Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Joint committee calls for better access to finance for Irish SMEs

 

a NEW REPORT URGES INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION OF LENDING RATES ACROSS THE BANKING SECTOR

Independent verification of lending rates across the banking sector is one of 25 recommendations contained in a new report on access to finances for SMEs.

The report, which was published by the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, said independent verification of rates was necessary to address concerns about availability of finance for small and medium sized businesses in Ireland.

The committee said there is an over-reliance on bank loans and overdrafts currently and called for the development of more non-banking sector funding initiatives for firms.

It also said mechanisms to restrict requests for personal guarantees – a particular bugbear for many small firms – should be considered.

Among other recommendations included in the report are a call to make it mandatory for banks to provide written explanations on why applications for credit have been rejected, the introduction of a guaranteed timeframe for dealing with loan applications and greater support for small businesses to improve their financial literacy.

The committee also said credit unions should have a greater role in supporting SMEs and said consideration should be given to lightening the tax burden on interest made on minor investments in crowdfunding.

“The small and medium sized enterprise sectors are integral and important elements of our economy and if we are serious about our indigenous businesses we need to encourage and help create the best environment for them to operate in. The availability of funding and supports are essential for many small businesses to get up and running, flourish, innovate and expand,” said committee vice chairman John Lyons.

The committee’s recommendations have been largely welcomed by the business community with the Small Firms Association saying that supply of finance is second only to finding more customers as the most pressing issue facing SMEs.

“It is critical that the practical recommendations contained in this report are accepted and acted upon immediately. They have the potential to make a real difference to improving SME financing,” said SFA director Patricia Callan.

Specifically, Ms Callan welcomed the acknowledgement that “a greater diversity of funding such as direct government funding and guarantees, enhanced competition in the business banking market from credit unions and potentially the new Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), peer-to-peer lending platforms, business angels and venture capital are necessary.”

Separately, Irish peer-to-peer lender Linked Finance’s chief executive Peter O’Mahony described the report as an important step in improving access to lending and the number of channels that SMEs have access to when seeking capital to grow their business.

‘How much do you trust An Garda Síochána?’

GARDAÍ TO START POLLING THE PUBLIC AGAIN

 

THE FIRST “PUBLIC ATTITUDES SURVEY” IN SIX YEARS COMES AFTER MONTHS OF SCANDAL AND CONTROVERSY.

The Garda Siochana are ready to start asking for feedback from the public after months of scandal and controversy, it has emerged.

The force yesterday put out a tender for polling firms to conduct a series of “Public Attitudes Surveys”, which will include questions like “How much do you trust An Garda Síochána?” and “How would you describe crime in Ireland today?”

The document calls for roughly 12 questions on the following general areas:

1. Satisfaction in An Garda Síochána
2. Victimisation – if you suffered a crime, how was it handled?
3. Views on crime – is it increasing or decreasing? How serious a problem is it?
4. Views on the service Gardaí provide, and how it can be improved.

The survey, the first of its kind since 2008, will seek out the public’s views on how they feel about the force, and what they would like Gardaí in their local community to prioritise.

The tender document also suggests that the questionnaire ask victims of crime “How satisfied or dissatisfied were you with how the incident was dealt with overall?”

Yesterday’s announcement comes after a series of scandals and controversies within the Garda Síochána, culminating in the resignation of Commissioner Martin Callinan, thepublication of the Guerin Report, and the subsequent resignation of Justice Minister Alan Shatter.

A Garda spokesperson did not address the question of whether recent events had prompted the planned survey, but told TheJournal.ie in a statement:

The survey is part of our plans to ensure we are listening to the public about what they want from their police service.

Carrying out such a scientific survey on a regular basis will help us to properly track public sentiment and views so that we can continually improve how we deliver our service.

Several of the questions are focused on victims of crime as we want to ensure that they are being helped to their satisfaction and, if not, how we can improve this.

The Garda conducted Public Attitudes Surveys annually throughout the 2000s, but stopped in 2008.

That year’s poll found 81% overall public satisfaction with Garda service to the community, but eight percent claimed a member of the force had “acted in an unacceptable way” towards them, in the previous 12 months.

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána did not respond to requests for comment, by time of publication.

A Banana a day keeps the Doctor away “You better believe it” 

  

What lies underneath that bright yellow peel? An abundance of nutrients your body needs to stay healthy and functioning at its best!

Turns out, the humble banana is more important for your health than you may have realized, so take a lesson from those energetic apes. Here’s why.

