Big Irish banks agree just 13 Irish mortgage-to-rent cases
A significant disparity between larger banks and smaller competitors has emerged in terms of their success in finding solutions for lower-income families to remain in their homes as part of a government scheme.
So far, just 88 mortgage-to-rent cases have been completed since the scheme was introduced by Social Protection Minister Joan Burton in 2012, despite her projections that it would benefit 100 families in its first year alone.
Under the initiative, a property is bought at a market price by an approved voluntary housing agency, with the family giving up ownership but continuing to live in their home on a rental basis.
The number of approved housing body (AHB) mortgage-to-rent cases finalised by four of the country’s largest banks — AIB, its subsidiary EBS, Permanent TSB and Bank of Ireland — stands at 13 since June 2012.
Such a completion rate equates to less than 0.4 resolutions per month.
In contrast, five smaller lenders and asset managers have completed 75 AHB cases between them in that time — a rate which sees more than two families find a successful resolution per month. A single asset management company, Pepper — which administers mortgages bought by various investment funds — has completed 55 mortgage-to-rent schemes.
To be eligible, a customer’s mortgage must be deemed unsustainable; the property must be in negative equity and the homeowner must be eligible for social housing and willing to give up their home.
In order for a property to be considered, it must be purchased by an Approved Housing Body for less than €220,000 in the Greater Dublin Area and €180,000 in the rest of the country.
The figures were released in reply to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil finance spokesperson Michael McGrath on the same day Central Bank figures showed that almost 17,000 concluded mortgage arrears solutions involve the possible loss of the family home.
Since its launch, just seven AHB mortgage-to-rent solutions have been completed in Cork, with four in Limerick, and one each in Kerry and Galway.
Three completed cases were registered in Tipperary, two in Clare, six in Kildare and 19 in Dublin.
Mr McGrath said the figures reveal “a complete failure on the part of the State-supported banks” to engage with the scheme.
Figures previously released by Environment Minister Alan Kelly further show a total of 2,762 cases had been submitted as of March 24. Of the eligible 865 cases submitted, agreement on the sale could not be agreed in 42 cases; 88 have been completed; 169 are with the lenders and the remaining 566 are being processed.
A spokesperson for PTSB said the bank had proposed 28,000 long-term solutions for customers in arrears and reduced the number of customers in long-term arrears by a third in the past year.
The spokesperson also highlighted “practical difficulties” it has faced with the scheme which have meant it has not been as suitable as other solutions.
A Bank of Ireland spokesperson said it is fully supportive of the scheme and is actively working with the housing authority and other stakeholders, including potentially eligible customers.
Representatives of AIB and EBS could not be reached at time of going to print.
Irish Government’s pledge to reform law after strike at Dunne’s Store’s
The union which co-ordinated the Dunnes Stores strike has welcomed news that collective bargaining legislation could be enacted within months.
Minister of State at the Department of Jobs and Enterprise, Ged Nash, told Mandate yesterday that the Office of the Attorney General is drafting the bill, which would “provide a strong and effective remedy where employers refuse to negotiate by way of collective bargaining”. He said he hopes to see it enacted by the middle of the year.
Mandate welcomed the news in the wake of Thursday’s industrial action by 6,000 Dunnes Stores workers at some 100 stores. It will give hope to those workers and the hundreds of thousands of others in similar circumstances across the country, the union said.
Mandate assistant general secretary Gerry Light said Mr Nash’s commitment would see stronger powers for the Labour Court whereby it could issue determinations enforceable through the circuit court.
“It’s important that this power would specifically be applied where employers such as Dunnes Stores refuse to engage in collective bargaining with workers through their unions,” Mr Light said.
“There is also a commitment to protect workers from victimisation for claims lodged by their unions.”
Members of Mandate’s 11 divisions are due to meet next week to discuss possible further industrial action against Dunnes Stores.
