Donie's news Ireland daily BLOG

15,300 Discretionary medical cards to be restored at a cost of 13 million

 

The Government has decided it will return discretionary medical cards taken off those with serious medical conditions over the past three years.

The Cabinet has approved a plan which does not require a change in the law and can see cards returned in a matter of weeks.

A statement from the Department of Health said the Government could not stand over the removal of cards from those with an acute medical condition, or a lifelong condition, including a disability.

The statement said it is anticipated that about 15,300 cards will be restored to people with serious medical conditions as part of this process.

The decision to return cards without changing the law follows intensive negotiations with the Attorney General.

Today’s announcement covers cards withdrawn between July 1, 2011, and May 31, 2014. in a statement, the Department of Health said the review of the cards “produced unintended consequences” and that “much anecdotal evidence” revealed that those with a lifelong condition lost their cards.

However, he said that all decisions were made legally, and there would be no refund for medical expenses incurred in the intervening time, saying “there is no basis for a refund” and the Government had no plans to offer one.

The HSE has established an expert panel to consider the “broader issue” on how medical cards should be issued, and what makes an applicant eligible.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, the Minister for Health, James Reilly, said that responsibility for the “unintended consequence” was shared between the last Government, which decided to centralise medical card applications, and the current Government, which implemented it.

The Taoiseach also apologised in the Dáil for the “very many families being severely inconvenienced which] really did cause a great deal of stress for people.”

Michael Noonan to persist in push for Irish banking debt relief

 

Minister for Finance rules out any link between corporate tax rate and debt relief

Speaking in Brussels yesterday, a senior euro zone official said retroactivity was not envisaged in the scope of the European Stability Mechanism’s direct bank recapitalisation instrument being finalised.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan will continue to press the case for direct recapitalisation of Bank of Irelandand AIB when euro zone finance minister meet later this week in Luxembourg, despite receding political support in the euro zone.

“The rules as we have adopted them are forward-looking, so I see no case for retroactive application,” he said.

The powerful euro working groupof senior officials based in Brussels signed off on the framework for direct bank recapitalisation last week, following agreement by finance ministers a year ago. While the provision to consider retroactive direct bank recapitalisation on a “case-by-case basis” is understood to remain, senior EU sources said that political support for Ireland’s claim for debt relief through the fund was negligible.

“The idea that Ireland’s bank debt would be put on the balance sheet of the ESM is very unlikely,” said one EU source. “The whole point of the ESM direct bank recap facility is that it is used in an emergency, if a bank is in trouble, and only when other categories of creditors have been bailed-in.”

The Department of Finance stressed this evening the agreement “keeps open the possibility to apply to the European Stability Mechanism for a retrospective direct recapitalisation of the Irish banks, should we wish to avail of it.”

Any decision to activate the ESM’s direct bank recapitalisation mechanism must be made with the support of every country in the euro zone. In addition, up to six countries, including Germany, must vote on the direct bank recapitalisation instrument by the year’s end.

The ESM is the only “mutualised” fund in the euro zone, and there is a strong reluctance from members to use the fund to bail-out individual states. The renewed focus on the ESM direct recapitalisation instrument comes less than a week after the European Commission launched an investigation into the tax deal offered by Ireland to computer giant Apple.

The issue is also expected to be raised by German MPs visiting Dublin this week. Speaking in Limerick today, Mr Noonan ruled out any link between Ireland’s corporate tax rate and further debt relief.

“That link has never been made to me and I am a few years going out to Europe, ” he said.

The VHI records €65 million surplus for last year 2013

 

Company signs four-year reinsurance deal with Berkshire Hathaway VHI chief executive John O’Dwyer (above)  “We recorded a strong surplus on our consolidated business, improved our solvency position and maintained a low operating cost ratio.”

The country’s largest health insurer, the VHI, recorded a financial surplus of €65 million last year.

The State-owned company also said it had finalised a four-year reinsurance agreement with Berkshire Hathaway, the insurance giant headed by investor Warren Buffett.

The company said it had made an application for its long-planned authorisation by the Central Bank of Ireland and that it would not need support from the exchequer to achieve the required solvency levels.

VHI said its surplus for 2013 represented a margin of 4.4 per cent and was an improvement on the surplus of €54.3 million, or 3.8 per cent margin, achieved in the previous year.

It said that at the end of 2013 VHI Healthcare had free cash reserves of more than €389 million, bringing the company’s solvency level to 156 per cent, compared with 108 per cent in 2012 and 100 per cent in 2011.

