Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Irish Consultants to blame for delay in payments of €73m to Irish health service

    

On form: the Government says that about €73 million in payments due to the health service from health insurers is outstanding because hospital consultants have delayed in signing the appropriate forms

The failure of some consultants to fill in the forms required by private health insurers is being given as the reason why funding to the health service has been delayed

The Government has said that around €73 million in payments due to the health service from health insurers is outstanding because hospital consultants have delayed in signing the appropriate forms.

However the Government has argued that, as a result of new initiatives, the amounts due will fall significantly over the coming year.

Delays in public hospitals securing payment from insurance companies as a result of consultants not signing forms has been an issue of controversy for some time but it has been brought into sharper focus in recent weeks on foot of the cuts in front-line services introduced by the HSE.

Confidential figures produced by the HSE for the recent talks on work-practice reforms for senior doctors showed that in March there was over €11 million in outstanding claims at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick awaiting “consultant action”.

The management document, seen by The Irish Times, said this included the requirement for the consultant to sign the appropriate forms. It said over €1 million was outstanding while action was awaited from one consultant.

The report said that at Galway University Hospitals nearly €6 million was outstanding from insurance companies awaiting “consultant action”.

The figure for Cork University Hospital is €4.122 million and at Tallaght Hospital the amount outstanding is over €3.4 million.

In a topical issues debate in the Dáil last Thursday the Minister of State at the Department of Education Ciaran Cannon (speaking on behalf of the Minister for Health James Reilly) said that, as of the end of September, €204 million was due to the HSE from private health insurance companies in respect of treatment of private patients.

He said that of this €204 million, €100 million related to claims under preparation in hospitals, and €104 million related to claims submitted to insurers which were either being processed or are pending.

“Delays in consultants signing off on health insurance forms is one of the issues affecting the claims collation process in public hospitals. Of the €100 million under preparation in hospitals, €73 million relates to delays in consultant sign-off.”

Mr Cannon said that Dr Reilly had instructed the HSE “to address the issue as a matter of urgency”.

He said the HSE had directed hospitals to bring down the value of claims awaiting consultant action. He said hospitals were also targeting the highest value claims.

Mr Cannon also said that moves to deal with this issue had formed part of the proposed agreement between the Government and hospital consultants on work-practice reforms.

“An important feature of the proposals agreed between the parties was a commitment on the part of all consultants to expeditious processing and signing of claims for submission to private health insurers. Consultants will be required to complete and sign private insurance forms within 14 days of receipt of all the relevant documentation and to co-operate with the secondary consultant scheme, whereby a secondary consultant involved in a case can sign the claim form if the primary consultant has not signed it within a reasonable timeframe. “They will also be required to support the implementation of electronic claim preparation.

“Health service management is proceeding with implementation of this and other measures in the coming weeks, having regard to the relevant provisions in the public sector agreement.

“In addition to addressing delays in consultant sign-off, the HSE has also awarded a contract for the phased roll-out of an electronic claims management system in 11 HSE sites. The system will address the many deficiencies of the current paper-based process, will streamline the claims collection process and will ensure standardised work practices are implemented across hospitals. The system is live in six hospital sites with a further three to come on board by mid-November.”

Labour TD Kevin Humphreys, who raised the issue in the Dáil last week said: “Shame on the consultants that the Government had to go to such lengths to ensure the income stream and cashflow of our hospitals were guaranteed. These men and women walk the corridors of the hospitals and see the shortfall in income yet they delayed on signing off on significant sums that would make a substantial difference to the hospitals of the State.”

Mr Cannon said he agreed wholeheartedly that these were significant sums of money that could be expended on front-line services but were “held in abeyance because of a lack of will from certain ranks within the health sector and, perhaps, bureaucratic difficulties associated with the payment process”.

The delays on the part of consultants in signing insurance forms was also criticised by members of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee a fortnight ago.

At that meeting HSE national director of finance Liam Woods said that while most of the amounts outstanding were due for less than six months, the health service had been waiting for more than a year for between €5 million and €8 million.

HSE officials told the Public Accounts Committee that delays in signing the forms meant that consultants themselves did not receive payment from the insurance companies.

However the HSE declined to be drawn into speculating on the motivations on the part of senior doctors in delaying the signing of such forms.

Asked by Fine Gael TD Pascal Donohoe about what lay behind the failure to claim amounts of a significant magnitude, the HSE’s director general-designate Tony O’Brien said, “one could only speculate”.

