Permanent TSB promises to fill the Irish banking void
Permanent TSB Bank to introduce a range of new services
chief executive Jeremy Masding.
PTSB said it intended to bring forward the introduction of a number of initiatives to meet the need of banking customers. These include the provision of increased resources for small businesses.
It also announced plans to introduce a range of new risk-based mortgage products for the private investor market, such as products designed for Irish citizens living abroad who want to buy investment properties in Ireland.
The bank said it is to lend up to € 100 million to homeowners seeking to avail of the Government’s new home renovation incentive scheme, to make improvements to their home. Bank of Ireland announced a similar scheme earlier this week.
PTSB, which is expected to sell its €6.9 billion UK residential mortgage book next year as part of a plan to create a smaller bank, said it has made strong progress this year in growing its current account base and on new mortgage lending.
The bank is now opening 1,000 new current accounts a week and accounted for 16 per cent of residential mortgage approvals in September, up from 2 per cent in December 2012.
PTSB was Ireland’s largest mortgage lender at the peak of the boom and as a result required a €4 billion bailout from the State.
Chief executive Jeremy Masding said the bank was determined to be a force for competition in the market in Ireland.
“Customers are justifiably concerned that competition could reduce in the Irish banking market as a result of departures like these. But for our part, we will use these developments as a spur to grow our business and ensure that other large players don’t simply hoover up disaffected customers from the departing institutions. If business is there to be won, we want to win it,” he said.
PTSB recorded an operating loss of €449 million in the first half of this year but Mr Masding recently said he expected the “good bank” part of the bank to make a profit in 2014.
Last month the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned PTSB’s return to profit was taking too long but was not “beyond hope.”
Irish Government to save millions after new drug pricing structure’s
Decision is part of long-awaited programme to replace some branded drugs with generic alternatives
It is estimated a patient prescribed 10mg of atorvastatin, which is the active ingredient in lipitor, should see savings of €180 per year.
The Government has said that prices for atorvastatin products – drugs which are used to control cholesterol – are to be reduced.
The move forms part of the latest phase of the Government’s reference pricing initiative aimed at curbing expenditure on its bill for medicines.
From today a new price regime applies to atorvastatin, which is the active ingredient in the most commonly prescribed statin. The reduction will apply to the branded drug Lipitor and generic equivalents.
It said that reference pricing would see both patients and taxpayers benefit from reduced costs.
An estimated 250,000 Irish residents are using a form of statin.
Minister for Health James Reilly said: the introduction of a first reference price for a medicine which is used to control cholesterol,” represents a major step in ensuring lower prices are paid for these medicines”.
“The new reference prices for atorvastatin products means the HSE now pay 70 per cent less for these products compared to May 2013. Patients will save on the cost of their medication and taxpayers will benefit from the reduced prices paid by the HSE.”
Minister of State at the Department of Health Alex Whitesaid: “The introduction of reference prices will ensure that generic medicine prices in Ireland will fall towards European norms. It will safeguard value for money for the taxpayer and will mean that prices are set at levels which facilitate – not jeopardise – supply of these products in Ireland.
Under the new pricing structure it is estimated that a patient prescribed 10mg of atorvastatin should see savings of €180 per year, while those on 20mg doses should save €280.
Half of Irish households could pay for water during future shortage cuts
Commission for Energy Regulation has warned against low water charges
Irish Water has confirmed that meters will only be installed in 50% of homes by the first water bills start arriving in 2015
A spokesman for the Commission for Energy Regulation, which will be setting water rates by the middle of next year, said it was too early to say whether households on an assessed charge would be offered any rebate on their bills. The commission also indicated it did not intend to set an artificially low introductory rate, which it said would hurt consumers in the long run.
Bills are to be issued for the first time in early 2015, but they will be for water used in the third quarter of next year. The installation programme is scheduled to be completed for all homes assessed as suitable for a meter by the end of 2016.
A further 300,000 homes, mainly apartments and houses using shared supplies, will still be on a flat rate charge after this time.
Currently, people operating commercial premises are the only consumers paying for water. A Dublin City Council spokesman said they would not be entitled to any rates rebate because they were metered and so were not having to pay for water during the current nighttime shut down.
“Businesses such as restaurants and hotels have to have their own contingency plans, they should have 24 hours of water storage in place,” he said.
Meanwhile the commission has warned against delaying capital investment in infrastructure as a way of artificially depressing water prices.
The commission is currently conducting a consultation process ahead of its determination of the levels of domestic water tariffs and the charging system Irish Water will be permitted to use.
It said the utility would be expected to pass on “only reasonable and appropriate costs” to customers and must have a strong incentive to improve service and reduce costs from the outset of regulation.
