Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG.

Irish Government’s legacy of defending children interests destroyed by new Bill, 

Says Senator Ronan Mullen Ind.

  

The Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald insists legislation in children’s best interests. 

Senator Ronan Mullen says legislation facilitates fundamental attack on child’s rights.

Independent Senator Ronan Mullen has warned the Government and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald that legislation updating family law will destroy their legacy as defenders of children’s rights and best interests.

He said there were features of the Children and Family Relationships Bill which were unobjectionable and indeed desirable. “But the legislation contemplates and facilitates a very fundamental attack on a child’s rights by allowing some children to be deprived of the right to be brought up by their own mother and father or, in any event, by a mother and father,’’ he added.

Senator Mullen said important questions merited detailed and careful consideration. “We should be guided by values and sober reflection when faced with making major changes to our society,’’ he added.

He said the Bill would be central to the debate about the marriage equality referendum.

“The timing of this radical Bill today is all about pretending that the change in the constitutional meaning of marriage has no implications for children’s rights to a father and mother,’’ he added.

‘ADULT-CENTRED PURPOSES’

“That is yet another way in which children’s rights are being subverted, for other more political, adult-centred purposes.’’

Introducing the Bill, which has been passed by the Dáil, M/s. Fitzgerald said the legislation was in the best interests of children. It set out, she said, new and updated provisions on guardianship, custody and access for children living with their married parents, their unmarried parents, with a parent and the parent’s partner or with a grandparent or other relative.

She said it also set out the rules under which parentage of a child born through donor-assisted human reproduction might be established. It made provision for a step-parent, a civil partner or a parent’s cohabitant of not less than three years’ duration to apply to the court to become a guardian where he or she had co-parented the child for two years, she added.

“The Bill does not alter in any way the parentage of children conceived naturally or through fertility treatment which does not involve the use of donor gametes,’’ she said.

Averil Power, Fianna Fáil, said Irish family law was out of date and did not reflect the diversity of modern families.

“For too long, Irish family law has treated non-marital families as invisible and, as a result, has denied children the legal protection and support they deserve,’’ M/s Power added.

Mary Lou McDonald calls Tánaiste Burton a ‘wimp’ in Dáil heated water debate

The Sinn Féin deputy leader asks Joan Burton if she supports moves to collect unpaid water charges?

  

During a heated exchange in the Dáil Mary Lou McDonald TD has referred to the Tánaiste Joan Burton as a ‘wimp’.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald described Tánaiste Joan Burton as a “wimp’’ after claiming she failed to say if she supported the deduction of unpaid water charges from people’s wages or social welfare payments.

Amid heated Dáil exchanges on Thursday, M/s McDonald insisted that M/s Burton was not answering the question.

“I wish the Tánaiste to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’,’’ said M/s McDonald. “Do you support the plan for attachment orders….?’’

The reply from M/s Burton, who was seated, was inaudible.

“You’re a wimp,’’ said M/s McDonald.

M/s McDonald said it seemed Labour was to become Irish Water’s debt collector, “sticking your hand into the pockets of families who are struggling to provide for their children or to pay their mortgage or rent’’.

She asked if that was the way Labour helped cash-strapped families.

M/s McDonald asked the Tánaiste if she supported Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly’s proposal “to raid people’s wages, social welfare and pensions’’.

M/s Burton said she supported Mr. Kelly’s work “in actually bringing a proper investment plan and structure for water development in this country’’.

Aer Lingus and Ryanair rules require two people in cockpit at all times

Now Easy-Jet is changing its policy in the wake of this week’s German-wings crash tragedy and disaster in the French Alps Mountains.

  

Aer Lingus and Ryanair have now confirmed that both airlines always require two people to be in the cockpit at all times when a plane is in the air. This is clearly stated in their manual.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said it approved procedures with Irish airlines a number of years ago to ensure a minimum of two people are in the cockpit at all times. This was as a result of the 9-11 terrorists attacks.

IT COMES IN THE WAKE OF TODAY’S REVELATION THAT THE CO-PILOT OF THE GERMAN-WINGS FLIGHT THAT CRASHED IN THE FRENCH ALPS ON TUESDAY APPEARED TO WANT TO DESTROY THE PLANE.