“Either the individuals are not in need of the income or it suits them to defer that income for whatever reason.

“I am aware of a general provision in the tax code that once one is eligible to issue an invoice, one is also eligible for the tax that arises upon it, regardless of whether one has gained the income. I cannot speak to the individuals who all, no doubt, have different reasons.”

THE PAPER TRAIL: Midwestern Regional Hospital Dooradoyle has the single highest value of claims awaiting sign-off by primary consultants, with more than €11,125,000 outstanding.

The next four in order are:

* Galway University Hospital at €5,936,838

* Cork University Hospital at €4,122,930

* Waterford Regional Hospital at €3,741,323

* Adelaide Meath Hospital at Tallaght, €3,421,719.m

Ireland’s Students urged to ‘pace your drinking’

  

Peer pressure continues to play a major role in the drinking behaviour of young Irish adults, however a new competition aims to tackle this issue head on.

DARE2BDRINKAWARE is a multimedia competition open to all third level students in the country. It aims to promote responsible drinking and has been running for the last six years. This year’s theme is ‘pacing our drinking’.

According to Fionnuala Sheehan, chief executive of drinkaware.ie, while Irish people are, overall, drinking less than our European counterparts, ‘when we drink, we drink more’.

“This pattern of heavy, episodic drinking is particularly prevalent among young adults, including students attending third level institutions in Ireland,” she noted.

She pointed to research carried out earlier this year, which found that the average number of alcoholic drinks consumed by Irish people on their last visit to a pub or nightclub was 5.6. This is almost three times the amount people in other parts of the EU consume in one outing.

“Peer pressure remains a significant driver in the drinking patterns of young people. We want to empower them to resist the pressure to drink, or to drink more. By pacing our drinking – that is drinking less and more slowly on an occasion of drinking – we enable ourselves to get more out of our nights and our weekends,” Ms Sheehan insisted.

The competition is open to all third-level students over the age of 18. Entries can take the form of an interactive website or short film. Proposals must be submitted by November 23 and participants will then have until March 2013 to complete their entries. The prize fund totals €5,000.

“We’re looking forward to the 2013 competition and anticipate that students will demonstrate high levels of creativity in producing film and website entries on the theme of pacing our drinking,” Ms Sheehan added.

Hunting ban on red deer and curlews as numbers in the wild fall in Ireland

       

A ban on hunting Kerry red deer and curlews has been imposed in a bid to help protect their dwindling numbers.

A massive decline in curlew numbers — now down by up to 95pc — was behind the Government’s shooting ban.

Poaching of red deer has become a big problem because of the big demand for venison. The ban on shooting female Kerry red deer means that all reds are now protected as it had already been illegal to hunt the red stag in the county.

Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan removed the curlew bird from the open season for shooting wild game birds.

The curlew has traditionally had a month-long hunting season during November, although it is thought that few hunters continue to shoot the bird.

An official ban has now been introduced.

Breeding

A number of surveys and studies in the past year have estimated a dramatic reduction in the total number of breeding pairs of curlews in Ireland. These estimates indicate a decrease ranging from 60pc to 96pc.

Mr Deenihan said: “This decision will be welcomed by conservationists and hunters. I am aware that some hunting bodies have already introduced voluntary hunting bans for the curlew and I commend them for this action.”

Meanwhile, new monitoring of red deer in Killarney National Park has found a significant decline in numbers.

At the turn of the 20th Century there were in excess of 1,500 red deer in Killarney. This declined between 1900 and 1960 to as few as 60, according to the Wild Deer Association of Ireland. However, as a result of rigorous protection, numbers increased and hit around 690 in the early 1990s.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service will be monitoring compliance with the initiatives.

Message in a bottle 2 French-Canadian girls found in Quebec Canada

‘Girls wrote the notes eight years ago’

 

RTÉ has managed to contact the two French-Canadian girls who wrote a message and put it in a bottle in Quebec eight years ago.

The bottle travelled across the Atlantic Ocean before being washed up on the strand at Passage East in Co Waterford.

It was found by local boy Oisín Millea, aged ten.

RTÉ has spoken with Charlene Dalpé, who wrote the note along with her friend Claudia Garneau.

She said she was very excited to find out that the note, which she wrote when she was 12, had been found by somebody on the other side of the ocean.

M/s Dalpé and M/s Garneau spoke with Oisín via Skype this evening.

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Irish families having to wait 18-weeks for vital welfare cash

    

Struggling Irish families will be left waiting for several months for vital social welfare, it has emerged.