Special investigation unit

VHI said its special investigations unit – which examines claim of overcharging and erroneous payments to hospitals and doctors – and its medical review process had recovered €14.8 million.

VHI chief executive John O’Dwyer said: “VHI Healthcare continued to perform well in a challenging market in 2013. We recorded a strong surplus on our consolidated business, improved our solvency position and maintained a low operating cost ratio. The improved financial results have been achieved on the back of a number of key initiatives taken in 2012 and 2013 which will continue to bear fruit in future years.”

He said a key business priority in 2013 was preparing to submit an application for authorisation by the Central Bank. He said a significant element of this submission was the inclusion of a long-term, sustainable business plan that would secure the viability of the business.

Warren Buffett deal with VHI will save Irish taxpayers some €200m

  

BILLIONAIRE’S LIFELINE WILL ALSO REDUCE PRESSURE FOR FURTHER PREMIUM HIKES

The current relentless pressure on health insurance customers is expected to ease after the country’s largest health insurer extended a lucrative deal with billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

The VHI’s new four-year contract with a company headed by Mr Buffett is also set to save millions of euro for taxpayers.

His Berkshire Hathaway holding company has signed an agreement to take over some of the risks of VHI, in what is known as a re-insurance deal.

Head of the VHI John O’Dwyer said the deal is set to save taxpayers from having to pump up to €200m into the company and will help keep down premium hikes for the insurer’s one million-plus customers.

“This is a good deal for VHI customers and it is a good deal for the Exchequer,” Mr O’Dwyer said.

Families have faced huge costs in order to keep up health insurance payments in recent years, as premiums have doubled since the start of the economic downturn.

The spiralling costs have forced as many as 266,000 people to completely drop out of the market for private health insurance, and has pushed many others to downgrade their cover.

The most recent VHI hike was announced in January and meant families would have to pay an extra €250 a year for cover.

The annual cost of some of its plans has shot up by more than €1,000 during the past few years.

Insurers have blamed cost pressures that forced them to announce multiple rises in the past five years.

But Mr O’Dwyer said the focus of the VHI would be to continue to keep premium rises to a minimum, by keeping claims costs down.

“We remain focused on keeping prices as low as is feasible, and on delivering back savings through offers and promotions where possible,” he said.

The VHI boss said the four-year deal with Warren Buffett’s company would put the insurer on a sound footing and take away some of the pressure that has meant multiple premium rises in the past couple of years.

He also pointed out that in the past two years the VHI has had the lowest premium increases in the market.

However, it did increase premiums by an average of 3pc in March this year, although some plans went up by more. And last year the average premium went up by 6pc.

The deal with Mr Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway also removes the threat of fines from the EU over the failure of the VHI to put sufficient reserves in place up to now.

Mr Buffett (83) is estimated by ‘Forbes’ magazine to be worth $58bn (€43bn), and is renowned as the world’s most savvy investor.

It is seen as a major achievement to get the company he leads to commit to a four-year deal with the VHI.

The new deal extends a previous one-year deal, which had surprised market watchers.

Mr Buffett is the chairman, CEO and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway.

The agreement with one of the richest men in the world involves his Berkshire Hathaway firm insuring some of VHI’s claims.

Effectively, large chunks of the VHI’s health insurance claims are being laid-off with Berkshire, though customers will still deal with VHI.

Mr O’Dwyer said the deal would save taxpayers between €150m and €200m. This was the amount of money the Exchequer was expected to have to pump into the VHI to boost its reserves.

EU officials are pressing the Government to have VHI regulated by the Central Bank, but its reserves have been too low up to now.

VHI would have needed between €150m and €200m put into it from taxpayer if it had not been for the re-insurance deal with Mr Buffett’s company.

It is understood it will cost the VHI around €20m a year in fees to cover the cost of the re-insurance arrangement with Berkshire Hathaway.

Mr O’Dwyer said: “This is a major vote of confidence in the VHI from a highly respected company.”

News of the re-insurance deal, that runs up to 2017, came as the VHI said it made profits of €65m last year, up from €54.3m in 2013.

The semi-state company now has reserves of €389m which should mean the Central Bank will approve it to be regulated as a standalone entity, without needing to fall back on a State guarantee.

An application to be regulated by the Central Bank was submitted last month. VHI missed at least seven deadlines to meet the solvency targets it needs to be regulated on the same footing as its competitors GloHealth, Aviva and Laya, an insurance industry executive said.

