Live Register figures and give the impression that more people are back to work.
Reilly’s compulsory health plan an excellent cover option for Irish patients
Health Minister James Reilly’s compulsory health insurance plan “won’t come cheap” but could guarantee “excellent” cover for patients, an independent expert has predicted.
Health insurance specialist Dermot Goode made the claim after leaked details Dr Reilly’s controversial universal health insurance initiative finally emerged yesterday.
Under the move, which Dr Reilly has staked his reputation on by saying it is the only reason he entered politics, the current two-tier, public-private health system will be replaced by a service guaranteeing the same right to care for every person.
However, opposition parties have claimed it is effectively a “new tax” that could cost people €1,600 a year.
The plan, which is detailed in a draft Government “white paper” document due to go before cabinet early next week, proposes that everyone will be insured for a standard level of care. This will include free GP care, primary care, maternity and infant care, acute treatment, and mental health care access.
Anyone seeking more extensive coverage, such as private hospital support, will be asked to pay extra.
Similarly to the property tax, those who choose not to pay for compulsory health insurance will have it taken directly from their salary or state benefits.
As part of the plan, which has caused a rift in the coalition in recent weeks and which Dr Reilly wants imposed by 2019, people on lower incomes will also have their basic cover paid for by the State.
However, among the potential pitfalls is that certain groups will have their cover “risk-rated” — potentially meaning costs for older people could increase significantly.
The move has led to opposition party claims the proposed policy is a “major tax hike” on the public.
However, while admitting the plan will not come cheaply, Dermot Goode of healthinsurancesavings.ie said it has the potential to revolutionise the system.
According to the independent health insurance expert, the “key question for consumers is cost”.
However, while the move “is not cheap”, the “cover is excellent”, with “a one-tier healthcare system where everyone can access quality treatment regardless of their income” opening the possibility of the removal of waiting lists over time.
Fianna Fáil health spokes-man Billy Kelleher claimed the plan will effectively become a “major tax hike” for the majority of people.
“The ceding of so much control of costs and spending to health insurance companies, implicit in Dr Reilly’s plan, also means it will be private industry that is responsible for deciding the scale of such tax hikes,” said Mr Kelleher.
“The Department of Public Expenditure has estimated the average cost of a policy under Dr Reilly’s plans to be €1,600.”
However, Tánaiste and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said it is “important” claims are not “exaggerated”.
“We are involved in probably the biggest change to our health system. I think everybody understands that we need to reform our health service.”
Common early life family problems can affect your brain
Being exposed to even common family problems during childhood could lead to mental health issues later in life, a new study has found.
UK researchers scanned the brains of teenagers aged between 17 and 19. They found that those who had experienced even mild to moderate family problems before the age of 11, had smaller cerebellums. This is the part of the brain associated with sensory-motor control, learning skills and stress regulation.
The researchers also believe that having a smaller cerebellum may increase a person’s risk of experiencing mental health conditions later in life. This is because the cerebellum has been found to be smaller in almost all psychiatric illnesses.
They noted that past studies have tended to focus on the effects of major family problems, such as abuse and neglect. However, they wanted to see if more common family problems, such as arguing parents, a lack of affection, health problems or school problems, could also have an effect.
“These findings are important because exposure to adversities in childhood and adolescence is the biggest risk factor for later psychiatric disease. We show that exposure in childhood and early adolescence to even mild to moderate family difficulties, not just severe forms of abuse, neglect and maltreatment, may affect the developing adolescent brain,” noted lead researcher, Dr Nicholas Walsh, of the University of East Anglia.
He said that reducing exposure to ‘adverse social environments during early life’ may help with the brain’s development ‘and reduce subsequent mental health risks in adult life’.
Fifty-eight teenagers had their brains scanned as part of the study, 27 of whom were classified as having experienced adversities in childhood.
“This study helps us understand the mechanisms in the brain by which exposure to problems in early-life leads to later psychiatric issues. It not only advances our understanding of how the general psychosocial environment affects brain development, but also suggests links between specific regions of the brain and individual psychosocial factors,” Dr Walsh added.
Google Forest Watch map useful in tracking deforestation in near real-time
Pictured here is a screenshot from the Global Forest Watch map showing the change of forests in and around North America.
A new map, running on the Google Earth Engine, tracks deforestation in detail never before seen. While University of Maryland researchers created the new computer code needed to track the loss of forests, Global Forest Watch is backed by Google, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and dozens of other organizations, including European food producer Unilever and Nestle.
A global monitoring system allows users to monitor deforestation around the world in near-real time. Global Forest Watch was developed by more than 40 organizations concerned about the loss of trees around the world.
Researchers estimate the Earth lost 568 million acres of wild forest between 2000 and 2012. This is equivalent to cutting down 50 soccer fields of trees every second for 12 years. During those years, nearly 200 million acres of new forest was planted. This makes it difficult to calculate where deforestation is occurring. The new system compiles 500 million satellite photographs from NASA’s Landsat program with ground reports from observers. The data is merged on the internet cloud by the Google Earth Engine.
University of Maryland researchers created the new computer code needed to track the loss of forests. Global Forest Watch is backed by Google, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and dozens of other organizations, including European food producer Unilever and Nestle. Those two corporations were among businesses pledging to not use palm oil collected from lands that were virgin rain forest.
“Deforestation poses a material risk to businesses that rely on forest-linked crops. Exposure to that risk has the potential to undermine the future of businesses… [T]he launch of Global Forest Watch – a fantastic, innovative tool – will provide the information we urgently need to make the right decisions,” Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, said.
Changes in growth can be seen with a resolution of 100 feet. Tree loss in the tropics will be measured with a detail of 1600 feet.
Community groups and organizations are being encouraged to send photos and video to the site. Some small groups are reporting loss of forests to watchdogs groups. Members of the Paiter Surui culture are using cells phones and GPS to report examples of deforestation.
“[M]any governments like Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo welcome Global Forest Watch because it can help them design smarter policies, enforce forest laws, detect illegal forest clearing, manage forests more sustainably, and achieve conservation and climate goals,” World Resources Institute wrote in a press release.
Much of the deforestation taking place today is never recorded, and those carrying out the destruction are not held accountable. Using the new database, government agencies and private organizations can be put on alert when the loss of forests is taking place. Likewise, countries and private land owners planting new coverage can be acknowledged. The American government, along with agencies from Britain and Norway, provided grants for the project.
The new map is free to use, and requires no special knowledge to use. Members of the public are encouraged to view the chart on the Global Forest Watch Web site.
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