The waiting time for the Family Income Supplement scheme stands at 18 weeks for a new application while families seeking to renew their payments will face a wait of 16 weeks.

Family Income Supplement (FIS) is a weekly tax-free payment available to workers with children. It is designed to give extra financial support to people on low pay.

The figures were obtained by Roscommon South Leitrim TD Denis Naughton following a parliamentary question.

“Due to the current delays, if someone were to take up a qualifying job and apply for the FIS today, they will not get a decision this side of Christmas,” he said.

The Department of Social Protection said there are currently 7,002 new FIS applications and 7,934 renewal applications awaiting approval.

A spokesman said: “An in-depth business process improvement (BPI) project has recently commenced for the FIS scheme. This project will focus on optimising output and customer service and the reduction of backlogs.”

Ireland’s dip into markets pays off as NTMA sells €500m of bonds

   

Two years after being shut out of the international markets, investors seem to be interested in Ireland again. 

There was strong demand at an auction of short-term Irish debt today and the interest rate was better than expected.

Dipping-it’s-toe into the markets is how the NTMA describes the sales of short term debt that it’s currently engaged in and there was good news today from Treasury Buildings – a successful auction of €500 million worth of three month treasury bills.

After being shut out of the markets for the last two years, there was strong demand today.

The auction was 3 times oversubscribed and the interest rate was better than expected.

However we’re far from out of the woods yet – the government’s economic advisors have warned that the cuts planned for the coming years may not be enough.

Today’s report also describes overspending at the departments of health and social protection as “significant”.

Eamon Gilmore is confident of Ireland’s recovery by September 2013

Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore and Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn at the Labour party gathering at Carton House, Co Kildare. 

Tánaiste and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore has expressed confidence that by this time next year Ireland will be about to exit from the troika bailout programme and on its way to economic recovery.

Speaking at the end of his parliamentary party’s two-day “think-in” at Maynooth, Co Kildare, he said: “There are still difficult days ahead but we are determined to get through them, for this country to recover, and for people to be back at work.”

He was confident that Labour’s backbenchers would stay united behind his leadership on the difficult decisions ahead: “We have a great team of TDs, Senators and MEPs.”

However, he said it was “disappointing” that three Labour Senators had absented themselves from the party “think-in” on the basis that it was being held in a luxury hotel although Mr Gilmore said the party was given a good rate for the use of conference facilities there.

“We were all here today and yesterday to discuss the problems that are facing the country. These are problems that affect the people from the constituencies of the people who stayed away just as they affect the constituencies of the people who are here.”

The Labour gathering was briefed by Fine Gael Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Frances Fitzgerald on the forthcoming children’s rights referendum.

“We are ready to pursue that campaign and we will campaign vigorously on that referendum when it is launched,” Mr Gilmore said.

Welcoming the ratification of the European Stability Mechanism by the German Constitutional Court, he said: “I think that’s a very positive decision.”

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin said: “Obviously it’s a very welcome decision from Karlsruhe. It, I suppose, is the last obstacle for the ratification of the ESM, an important part of the recovery architecture.”

Labour’s think-in ended as a 25-strong group of grassroots activists announced plans to lobby left wing politicians to fight the party’s support for cuts in spending.

The Government will continue to honour the terms of the Croke Park agreement, as long as the unions implement their side of the bargain, Mr Gilmore said earlier.

The Labour Party leader said the agreement on public sector pay and reform contains a “considerable degree” of flexibility regarding working arrangements and, in particular, the provision of cover for those that have left the public service.

“What the Croke Park agreement is about is about saying to [public service workers] that pay will not be cut further for a period of time, provided there is co-operation first of all with the reduction in the numbers who are employed and secondly with getting the work done,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

Echoing comments made yesterday by Taoiseach Enda Kenny that the Government is determined to implement the agreement in full, Mr Gilmore said there would be no “unilateral” withdrawal from the agreement.

“This is about an agreement. If you make an agreement, you keep the agreement. And, there is a good reason for that. Because if you break an agreement – the people you make it with are unlikely to reach agreement with you again.”

The agreement could be looked at “mid-term”, Mr Gilmore said, adding that the Government keeps it under review “all of the time”.

Mr Gilmore said the Government’s objectives of a reduction in the public service pay bill and reform of the public service would have to be done in co-operation with the unions.