The European Court of Justice has made several findings against the State due to the failure to bring VHI under the regulation.

The court ruled against the State in September 2011, requiring that VHI be regulated in a similar fashion to all the other non-life insurers.

It also noted that “discriminatory” structures were in place in the Irish health insurance market.

Titan the Earth like moon smells like gasoline and farts

 

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, has unusually Earth-like qualities and hence has interested scientists for YEARS. 

Before the arrival of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, since Titan is shrouded in a thick golden haze of photochemical smog that obscured its surface, it was difficult to study. Observations gathered by this instrument have now transformed investigations of this curious moon, and now a novel set of laboratory experiments has teased out even more information.

A team of NASA scientists has got tantalizingly close to recreating an unknown material discovered in Titan’s hazy atmosphere, furthering our knowledge of its composition, using Cassini data.

This unidentified material was detected using Cassini’s Composite Infrared Spectrometer which collects spectral data in far-infrared regions. The signature of this material suggested that it was composed of several different ingredients, but what precisely these were remained a mystery.

In order to figure out the possible constituents, scientists used a trial and error method of combining different mixtures of gases in a chamber and seeing what came out. The team knew that if they could get the concoction right, then under the correct conditions it should be possible to recreate the unknown material. Although this may sound relatively simple, given the number of possible combinations this was no mean feat.

The team started off their experiments by combining the two most abundant gases in Titan’s atmosphere, nitrogen and methane, but the resulting mixtures never matched up with the signature picked up by Cassini. So the team experimented by throwing something else into the mix; aromatic hydrocarbons. These are hydrocarbons that contain one or more benzene ring. Since these are partly responsible for Titan’s burnt orange color this seemed logical.

The researchers began with the simplest aromatic hydrocarbon, benzene, which has been previously detected in Titan’s atmosphere and then worked their way through a list of closely related aromatic compounds.

They discovered the best spectral match to the Cassini data when they added aromatic hydrocarbons containing nitrogen, which are part of a subgroup known as polycyclic aromatic nitrogen heterocycles. These are polycyclic aromatic (contain more than 1 aromatic ring) hydrocarbons where carbon atoms have been replaced by nitrogen.

“Now we can say that this material has a strong aromatic character, which helps us understand more about the complex mixture of molecules that makes up Titan’s haze,” said planetary scientist Melissa Trainer in a news-release.

Although the spectral signatures were not identical when the team aligned them, they were strikingly similar which suggested that the scientists were very close to the right combination.

“This is the closest anyone has come, to our knowledge, to recreating with lab experiments this particular feature seen in the Cassini data,” said co-lead author of the study Joshua Sebree.

The team will now continue to play with the experimental conditions in order to hopefully yield a better fit to the Cassini signature.

“With the combination of laboratory experiments and Cassini data, we gain an understanding of just how complex and wondrous this Earth-like moon really is,?

Donie's news Ireland daily BLOG

Serious respiratory infection illness made Charlie Haughey look for his place in Irish history

   

Charles Haughey: The US ambassador complimented the “measured statesmanlike tones” of Haughey during his ard-fheis speech in February1989, which she said were “in strong contrast to the stridently partisan speech of Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes at his party conference”.

A bout of serious illness led to a dramatic change in Charles Haughey’s leadership style as Taoiseach, making him realise it was his “last chance to make his place in Irish history”, US ambassador Margaret Heckler told secretary of state James Baker in a confidential cable in March 1989.

She said the illness made Haughey “determined to rise above his hitherto dominant image as the ultimate political boss”.
In ‘firm control’
A few days later another cable sent in advance of Haughey’s St Patrick’s Day visit to the US described him as being in “firm control” of Irish politics.

“The only cloud on Haughey’s horizon is his health. He has not recovered fully from a severe respiratory infection last fall and will consult a specialist during his Washington trip.”

Haughey had spent time in the intensive care unit of the Mater hospital in October 1988 and the Cork Examinerreported that his heart had stopped but this was vehemently denied by a government spokesman.

The cables were obtained under the US freedom ofinformation Act on foot of a request to the state department for any records from 1989 relating to Charles Haughey. Some records were refused for US national security/foreign policy reasons.

Many of the cables from 1989 deal with the fallout from Haughey’s disastrous decision to call a surprise general election in June which resulted in Fianna Fáil losing seats.