A French prosecutor said today that on the basis of information from the “black box” flight recorder, the Co-Pilot had been alone in the cockpit and intentionally started his descent while the Pilot was locked outside the cabin after using the planes toilet.

“If a Cockpit Crew member needs to leave the cockpit, a Cabin Crew member is required to remain in the cockpit, with the door closed, while the Cockpit Crew Member is absent,” an Aer Lingus spokesperson said.

“Pilots and Cabin Crew are trained in cockpit door procedures during initial training and during annual recurrent training.”

“Ryanair requires two people to be in the cockpit at all times,” a spokesperson for the budget carrier said.

“If a pilot needs to visit the bathroom the cabin crew supervisor is required to stand into the cockpit for these brief periods.”

British airline Easy-Jet said today it would enforce a new policy for two crew members to be in the cockpit at all times from tomorrow.

“Easy-Jet can confirm that, with effect from tomorrow they will change its procedure,” the airline said in a statement.

Similar decisions have been announced by Canada’s Air Transat, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Iceland air but Easy-Jet is by far the biggest airline to take action.

The low-cost carrier transported nearly 65 million people around Europe over its last financial year and has 8,000 employees.

Report calls for better accessibility for child mental health services

Nearly 90 children and adolescents in need of support admitted to adult wards in 2014.

   

Dr Shari McDaid, director of mental health reform, has called for the State’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to be made more accessible to young people and their families.

Nearly one third of children and adolescents in need of support from mental health services were admitted to adult wards last year, while waiting lists for youth mental health services increased by 8% to 2,818 young people.

Speaking at the launch of the Children’s Mental Health Coalition report into the mental health needs of Irish children and adolescents, Dr Shari McDaid, director of Mental Health Reform, called for the State’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to be made more accessible to young people and their families.

“This report has found that there are a bewildering number of agencies involved in children’s mental health care, which can cause confusion at what is already a stressful time for young people and their families,” said Dr McDaid. “When we consider that one in three young people are likely to have experienced a mental disorder by the age of 13, it becomes clear just how urgent the need for good quality services and support is.”

Dr McDaid warned that in 2014, 89 children and adolescents suffering from mental health issues were cared for in adult wards, adding that 405 young people were on a waiting list for services for over the year.

The recommendations laid out by the coalition highlight the importance of “meaningful participatory” mental health structures where young people have a voice in decisions that affect their lives.

The report calls for “accessible, developmentally appropriate and specialist inpatient services” for children or young people with acute mental health difficulties, including those with a dual diagnosis of mental health with learning difficulties or substance misuse.

It recommends appropriate training for GPs and primary care professionals across the State to ensure early detection and appropriate intervention. The coalition also found that a national framework was needed to support children and adolescents who may need to transition from CAMHS to adult mental health services.

The coalition also called for an increase in staff numbers working with young people, an issue Anne O’Connor, director of Mental Health Services for the HSE, also highlighted.

“We have challenges – the one at the top of the list is recruitment,” said M/s O’Connor.

“We have money, we have the authority to go out and recruit staff, and we just can’t get them. This is particularly a challenge in relation to consultants, nurses and psychologists.”

Dr. Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children, voiced concern at the number of “vulnerable children” who were receiving care in adult psychiatric wards.

“These are wards where violence, tension and threats are not uncommon and I would suggest that such an environment is an upsetting place for an adult,” said Dr. Muldoon.

“Therefore one can only imagine how it must leave a child or adolescent feeling when they are already struggling with negative feelings about themselves.”

“The way our children and young people feel within an adult psychiatric unit will stay with them forever,” he said.

The Children’s Mental Health Coalition report would act as a vital aid in erasing the “prevalent gaps” that exist within the State’s child mental health services.

Kerry people love cucumbers? 

Now what’s your county’s favourite fruit or veg?

    

Kerry people love their cucumbers so 'What’s your county’s favourite veg'?

Ireland’s favourite fruits vegetables vary wildly from county to county.

While the people of Offaly eat potatoes and swedes, Sligonians prefer chillies and fresh herbs and in Donegal they at berries, oranges and sweet potato.

Supermarket chain Tesco have revealed the most purchased greens in their stores, with Dubliners plumping for kale and avocado over cabbage and apple.

With nearly 70 million sold in stores every year, bananas top the charts in most counties and just slip to second place in Clare, Donegal, Galway, Kildare and Mayo which favour fresh berries over bananas at the top of the fruit and vegetable charts.