“The objective is, is that we get more out of our public services for less, reduced numbers of people and a better quality public service. That is a big challenge,” he said. “That is something that is very difficult to achieve and you won’t achieve it by conflict, you won’t achieve it by confrontation, you achieve it by co-operation. It’s what any sensible employer would do.”

Asked about the Government’s view on the introduction of same-sex marriage, Mr Gilmore said the matter was being referred to the constitutional convention. He said he hoped it would report back “before 2016”.

Mr Gilmore said the Government will address the contentious issue of abortion once the contents of the report of the expert group on abortion is issued.

“That’s an issue that’s very sensitive and people have very firm views on it. There was a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights. That ruling has to be addressed by the Government. There’s an expert group that was established to look at what is required to comply with that ruling.

“When it reports we will address [it]. There is no point in trying to anticipate what recommendations they are going to make to us but when they report we will address it,” he said.

A small group of Labour grassroots members frustrated by Government cuts today also launched a campaign to promote alternatives to austerity.

Campaign for Labour Policies (CPL) is attempting to recruit as many public representatives and party activists as possible in a bid to see a five-point programme implemented.

Spokesman Paul Dillon said its policies included investing in growth and jobs, taxing the wealthy, increasing workers’ rights, repudiating debt and expanding public enterprises.

Forget the spin, tourism in Ireland is in real trouble

SAYS FELIM O’ROURKE AN ECONOMIST

 

THE total number of overseas visitors to Ireland in 2011 was 6.6 million — an 8pc increase on 2010. This is very good news — or not, depending on how it is spun.

If we just look at the visitor figures and compare them with 2010, they appear very good. But if we dig deeper and compare ‘real tourists’ or holiday visitors in 2011 with earlier years, then we can see why our tourism industry is in such trouble.

In 2011, our emigrants made just over two million visits home to see their families. It is an insult to the parents of Ireland that our children coming home for a visit are counted by Failte Ireland as tourists. If we count only those who come to Ireland for a holiday, then we end up with ‘real tourists’ and the number of these for 2011 was 2.8 million.

We have to be very careful about comparing 2011 with 2010 because of the Icelandic volcanic eruption in April 2010. Irish air travel was massively disrupted from April 15 to May 17, but holiday travel was affected into June. This meant that the early summer of 2010 was a complete disaster for Irish tourism. A recovery in 2011 from the disaster of 2010 means very little.

The 2.8 million holiday visitors in 2011 was less than every year between 1998 and 2009. In 2007, for example, Ireland attracted just over four million holiday visitors, so 2011 is down 31pc on four years previously.

The best way of measuring Irish tourism is to count the bed nights of overseas holiday visitors. In 2011, these visitors spent 19 million bed nights in Ireland — almost 30pc below the figure for 2007 and less even than the figure for 1995.

Very few people in Ireland know that real tourism in Ireland is now at the same level as in the mid-1990s. This is a tribute to the ability of Failte Ireland to spin.

This spin has dominated discussion of tourism policy for the last 20 years. As a result, the public remains in the dark about key facts concerning our tourism industry.

Last year, Irish residents made four million holiday visits to overseas destinations, compared with 2.8 million holiday visits to Ireland by overseas residents.

Irish residents spent 37 million bed nights overseas last year on holiday, compared with the 19 million bed nights spent by overseas holiday-makers in Ireland. Irish residents spent €2.8bn on holidays abroad in 2010 — almost twice the €1.5bn spent by overseas holiday-makers here.

Tourism statistics are complicated and often confusing. Failte Ireland has failed to highlight the massive decline in overseas holiday visitors that has taken place.

Between 2004 and 2011, the number of overseas holiday visitors to Ireland fell by 18pc. Failte Ireland’s spinning of tourism statistics has kept this from view.

Felim O’Rourke is an economist who has written extensively on tourism

Property tax in Ireland won’t be set by the new price register

   

The much anticipated property price register will not be used as a valuation tool for the forthcoming property tax, the Department of Justice has said.

The register, which is due to go online at the end of this month, has been long-awaited as the first transparent measure of house prices in the Republic.

A statement from the department ruled out the possibility that the register will be used to estimate the value of homes after the Government confirmed last week it will introduce a value-based property tax.

“It should be emphasised that this is not a property price index and will not form the basis for the valuation of any property tax,” it stated.

A department spokesman said that the basis on which valuations will be made will be a matter for the Revenue Commissioners.

A spokeswoman for the Revenue Commissioners said they were working on options and it would be “inappropriate for us to comment any further at this stage”.

She added: “The Government decision that Revenue will administer this new tax has been made and we are planning for its introduction.