However, it said a focus on short-term gains or looking for “quick regulatory wins” that would adversely affect stakeholders in the long term must be avoided.
“One example of a quick regulatory win would be delaying required capital expenditure in the water services infrastructure.
“Lower bills may be of benefit to water customers in the short term. However their long-term interests, with respect to quality of water supply and service and health standards, will be detrimentally affected if pipes/pumping stations etc are not fixed, maintained or upgraded as necessary,” it said
The commission also said that while provision had been made for borrowings by Irish Water to be guaranteed by the State, it considered that the utility would also require direct financial support and investment from the State.
A plan needed to be put in place where, over a defined period, Irish Water would become less reliant on State support.
Roy Keane now set to become Martin O’Neill’s Ireland assistant Manager
Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane look set to team up as Ireland’s next managerial team
Roy Keane is on the verge of a shock comeback to Irish football as the assistant to the FAI’s manager in waiting Martin O’Neill.
O’Neill [61] is in advanced discussions with the FAI about replacing Giovanni Trapattoni and is close to accepting the role.
The Derry man met high ranking FAI officials in London this week and informed them that he was interested in taking the job – and wanted to bring in Keane as his number two.
Keane was floated as a possible contender for the top job but was considered a long shot because of his fractious relationship with the FAI hierarchy which dates back to his Saipan row in 2002.
However, it is understood that he is willing to come on board when O’Neill formally reaches agreement to assume control and the FAI are happy to go along with the wishes of their preferred candidate.
New report shows the importance of Counselling to Donegal people affected by cancer
A new report on the National Counselling Grants Programme reveals that over a third of Donegal cancer patients who availed of the service sought counselling less than one year after a cancer diagnosis.
Another 36 per cent of clients required counselling within two years of diagnosis, highlighting the need for emotional support following the completion of treatment.
The report, commissioned the Irish Cancer Society shows the Society supported 207 counselling sessions for Donegal cancer patients in 2012.
The counselling service, which is available to anyone affected by a cancer diagnosis, saw a third of Donegal clients presenting with concerns such as anxiety, fear and stress following the trauma of their illness and 23 per cent who needed help adjusting to life after cancer and learning new coping skills.
The effect of cancer is wider than the immediate person diagnosed with 18 per cent of Donegal clients attending as relatives of a cancer patient, usually an adult child of the diagnosed person.
Another 7 per cent of the clients who used the counselling service were also bereaved due to cancer, highlighting the need for support the in the months and years after the immediate impact of the illness.
Females are also more likely to attend for professional counselling than males with 73 per cent of female Donegal clients attending in 2012 compared to 27 per cent of males.
Almost half of those who used the service were between the ages of 41 and 60.Cancer patients and their relatives can find their nearest affiliate support centre providing this service by logging on tohttp://www.cancer.ie/how-we-can-help/support or call the Irish Cancer Society Freefone Helpline on 1800 200 700.
British scientists discover reindeer eyes change colour from gold to blue
OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR
It is the first time a mammal’s eyes have ever been shown to change in this way
Scientists have discovered that reindeer eyes change colour from gold to blue over the course of the year – the first time this has ever been shown to happen in mammals.
A British-funded study has revealed that the animals are uniquely adapted to Arctic winters, which experience continuous daylight in summer and continuous darkness in winter.
Like many other mammals, during the bright summers reindeer eyes reflect back most light through the retina – so they appear gold.
A kind of enhanced night vision kicks in through winter, however, when a layer of tissue behind the retina becomes less reflective and appears blue.
This increases the sensitivity of the reindeer eye to limited winter light – and is a vital tool in helping them survive the challenging Arctic conditions.
“This gives them an advantage when it comes to spotting predators, which could save their lives,” said lead researcher Professor Glen Jeffery.
“This is the first time a colour change of this kind has been shown in mammals,” he said. “By changing the colour of the TL in the eye reindeer have flexibility to cope better with the extreme differences between light levels in their habitat between seasons.”
The study was conducted by Professor Jeffery and his colleagues at University College London, working in tandem with the University of Tromsø in Norway.
They suggested that the colour change may be caused by pressure within the eyes. In winter the reindeers’ pupils exist in a permanent state of dilation, which prevents fluid in the eyeball from draining naturally.
The pressure compresses the tissue behind the retina, they said, reducing the space between collagen in the tissue and therefore reflecting the shorter wavelengths of the blue light common in Arctic winters.
Previous work from Professor Jeffery and Norwegian colleagues from Tromsø had shown that Arctic reindeer eyes can also see ultraviolet, which is abundant in Arctic light but invisible to humans, and that they use this to find food and see predators.
The most recent study, published yesterday, was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council – one of the seven members of the Government-backed Research Councils UK group.