Cauliflower and kale are the least popular across the country but that could all change this year with cauliflower tipped as a food trend for 2015.

Nutritionist Elsa Jones said that getting your fruit and vegetables will still help you be big and strong.

“It’s encouraging to see that Irish people are buying a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. Getting your five-a-day is one of the most important things you can do for your health. It’s also important to eat a variety of different coloured fruit and vegetables as each colour provides a unique set of nutrients. For optimal health, aim to eat the five colours of the rainbow every day – red, orange, yellow, green and purple.”

Bats observe a strict flight code to navigate the skies

  

Scientists have discovered that bats use an “airway code” to avoid collisions when they fly.

The sonar-based traffic rules ensure there are no accidents as they dive and turn at high speeds while chasing food.

Researchers from the University of Bristol studied pairs of Daubenton’s bats (Myotis daubentonii) foraging over low water for stranded insects in Somerset.

Researchers simulated the creatures’ sonar view on a computer and it showed that the bats swapped leader-follower roles as they flew.

Lead scientist Dr Marc Holderied said: “The bats seem to have adopted a simple trick: once another individual is close enough for your biosonar to pick up its echo, copy this individual’s flight direction within four to five of your own wingbeats.”

Co-author Dr Luca Giuggioli, also from the University of Bristol, said: “Quantifying the movement decisions that bats adopt to forage has implications well beyond animal ecology.

“By employing movement strategies that nature has optimised over millions of years, engineers may be able to improve the efficiency of search and rescue missions, monitoring tasks, and surveillance operations in the emerging market of flying drones and autonomous moving vehicles.”

The animals performed chases or coordinated manouver’s by copying the heading their leader was using a blink of an eye-500 milliseconds-earlier. 

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Standard & Poor’s upgrades Ireland’s credit rating to an A 

 

Well done Minister, Pierre Moscovici the French finance minister seems to be saying to Michael Noonan the Irish finance minister, 

THE CREDIT RATING AGENCY SAID IT HAD REVISED ITS 2014-2016 AVERAGE GDP GROWTH RATE TO 2.7% FROM 2%.

Standard & Poor’s has upgraded Ireland’s credit rating and predicted the economy will grow faster than it expected on average over the next two years.

The credit rating agency said it was raising its long-term sovereign credit rating to A- from BBB+.

It comes just weeks after Moody’s lifted the country’s rating by two notches in a better than expected assessment.

 S&P said it had revised its 2014-2016 average GDP growth rate for Ireland to 2.7% from 2%..

It said this reflected its expectation of a continued strong external performance and a sustained recovery in the domestic economy.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the upgrade highlighted the continued improvement in Ireland’s credit worthiness.

“I am particularly pleased that this upgrade is being driven by S&P’s view on the improved prospects for the domestic economy,” Mr Noonan said.

“This is a view I share and with thousands of jobs being created each month, strong exchequer performance and with positive high-frequency indicators, I am confident that we are moving in the right direction.”

The state’s debt management agency, the National Treasuruy Management Agency (NTMA) said it was the first A rating of any of the major credit rating agencies since it returned to the international money markets on a full-time basis.

“It represents a further confirmation of the continuing positive assessment of Ireland by the major credit rating agencies.,” NTMA chief executive John Corrigan said.

“It also underpins the already strong investor sentiment towards Ireland and provides a very supportive backdrop for the remainder of the NTMA’s funding programme in 2014.

“It is gratifying to note that the bond market access achieved by Ireland and the progress made by NAMA are among the positive factors cited by S&P.”

S&P said it believes the domestic recovery is broadening and has gathered pace in the first three months of the year.

Irish Government needs to act now over its failure to cut greenhouse gasses

  

The Irish Government’s Green Paper on Energy Policy in Ireland, which is out to public consultation until the end of July, reads like a manuscript from the past discovered during an archaeological dig.

Who is this Minister Rabbitte smiling up from the introduction of a document which talks about “transforming Ireland into one of the most energy efficient economies in Europe by 2020?”

 As Pat Rabbitte himself prepares to hop to another hutch, many of the claims of the energy paper have already been discredited. The “National Low Carbon Roadmap” which is meant to magically reduce Ireland’s carbon emissions by 80% to 95% by 2050 is years off schedule and will seemingly have no targets except for 2050 when everyone in positions of power in this government may be dead and gone.