“We understand that the Government will consider the policy matters in the coming weeks.”

The property price register will be published by the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA) based in Navan, Co Meath, and will be available on the authority’s website ( npsra.ie).

The information will include the address of the property, the price that was paid for it and the date it was sold, going back two years.

The Department of Justice has said the property register will be live “in the coming weeks” but has declined to give a date.

Nobody from the PSRA was available for comment, but in an interview in July, the PSRA’s chief executive Tom Lynch said the register “will be up by the end of September”.

The authority is also responsible for the licensing of property service providers, and will investigate and adjudicate on complaints to the authority.

Health Minister James Reilly angry at stance of Irish consultants

  

Anger is growing in Government circles at the Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association over its failure to participate in talks at the Labour Relations Commission on work practices and other reforms.

Minister for Health James Reilly said yesterday he was losing patience “big time”. He said he intended to discuss “further options” for dealing with the issue with Cabinet colleagues and the Attorney General.

It is understood the commission yesterday said it could not secure agreement for participation in the talks, which were due to start today. The talks were to deal with reforms proposed by management under the Croke Park agreement.

Informed sources said last night that one option open to the Minister would be to seek guidance from the national body overseeing the implementation of the Croke Park deal on whether consultants, by not taking part in the talks, were outside the protections in the accord regarding pay cuts.

Dr Reilly has sought the introduction of greater flexibility and work practice reforms on the part of consultants as an alternative to the introduction of further pay cuts as set out in the programme for government.

Direct talks between health service management and representative bodies for hospital consultants broke down over the summer. Management then referred the issue to the commission under the provisions of the Croke Park agreement. Ultimately, the issue could go to the Labour Court for a binding ruling.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said earlier this week that he wanted the issue of hospital consultant reforms to go to the Labour Court next month.

However, the consultants’ association rejected claims by Dr Reilly that it was vacillating over reforms. Last night the association blamed the HSE for delays in the negotiations.

The association’s secretary general, Martin Varley, said it had been seeking a response from the HSE on some points of fact for more than a month.

Mr Varley said the HSE had responded through the commission yesterday and the association would assess this response in the coming days.

It is understood the consultants had raised three issues with the HSE.

It had sought assurances that the HSE recognised each consultant had an individual contract of employment and that the conciliation process at the commission was non-binding.

It also raised concerns at some of the items on the management’s agenda for reform. Sources said these included Government plans for a new consultant grade and changes to arrangements for historic rest days.

Speaking yesterday, Dr Reilly did not specifically name the consultants’ association. However, it is understood from informed sources that this is who he had in mind.

Dr Reilly said the issue of the reforms was not going to go away and had to be addressed.

However, he wanted to be fair to those consultants who were co-operating by delivering change on the ground, which had resulted in substantial savings since last year. “I don’t want to be hurting those consultants who are delivering while the ones who aren’t delivering get away scot-free,” he said, adding that a cap on pay was not the answer.

Mr Varley said consultants had delivered very significant flexibility since the inception of the Croke Park agreement.

In its reform proposals, health service management sought “demonstrable” changes to work practices, attendance patterns and reporting relationships for hospital consultants.

On the health cutbacks, Dr Reilly said he had no problem in acknowledging that he had failed to communicate to the people who feared the most from the HSE cuts announced last week and who had camped out outside Government Buildings. “So for that I am deeply sorry.”

He said he wanted to ensure patients were protected to the greatest extent so that services were “the last thing affected”.

Smoking now banned everywhere on Letterkenny Hospital grounds

  

Letterkenny General Hospital’s and St. Conal’s new tobacco free policy has been officially implemented, with staff, patients, visitors, contractors and others banned from smoking anywhere on the hospital grounds, including the car parks.

The ban also extends to all areas of the St Conal’s campus. 

The Donegal Smoking Cessation Service is backing the policy, and will be working with patients and others to offer support with quitting, and provide treatment where necessary.

Smoking Cessation Officer Elaine Robinson says it will be a difficult transition for many people, but so far the new rules have been working well

Donie's news Ireland daily Bog Thursday

Arranmore Donegal Priest challenges politicians on abortion issue

   

Brendan Byrne, Mayor of Donegal and Fr John Joe Duffy of Arranmore with other members of Donegal County Council.

An Arranmore curate has told his congregation that any legislation on abortion should not be passed under the terms of the X case, saying he believed that would make Irish abortion laws the most liberal in Europe.