Meanwhile, the Ryanair Pilot Group, which represents most of the pilots in an airline where more than 60% of pilots are engaged on zero-hours contracts, has backed Dunnes Stores workers over the strike.
“The use of zero-hour contracts is an affront to every worker’s right to earn a living wage and not to be exploited by an employer in a fundamentally unequal employment relationship,” said group chairman Evert van Zwol.
Proclamation rebels of 1916 would hate current IRA abuse controversy
Says Joan Burton
The Signatories of the 1916 Proclamation would “deeply regret and resent” the IRA sex abuse controversy that has engulfed the Sinn Féin party, Tánaiste Joan Burton has claimed.
The signatories of the 1916 Proclamation would “deeply regret and resent” the IRA sex abuse controversy that has engulfed the Sinn Féin party, Tánaiste Joan Burton has claimed.
The Labour Party leader last night warned that Sinn Féin will look to “claim ownership” of next year’s Easter Rising commemorations, adding that the term ‘republicanism’ does not belong to any one group.
In comments that were last night attacked by Sinn Féin, Ms Burton pointed out that Gerry Adams’s party did not even exist during the Rising.
And Ms Burton said those who were in the GPO in 1916 would be disturbed by the recent controversies surrounding IRA sex abuse and kangaroo courts.
Republicanism?
“There is a very narrow definition of republicanism which is used by Sinn Féin and others to mean those people who are part of what has become modern-day Sinn Féin,” Ms Burton said in an interview with the Irish Independent.
“In many ways, I think many of the people who were in the GPO would deeply regret and resent some of the events that have become associated with them, as people seek to claim ownership,” she added.
Ms Burton said that while the foundation of the State was preceded by a “bloody and violent insurrection” next year’s events would be based on the acknowledgement that the “necessity for violence has become redundant”.
“The republic that we’ve created means that we don’t have to resort to violence again,” she said.
The Dublin West TD said that the meaning of republicanism would be devalued if attempts were made to claim ownership of the celebrations.
“If ownership of that were to be claimed by any one party, or grouping, republicanism would be much reduced or diminished by it. So we are all equally entitled to call ourselves a republican, we are all entitled to be inspired by the values set out in the Proclamation.”
Last night, Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald hit out at Ms Burton over her remarks.
“Joan Burton’s comments are utterly pathetic. It would suit her better to think of the principles upon which the Labour Party was founded and its involvement in the Rising, rather than taking cheap shots at Sinn Féin,” she said in a statement to the Irish Independent.
“Those who were in the GPO in 1916 would turn in their graves at the actions of Joan Burton and the modern-day Labour Party,” she added.
The clash between the two politicians came just days after the Government announced details of its commemoration plans.
No fewer than 40 major events have been announced for next year, with the centrepiece being a wreath-laying ceremony and parade in Dublin city centre.
We should pay the relocation costs to bring our ‘nurses back home to work’
A call has been made for nurses returning home from abroad to be given financial incentives to cover the cost of relocation.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has warned that “special measures” are required to make posts here attractive to newly emigrated nurses.
It comes as a major recruitment drive is to set to be launched abroad to try and lure Irish nurses back home.
The INMO said it has been in discussions with the HSE in relation to the major drive which will be primarily targeted at the UK.
The union said that as a result of six years of a “flawed” recruitment embargo, the HSE is now in a situation where the country is short of the required number of nurses, and it said that urgent policy initiatives are required to underpin a dynamic recruitment campaign.
“It is now acknowledged that we have a critical shortage of nurses in this country and special measures are required to attract back our recently emigrated nurses particularly from the UK,” said INMO general secretary Liam Doran.
He said that Health Minister Leo Varadkar had acknowledged that hundreds of nurses must be attracted back from the UK, and they must be convinced that our health service is a positive place to work.
Scarce
“In order to achieve this, the HSE, the Department of Healthy and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform must be prepared to think creatively and not restrictively, so that Ireland can compete on the world stage for the scarce resource that is the highly-skilled registered nurse,” Mr Doran said.