And while there is much posturing in the paper about the impact of home retrofits on energy consumption, with SEAI’s figures showing energy consumption per household dropping by 18% between 2006 and 2011, the rate of retro-fitting has halved in the three years this government has been in power. The Environmental Protection Agency predicts that energy efficiency in houses may be just 5% better by 2020 if no additional measures are taken.

The need for “grid-strengthening and reinforcement” is highlighted but opposition to pylons seems a bit understated in the expression, “such infrastructure has proved divisive in the past, with communities and developers finding themselves in opposition” because there is no indication the present or future will be any different. And the commitment to explore the export of renewable energy to the UK looks out of date considering the collapse of recent negotiations on the issue between the two governments.

While the Green Paper highlights the changes in VRT to reflect the emission rates of vehicles and highlights the fact that the CO2 emissions of new private cars fell by 22% from 2008 to 2011, it does not say that the current government has diluted the measure. And while the paper calls for “carbon capture and storage” to be explored if coal-fired energy generation is to continue at Moneypoint, the EPA takes the view that this is not going to happen and has adjusted its greenhouse gas projections for Ireland until 2020 accordingly.

These projections, published by the EPA this week, are a damning indictment of our response to the threat of climate change. While the Green Paper whistles a happy tune, the EPA’s projections say we will breach the EU’s legally binding targets for greenhouse gas emission reduction in that much-trumpeted date of 1916 and face massive fines.

While cows and cars are the main culprits in our greenhouse gas emission crime, it is hard to believe that the Government is even trying to reduce our emissions when you see the buildings they themselves control gaily burning our money to pump pollution into the atmosphere.

What’s most frustrating about this is that simple behaviour change can lead to energy savings of up to 20% as an Office of Public Works pilot project has shown. Now the OPW is partnering with Tallaght Hospital to reduce energy use by 18% over three years with a target saving of €4.3 million, enough to fund 18 acute hospital beds.

I suppose the reason the Public Accounts Committee has never taken an interest in the scandalous waste of energy in public buildings is that there is no easily identifiable “baddie” to haul in for questioning. The issue has been left to a tiny group of volunteers, Dublin Friends of the Earth, and they got their first hearing in the Dáil yesterday when they addressed the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection.

The National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (2013) has a target of 33% reduction in energy use in public buildings by 2020, to show the rest of us in our bog-standard houses how it’s done.

But while the Green Paper says the Sustainable Energy Association of Ireland has signed partnerships with bodies and agencies which account for more than 60% of the public sector energy spend, DFOE reports that we have no national data for energy use in the public sector for the last three years and therefore no idea whether use is decreasing or increasing. Not even the figures for 2011, the first year in which reporting energy use became a legal requirement for public bodies, have been published, although SEAI told DFOE this February that the report was with the designers.

You would never think we were attempting to emerge from a serious recession which has hammered public services from the way we burn energy in our public buildings.

This is perhaps most clearly shown in the case of our schools who pay for their energy use out of that precious capitation grant for each pupil which has recently been cut by 3.5%.

A quarter to a third of this scarce resource is spent on energy in our 4,000-plus schools, and this adds up to between €50 million and €80m a year. And yet the Government has not required schools to demonstrate any effort to save energy. The Department’s position is that it is up to school boards what they do with their money.

The most it has done is partner with SEAI to produce a website,http://www.energyineducation.ie, but they neglected to tell the schools about it so it is hardly surprising that only 6% of schools have engaged with it.

The depressing thing about all of this is that cutting energy use through behaviour change is relatively easy and close to cost-free. Under the guidance of An Taisce’s Green Schools initiative, some schools have reported massive savings from simple behaviour change, such as the special school in Co. Wicklow with 20 pupils who saved €4,000 by switching off equipment after school, removing electric heaters and opening blinds; or the secondary school in Mayo which saved €10,000 by turning off the electricity at night, putting timers on PCs and using energy efficient lighting.

By 2016 Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil might have finally called off the Civil War or Sinn Féin might be in power on both sides of the border. But it will also be remembered as the year in which we break our legal commitments to the EU on greenhouse gas emissions and officially become climate criminals.