Speaking on the island on Sunday, Father John Joe Duffy told parishioners that he welcomed the decision of Donegal County Council, who voted at their regular meeting last month to oppose any form of legislation of abortion.

“I welcome the decision taken by Donegal County Council in relation to their stance on the abortion issue, in that they are not in favour of the Minister for Health, James Reilly legislating for abortion under the terms of the X case,” Father John Joe said.

However, the head of the Irish Family Planning Association said that even if legislation were brought in for the X case, Irish legislation would remain among the most restrictive in Europe.

Father John Joe called on all political representatives to state their position on the subject. “I now call on all political representatives at local and national level to clearly state where they stand in relation to the proposed legislation by Doctor James Reilly,” Father John Joe said. “It is time to get off the fence. I am calling, in particular, on Sinn Féin locally and nationally to clearly state where they stand, in the same manner that I am calling on all political parties to clearly state where they stand. It is now time for political parties to show moral courage and protect the rights of the unborn child.”

He added that this was going to be a very difficult debate, and urged everyone to be sensitive to the language they use.

“Abortion is wrong under any circumstances and no matter how you may try to dress it up linguistically, it is what it is,” he said. “But we must be exceptionally sensitive in our use of language in relation to the future debate which will be on abortion.”

He added that he believed any legislation adopted in terms of the X case would make Irish abortion laws the most liberal in Europe. “The only way that the abortion debate can be revisited is by a referendum where the choice will be put to all the Irish people and that all Irish people will have their say on this matter,” Father John Joe said. “Legislation is not the way forward on this issue and it would be wrong for any government to forward this matter by legislation alone.”

The Chief Executive of the Irish Family Planning Association, Niall Behan, disagreed. He said: “If the legislation was brought in for the X case, we would still remain the one of the most restrictive in Europe. If you were to take the 48 members of the Council of Europe, from Russia to the Ukraine to Iceland, we would still be the 45th most restrictive of the 48 countries.”

He added that should legislation be brought in relation to the X-case it would be a woman’s life that would be under discussion and not her health.

Women in Ireland with a pregnancy deemed life-threatening cannot access abortion services without travelling abroad, despite a 2010 European Court of Human Rights ruling which found the State to be in breach of its obligations, according to the Irish Family Planning Association. Answering a Parliamentary written question, Minister Reilly confirmed that the situation of women with life-threatening pregnancies remains the same as before the ruling. No interim measures to deal with such incidents have been developed since the judgement.

Irish people working overtime unpaid on the increase

  

An increasing number of employees are working weekends and evenings on an unpaid basis to cope with rising workloads.

A rising number of Irish employees are taking on unpaid overtime in a bid to cope with increasing workloads.

A survey from Peninsula Ireland, which questioned 934 employees, found that 67 per cent said they worked additional hours on occasion at evenings and on weekends. That was a rise from the 58 per cent recorded in 2011.

The survey also found that 76 per cent of employees work an average of up to 65 minutes extra each month.

It noted that employees frequently use mobile devices to keep up with work while outside their contracted hours, including checking emails and making calls.  However, 43 per cent also said they felt their extra work was not acknowledged by their boss.

Managing director of Peninsula Ireland Alan Price said the issue needs to be addressed.

“The current economic recession has accounted for major cuts for many businesses, and subsequently many companies have reduced staff numbers. This has led to a greater workload for the remaining employees who are forced to comply in order to keep their job safe,” he said.

“It may seem petty to be picking up on what may only be a 5 or 10 minutes each time, but these short periods can add up when looked at on a grander scale. Employers should consider incorporating overtime pay into the average rota, to account for any additional minutes clocked up.”

However, he said it was the employee’s responsibility to inform their bosses of overtime. “It is also important that employers are not enforcing overtime, and creating a large workload for their employees. By simply improving the delegation of tasks between their employees, all tasks could be completed within normal working hours,” he said.

Fossils suggest 2 new pre-human species 

Say Leakeys family

    

Picture left shows Meave Leakey carefully excavating the new face KNM-ER 62000 near Koobi Fora in northern Kenya. Pic. right Meave (L) and Louise Leakey, discussing one of the new fossils at the time of discovery. Found within a radius of just over 10 km from 1470’s location,

Our family tree may have sprouted some long-lost branches going back nearly two million years. A famous paleontology family has found fossils that they think confirm their theory that there are two additional pre-human species besides the one that eventually led to modern humans.