“Our young professionals will not come home unless we offer dynamic, positive, proactive employment opportunities and this campaign must deliver on all of these fronts if it is to be successful,” he said.
The INMO has called on the HSE to agree certain initiatives which must include “financial incentives to cover the cost of relocation; permanent posts with full incremental credit and greatly enhanced professional and educational pathways leading to access to specialist and post graduate programmes.”
Meanwhile, the INMO is carrying out a survey this month in conjunction with Dublin City University among members into the effects on the health and well being of nurses and midwives in their current working environments.
The survey will look at issues such as ill health and the effect this has on the general well-being of nurses and midwives and the response of employers.
Over a million Telegraph readers across Britain learn about Sligo and the WB Yeats 150 yrs celebrations
OVER A MILLION TELEGRAPH READERS ACROSS BRITAIN LEARN ABOUT SLIGO AND YEATS 150.
Some 1.5 million readers of The Telegraph in Britain have been reading all about Sligo and the Yeats 150 celebrations.
This year marks 150 years since the birth of the poet and Nobel laureate WB Yeats, so Yeats 2015 is a key theme for Tourism Ireland in its promotions around the world throughout 2015.
Tourism Ireland arranged for the article – which appeared under the headline ‘Poetry in motion’ – to appear in the travel section of a recent edition of The Telegraph.
It describes the ‘hauntingly beautiful homeland’ of Yeats and ‘Co Sligo in the invigorating north-west, beloved today by surfers and hill walkers alike’.
It also highlights some of the events taking place this year to mark the anniversary, as well as some key tourism spots in Sligo, including Ben Bulben, Lough Gill and Drumcliffe.
“Tourism Ireland is taking every opportunity to shine a spotlight on Yeats 2015 in Britain and elsewhere around the world this year – leveraging the tourism benefits of the anniversary and showcasing the island of Ireland and the North West as a destination with a rich literary heritage,” said Vanessa Markey, Tourism Ireland’s head of Great Britain.
“Great Britain is the largest market for tourism to Ireland and 2015 has got off to a positive start, with the most recent CSO figures showing growth of +7.7% for the December 2014 to February 2015 period, an additional 49,200 British visitors compared with the same three-month period last year. Tourism Ireland is determined to ensure that tourism growth continues and we have an extensive programme of promotions under way across Britain in 2015.”
Yeats 2015 features extensively in Tourism Ireland’s programme of promotions around the world this year
Hybrid Images developed to test healthy Eyesight
Eyes are known to be the windows of our soul but the thing is, what we see will not always be what we get. Check out this picture.
Researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed an interesting test that can indicate your eyes’ health in just one look.
Aude Oliva, from MIT with the help Philippe G. Schyns from University of Glasgow developed a set of illusions that would test our eye’s spatial frequency and how well we define details and contrasts in a picture.
The most famous image that they came up was that of Albert Einstein/ Manilyn Monroe tandem.
The picture is called a hybrid picture of a low spatial frequency (blurred picture of Manilyn Monroe) and high spatial frequency (a good definition picture of Albert Einstein).
If you can see Einstein, then your vision is likely to be good. Seeing him would mean that your eyes can still focus and define certain details in the picture; while seeing Monroe would mean that you probably might want to get your eyes check and opt for a pair of glasses or better yet, it’s time to get higher lens values.
There are certain mechanics in the picture because actually if you’re standing away enough from it, you would see Monroe because your eyes can only form the outside features of the picture and while you get closer, your eyes will start to make the little details like his wrinkles and mustache– making you realize the Einstein image.
It took the researchers over 10 years to develop accurate hybrid images. There’s a lot more of those images that you can check out in this site–http://cvcl.mit.edu/hybrid_gallery/gallery.html. It contains a lot more elements like Cars, Thatcher and Blair, Superman, Cats and Dogs and so much more.
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