We will threaten our economic survival, not to mention our future on the planet, if we don’t see 2016 as a wake-up call to radicaly reduce emissions by 2020, 2030 and beyond. And that should start today with a plan to stop blowing good money through the roof of public buildings.

How should the Irish driving test be changed? 

ASKS THE ROAD SAFETY AUTHORITY 

 

THE ROAD SAFETY AUTHORITY WANTS YOUR INPUT.

The Road Safety Authority has called on members of the public to share their thoughts on the driving test.

The test turns 50 this year and the RSA are marking the milestone by seeking people’s views on how it should be changed.

If you’re stuck for ideas at the minute, you’ve got a few weeks to come up with something as the deadline for submissions is Friday, 18 July.

Some 140,000 driving tests take place in Ireland each year, with 1,800 approved instructors nationwide.

In 1964, the year the test was introduced, 341 people died on Irish roads, compared with 190 road deaths in 2014. There are currently 2.4 million vehicles on our roads, up from 400,000 50 years ago.

The RSA is currently hosting the 46th General Assembly of CIECA, the international driver testing commission, at Dublin Castle.

SAFER ROADS

Moyagh Murdock, the RSA’s CEO, said that every development made to driver training and testing leads to our roads “becoming a safer place”.

Driver education is absolutely key to safety on the roads. We are delighted to mark the 50th anniversary of the test this year, and look forward to the next 50 years when driver education and training will make the roads an even safer space for us all to share.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said that the driving test has saved thousands of lives over the years.

The public consultation launched today will help members of the public, and interested parties to shape the future of the driving test.

He noted that one of the proposals being considered is a hazard perception test, where the driver is asked to identify potential hazards in photographs or videos.

“The ability to spot hazards is a vital skill and marks out a really competent driver, and its inclusion in training and testing would help to focus attention on this skill at an early stage,” he stated.

It’s up to Gardai on whether there should be a criminal investigation in Tuam mass babies grave

SAYS JUSTICE MINISTER FRANCES FITZGERALD

 

Gardai will decide on whether there should be a criminal investigation into why and how the bodies of an estimated 800 infants ended up in a septic tank at the site of a former ‘mother and baby’ home.

  Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald made the comment after confirming she is now seeking a full report from the interim garda commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan on the information available on the deaths of babies at a ‘Mother and baby’ home in Tuam, Co Galway.

Today is the first time gardai have been asked to gather all information they have available on the matter.

In a statement issued this evening, the minister said it was up to gardai to decide whether or not to proceed with a criminal investigation, sealing off a crime scene and conduct a forensic examination.

Gardai have said they will provide any information and assistance it can to government’s inter-departmental group

Meanwhile an inter-departmental body comprising of officials from the departments of justice, children, education and social protection has been set up to look at the matter.

They are expected to report back to the minister at the end of the month.

Once the government studies their full report, they will then decide on how they should proceed with the matter, M/s Fitzgerald said.

New evidence of another world discovered on the moon

  

A new analysis of three lunar rocks brought back by Apollo astronauts in the ’60s breathes new life into an old theory some thought too simple: that the moon was created when another planet, Theia, crashed into Earth billions of years ago, leaving behind molten debris that eventually cooled and moved into a stable orbit around our planet.

The problem is that, after numerous inspections of the rocks, no one could find any trace of another planet. Until now. Previous analysis of the samples found they were identical to samples from Earth, when they should have shown some difference to indicate they also came from Theia.

But now, “we have … discovered small differences between the Earth and the moon,” the lead researcher tells the BBC. “This confirms the giant impact hypothesis.” The difference detected is tiny indeed—the lunar samples carry a barely detectable abundance of oxygen-17, a form of oxygen that has nine neutrons in its atoms instead of the typical eight.

In fact, the lunar samples have just 0.012% more oxygen-17 than is found on Earth, but it’s enough to suggest the involvement of another planet that also featured more of the element.

Scientists spotted the difference using a novel technique, explains Time: They sealed the rocks in a chamber of fluorine gas, vaporized a small portion of the rocks with a laser beam, and drained out the gas and vapor, which were then sent through a device called a chromatograph to separate oxygen from the other gases.

This also enabled them to spot the same difference in samples previous researchers had looked at and found no difference. (In other cool space news, astronomers recently discovered a planet with an 8-hour day.)