A team led by Meave Leakey, daughter-in-law of famed scientist Louis Leakey, found facial bones from one creature and jawbones from two others in Kenya. That led the researchers to conclude that man’s early ancestor had plenty of human-like company from other species.

These would not be Homo erectus, believed to be our direct ancestor. They would be more like very distant cousins, who when you go back even longer in time, shared an ancient common ancestor, one scientist said.

But other experts in human evolution are not convinced by what they say is a leap to large conclusions based on limited evidence.

LONG-RUNNING SQUABBLE

It is the continuation of a long-running squabble in anthropology about the earliest members of our own genus, or class, called Homo — an increasingly messy family history. And much of it stems from a controversial discovery that the Leakeys made 40 years ago.

In their new findings, the Leakey team says that none of their newest fossil discoveries match erectus, so they had to be from another flat-faced relatively large species with big teeth.

The new specimens have “a really distinct profile” and thus they are “something very different,” said Meave Leakey, describing the study published online Wednesday in Nature.

What these new bones did match was an old fossil that Meave and her husband Richard helped find in 1972 that was baffling. That skull, called 1470, just did not fit with Homo erectus, the Leakeys contended. They said it was too flat-faced with a non-jutting jaw. They initially said it was well more than 2.5 million years old in a dating mistake that was later seized upon by creationists as evidence against evolution because it indicated how scientists can make dating mistakes. It turned out to be 2 million years old.

For the past 40 years, the scientific question has been whether 1470 was a freak mutation of erectus or something new. For many years, the Leakeys have maintained that the male skull known as 1470 showed that there were more than one species of ancient hominids, but other scientists said it wasn’t enough proof.

LEAKY TEAM INSISTS ON 3 SPECIES

The Leakeys’ new discoveries are more evidence that this earlier “enigmatic face” was a separate species, said study co-author Fred Spoor of the Max Planck Institute in Germany. The new bones were found between 2007 and 2009 about six miles (10 kilometres) away from the old site near the fossil-rich Lake Turkana region, Leakey said.

So that would make two species — erectus and the one represented by 1470.

But it’s not that simple. The Leakey scientific team contends that other fossils of old hominids — not those cited in their new study — don’t seem to match either erectus or 1470. They argue that the other fossils seem to have smaller heads and not just because they are female. For that reason, the Leakeys believe there were three living Homo species between 1.8 million and 2 million years ago. They would be Homo erectus, the 1470 species, and a third branch.

“Anyway you cut it, there are three species,” study co-author Susan Anton, an anthropologist at New York University. “One of them is named erectus, and that, ultimately, in our opinion is going to lead to us.”

Both of the species that Meave Leakey said existed back then went extinct more than a million years ago in evolutionary dead-ends.

“Human evolution is clearly not the straight line that it once was,” Spoor said.

The three different species could have been living at the same time at the same place, but probably didn’t interact much, he said. Still, he said, East Africa nearly 2 million years ago “was quite a crowded place.”

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

And making matters somewhat more confusing, the Leakeys and Spoor refused to give names to the two non-erectus species or attach them to some of the other Homo species names that are in scientific literature but still disputed. That’s because of confusion about what species belongs where, Anton said.

Two likely possibilities are Homo rudolfensis —which is where 1470 and its kin seem to belong — and Homo habilis, where the other non-erectus belong, Anton said. The team said the new fossils mean scientists can reclassify those categorized as non-erectus species and confirm the earlier but disputed Leakey claim.

But Tim White, a prominent evolutionary biologist at the University of California Berkeley, is not buying this new species idea, nor is Milford Wolpoff, a longtime professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan. They said the Leakeys are making too big a jump from too little evidence.

White said it’s similar to someone looking at the jaw of a female gymnast in the Olympics, the jaw of a male shot-putter, ignoring the faces in the crowd and deciding the shot-putter and gymnast have to be a different species.

Eric Delson, a paleoanthropology professor at Lehman College in New York, said he buys the Leakeys’ study, but added: “There’s no question that it’s not definite.” He said it won’t convince doubters until fossils of both sexes of both non- erectus species are found.

Irish Consultants to reopen talks with the HSE

        

A body representing hospital consultants has written to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) saying it is willing to engage with the HSE after talks broke down last month.

The Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association contacted the commission yesterday “to confirm its willingness to engage in non-binding discussions with the HSE under the Public Service Agreement”. The HSE referred the matter to the LRC last week.

IHCA president Denis Evoy said consultants “already work well beyond their contracted hours” and services could only be extended further “if there is an agreed minimum number of consultants in each speciality”.