Are you getting enough vitamin C, magnesium, potassium and fiber? You won’t have to worry about it any longer by just eating a banana a day. The yellow fruit is loaded with the essential minerals you require to function daily. And there are so many more benefits that the jungle fruit has to offer.

Whether you pair bananas with peanut butter (the king of rock and roll’s favorite!), slice some up in your cereal or have them solo, you’re doing wonders for your overall health.

BENEFITS UNDERNEATH THE PEEL

It seems like there isn’t something that a banana can’t do or help with, from digestion to heart health, to even boosting your mood, the list is almost endless. Here are some benefits that will make you run out and grab a bundle at your local grocer.

KEEP YOUR HEART HAPPY

Bananas contain all the nutrients you need in order to support your heart. Fiber, potassium, vitamin C and B6 are all known to keep the heart healthy and strong, and can all be found in a banana.

A December 2013 study published in Today’s Dietitian examined potassium’s role in reducing death by ischemic heart disease. Participants of the study who consumed 4,069 mg of potassium (the amount found in about nine bananas) had a significant 49 percent lower risk of death by ischemic heart disease compared to the participant group who only had 1,000 mg.

Potassium has also been linked to reducing risks of stroke, preserving muscle mass and bone density, and the reduction in the formation of kidney stones.

DIGESTION MATTERS

Whether you can’t go, or go way too often – I’m talking bowel movements – bananas can help you in either case. Its fiber content is helpful for those who are constipated by helping to normalize bowel motility. On the reverse, bananas can help restore lost electrolytes from diarrhea and sooth the digestive tract. Eating a banana daily will also help promote bowel regularity.

Other benefits for your digestion? Bananas are a prebiotic which promotes growth of good bacteria within the digestion tract. They also aid in the absorption of nutrients by producing digestive enzymes.

BOOST YOUR MOOD’S

 Stressed, anxious or just grumpy, bananas have a positive effect on your mood. Bananas contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan, which is an essential amino acid that your body does not naturally create but must be taken in through diet. Tryptophan helps create serotonin, the feel-good hormone known to give you a good night’s rest as well as stabilize your mood.

Potassium, which helps regulate the heartbeat, is also useful in calming feelings of stress; stress reduces the body’s potassium level. B6 from banana combats feelings of irritability as it regulates blood sugar levels. Studies have noted that a drop in glucose levels can put you on edge and cause bursts of anger.

Bananas are also high in antioxidants. They can prevent muscle cramps caused by exercise or that occur during sleep, and help with anemia, thanks to the iron found in them.

No matter the ailment, it seems that a banana is the way to go for essential nutrients your body needs. They’re easy to transport, don’t leave much of a mess and will keep you energized, uplifted and powering through your busy days.

Next time you head out for a walk or reach for your car keys to leave the house, grab a banana first for overall health benefits.

Six ways to re-use your metal waste

 

Trash is growing to be the main problem for modern day culture. From food containers to commercial shipping units, the amount of waste society creates on a daily basis is growing at an alarming rate.

Packaging is often redundant and most items get discarded, only to find their way to the hundreds of landfills that desecrate our planet. Even biodegradable trash has been found to take longer to decompose inside landfills.

Americans alone create approximately 250 million tons of trash. Many metropolitan areas have adapted recycling programs to help keep some items, like glass, plastics, metals, and paper out of landfills. While this is no doubt helpful, the actual process of recycling may be just a bandage- both economically and ecologically.

Repurposing items has hit modern day society with a vengeance. Home improvement shows and Pinterest boards are rife with various solutions to reuse items, rather than just discarding them. One of the easiest items to reuse is metal containers.

Tin Cans

Tin cans come in various sizes and are mostly associated with canned foods. Options range from a tomato paste or tuna sized can to soup stock or coffee sized cans. The range of sizes opens a world of possibilities. Tin cans have been used for drawer or cabinet storage, planters, or even decoration. Some beautiful options include adding wallpaper or painting to use for table decorations at weddings. They can also be punctured and used for hanging lights or luminaries. Fun projects could also include create a wine rack or tin can creatures with the kids.

Galvanized Tubs

Galvanized metal tubs were originally used with a washboard to wash laundry by hand. They’re still used today but often for more aesthetic reasons. Many washtubs are used for planters. They can be used inside the house or in the garden. Cut a flat round of wood about a foot wider in diameter and it can be used as a table with storage inside.

Wire Baskets

Wire baskets can be mounted to a wall and used for shelving or storage. Stylishly hold books or sporting goods anywhere within the home. Peet moss can be added to the interior walls of the basket, then plants added for contemporary planters. Invert the container and use it for a creative light fixture. Larger baskets can work double duty as storage and display, depending on your needs.