Ireland’s turf cutters paid €1.5m compensation to date for 53 preserved bogs

  

More than 1,000 turf cutters have been paid €1.5 million in compensation to date as part of the deal to preserve 53 raised bogs in Ireland.

An EU habitats directive imposed restrictions on turf cutting because of environmental damage on the bogs, designated areas of special conservation.

But Minister for Heritage Jimmy Deenihan earlier this year said almost one-third of those bogs had been irreparably damaged.

A small but vocal opposition group has questioned the department’s handling of the issue and a number with cutting or “turbary” rights have continued to cut turf illegally on 11 of the bogs.

Latest figures show that 1,082 payments from 2,308 applications have been made. The department estimates the applications represent a majority of cutters, but does not know the total number of turbary rights-holders on the bogs.

Those whose rights are on the affected bogs have been offered compensation of €1,500 a year for 15 years in the scheme along with a once-off sign-up bonus of €500 paid this year on completion of a legal agreement between the cutter and Minister.

The total individual compensation package is worth €23,000 tax free and index-linked over the 15 years.

The other option is relocation to another bog, if available, where they can continue to cut turf lawfully. While waiting for another location cutters can opt for financial compensation or a delivery of 15 tonnes of turf to their home.

Of the total number of applicants, 676 or 29 per cent have sought relocation to another bog. Cutters opposed to the scheme have claimed appropriate alternative bog locations have not been provided, but the department said work was ongoing to investigate and assess potential relocation sites. A group from Clara bog in Co Offaly had been relocated to a nearby bog.

The Minister said progress had been made. “The majority . . . have worked with us.”

Opponents have complained that larger stakeholders would receive only the same amount as those with smaller stakes.

In June more than 200 people were involved in an 18-hour stand-off between cutters, gardaí and the National Parks and Wildlife Service at Clonmoylan bog in south Galway.

Ireland faces fines of up to €25,000 a day for failure to implement the directive. The State had a 10-year derogation until 2009 and EU conservation regulations were announced in 2010.

Irish growth outlook improves on stronger exports

    

Ireland’s economy will grow slightly faster than previously thought this year thanks to stronger exports, keeping Dublin on track to meet deficit targets agreed under its EU/IMF bailout, a Reuters poll shows.

The poll, released on Wednesday, forecast the economy expanded 0.5 percent in the second quarter on a quarterly basis, bouncing back from a 1.1 percent contraction in the first quarter although it remains fragile.

Economists forecast 0.7 percent growth for this year, matching the government’s estimate and up from a projected 0.6 percent in a poll last month.

The 10 economists polled cited a better outlook for exports as the main reason for lifting their growth forecast, helped by a weaker euro, but said personal consumption and retail sales would fall this year.

They see exports rising 3.5 percent this year, up from a forecast of 3 percent in the July poll.

“Ireland is set to benefit more than any other euro zone country from the weaker euro,” Fergal O’Brien, chief economist at the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, said.

“This is going to help reflate the economy and boost nominal GDP, which in turn will improve debt sustainability and make it easier to reach the fiscal deficit targets.”

More than 60 percent of Ireland’s exports are to markets outside the euro zone, making it far more susceptible to currency fluctuations than most other euro zone members.

Ireland desperately needs export-led growth to make inroads into a debt pile set to peak at 120 percent of GDP next year.

Dublin is still on track to get its deficit down to 8.6 percent of GDP this year, from 9.4 percent last year, as agreed under its EU/IMF bailout, the poll showed.

The government got a boost last month when it became the first euro zone bailout recipient to issue longer-term bonds, with a five-year issue totalling 4.2 billion euros. It had been forced out of bond markets in September 2010.

Four of six economists who answered said Ireland was likely to be able to make a full return to the bond market, with an issue of 10 years or more, by the end of next year.

The economy will grow by 1.8 percent in 2013, according to the poll, compared to a government forecast of 2.2 percent. GDP grew 1.4 percent last year, the first expansion in four years.

Very weak domestic demand will continue to weigh on the economy with personal consumption set to fall 2 percent this year and retail sales dropping 2.4 percent, the poll forecast.

Ireland’s manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace in 15 months in July but weak domestic demand meant its service sector contracted for a third straight month, purchasing managers’ surveys showed.

“Economic recovery is tentative and the risks remain firmly weighted to the downside, not least due to the lingering euro zone sovereign debt crisis,” said Melanie Bowler, economist at Moody’s Analytics.