  Steel Rods

Steel rods vary depending on their previous life. Rebar can be reshaped and used to create an industrial style base for tables or chairs. Steel pipes can be reused to create industrial style shelving. Larger hollow tubes can be cut and used for a stylish window herb garden.

Industrial Bins

These large bins and baskets are great for homesteaders. Industrial metal baskets can be used to store grain or farm feed and are the perfect size for composting and vermacomposting. They make fantastic sorting bins for communal recycling as well.

Shipping Containers

The same shipping containers you see on cargo ships, trains, and freight trucks can also be reused. Known as intermodal steel containers or ISOs, these containers are used to transport goods. It’s often cost prohibitive to ship them back so they’re often just discarded. These reuse projects are on much larger scales due to their grand size. These units can be used to create tiny homes or joined together to create a spacious modern house. They can also be used for commercial buildings such as museums, office buildings, and children’s centers.

No matter the home, there is always a use for repurposed metal storage. Whether your intentions are redecorating or simple storage, there are units of all sizes, shapes, and forms. The options are limitless.

How local Solar energy can solve Global poverty

  

Every morning, students from Kunthur village outside Bangalore, India, leave home carrying a battery among their books. At Swamy Vivekananda High School, solar panels charge the batteries during the day so the stored energy can be used to power lanterns when the students return home.

With access to light—and the elimination of dirty and costly kerosene-powered lamps—families save $100 a year and children have more time for work and study, offering them a chance to rise out of poverty. Solar energy is emerging as a way to give power to the 1.3 billion people in the world with no reliable access to electricity without spending billions of dollars to build transmission lines.

Despite that potential, international organizations like the World Bank aren’t investing enough money in the right places to achieve universal electrification, according to a new Sierra Club report.

“The poorest people in the world pay 40 times more for the same energy services but get poor lighting and poor health outcomes,” said Justin Guay, associate director of Sierra Club’s International Climate Program and coauthor of the report. “Instead of building centralized power plants, we need a different approach to solve this problem.”

Guay said the World Bank and other international lenders should start funding projects that provide solar electricity, such as those offered by d.light, a company that develops and distributes products ranging from lanterns to home solar systems in off-grid communities around the world.

The report notes that the World Bank rarely invests in small energy projects, despite its goal of universal electrification by 2030. The bank also does not measure access to energy the right way, Guay said.

“Rather than measuring services provided and new access to energy for poor populations, they look at the supply of energy created and kilometers of energy transmission lines built,” he says. “Just because you build a coal plant doesn’t mean that access lines are extended to poor people and that they can service their needs and repair the grid lines—or that communities can afford the power.”

What the great Apes can teach us about losing weight

  

From Cheerios to Hormel, even the most time-tested American brands have been bulking up their offerings with protein in response to carb-avoidant consumers. 

It looks like science backs up the weight-loss trend that has fed a profitable grocery store frenzy in recent years.  Nutritional ecologist David Raubenheimer (left) has been studying the eating habits of apes and monkeys and concludes that a high-protein diet could aid weight loss after all.

Of course, no trend is without its detractors, and no science is without its counter-theory. Recently, the benefits of gobbling up the trendy macronutrient have been highly contested. One study links eating a significant amount of protein to a cancer mortality risk akin to that of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. But Raubenheimer, who teaches at the University of Sydney, says that the behavior of our primate relatives hints that when it comes to weight loss, we’re better off boosting our protein intake instead of counting calories.

Raubenheimer and a team of researchers observed baboons in the wild. They found that no matter what and how much they ate, the monkeys consistently consumed 20 percent of their food in protein.

“This suggests that the baboon values getting the right balance of nutrients over energy intake per se,” he said in a statement from the Society for Experimental Biology, through which the findings were presented. This means no energy or calorie counting—just absorbing the right proportions of nutrients.

Spider monkeys and orangutans also forage for a balanced diet. But when food is scarce owing to seasonal availability, they prioritize eating sufficient amounts of protein, even though it means consuming too few or too many carbs and fats.

The same is true for humans, meaning that if our diet is too low on protein, we overeat calories—including fats and carbs—to hit the right amount of protein.

“We can use this information to help manage and prevent obesity through ensuring that the diets we eat have a sufficient level of protein to satisfy our appetite,” said Raubenheimer. Of course, there’s a caveat: More protein may help us lose weight, but if it causes other imbalances, it can mean a plethora of other health problems.