To retain power he formed a coalition with the Progressive Democrats, the first time Fianna Fáil ever participated in a coalition government.
Great survivor
Heckler wrote on July 15th, the day the coalition was formed: “In the end, it would seem, after all, that Haughey, the great survivor of Irish politics, has once againfashioned a victory from defeat . . . In entering a coalition he has put national interests above sectarian party concerns.”

In the cables, Heckler complimented the “measured statesmanlike tones” of Haughey during his ardfheis speech in February1989, which she said were “in strong contrast to the stridently partisan speech of Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes at his party conference”.

HSE managers warned of risks to patients from funding cuts and under staffing

CONFIDENTIAL ‘RISK REGISTER’ SHOWS SCALE OF CHALLENGES FACING HEALTH SERVICE

 

Under pressure from the troika over health costs, the HSE budget has been cut by more than 20 per cent, or €3 billion, since the financial crisis began in 2008.

Health Service Executive managers have warned of high risks to patient safetyas a result of under staffing and spending cuts across key areas of the health service, internal records show.

The executive’s confidential “corporate risk register” provides an insight into the most urgent challenges facing the organisation as it tries to cope with fewer employees and increased demand for services.

The register, seen by The Irish Times, shows the greatest risks facing the executive over the past year. They include:

Harm to patients arising from inadequate delivery of vital health services linked to understaffing;

Funding running out for the nursing home support scheme, causing knock-on problems across the health services;

Unsafe services for children due to a failure to comply with childcare regulations and standards; and

Risk of vaccine-preventable disease, such as measles, occurring due to failure to achieve targets for vaccine uptake.

The troika
Under pressure from the troika over health costs, the HSE budget has been cut by more than 20 per cent, or €3 billion, since the financial crisis began in 2008.

It has also lost more than 11,000 employees over the same period. This year the HSE faces another steep budget cut, although its service plan pledges to deliver the “maximum level of safe services possible”.

However, a detailed breakdown of risks facing individual services across the HSE shows elevated concern over the safety of cancer care for thousands of patients.

Highest risk
One of the highest risk ratings is linked to not having sufficient staff that are “essential to ensure adherence to quality control and quality assurance strategies” across cancer services.

There is also concern that designated cancer centres may fail to meet basic standards or targets for speedy delivery of care due to “fiscal challenges, the recruitment moratorium and other priorities”.

The HSE was not in a position to comment on the register last night, but the documents show it has drafted action plans for all risks identified.

For example, in areas such as patient safety, the register states there is a stronger focus on clinical care through the appointment of clinical directors, healthcare audits andtraining.

The risk register – a common tool across large firms – measures the greatest threats facing an organisation and ranks them in terms of impact and likelihood of occurring.

Fianna Fáil health spokesman Billy Kelleher has described warnings of high risks to patients as a result of understaffing and spending cuts as “frightening but not surprising”.

He said the revelations confirm what his party has been saying “about the high risk to public safety arising from Minister James Reilly’s handling of the health service”.

“[IT] is a damning indictment of Government policy and will cause huge amounts of anxiety amongst patients and their families,” he said.

The TD for Cork north-central called on the Health Minister to “urgently” clarify how these concerns are going to be addressed.

“This will impact on every family in Ireland,” he said. “Minster Reilly needs to urgently change his priorities and focus on frontline services to patients, which he has failed abysmally to do.”

Experienced Seán O’Rourke set to take over Pat Kenny’s slot

  

The veteran RTÉ news and current affairs broadcaster Seán O’Rourke is to be announced as successor to Pat Kenny’s morning radio show.

O’Rourke, who currently presents the RTÉ News at One programme and The Week in Politics on RTÉ television, will replace Kenny who announced his shock departure from the national broadcaster, where he has worked for over four decades, last week.

The move is set to create an intensive radio rivalry between two of the industry’s greatest luminaries in current affairs and whose shows will air at the same time.

A source revealed the decision was made at a meeting in a Monaghan hotel yesterday morning, and involved several key Montrose executives including director general Noel Curran and head of news and current affairs Kevin Bakhurst.

The announcement is due to be made on RTÉ Radio 1 on the Marian Finucane Show today where he will be interviewed by Aine Lawlor.

O’Rourke is renowned for his presence on the national broadcaster’s flagship radio news programme and has a reputation as a formidable interviewer, particularly of politicians.

His appointment will see him leave that slot for the first time in nearly two decades having started there in 1995.

The 54-year-old, from Portlaoise, began his career at the Connacht Tribune, following up with stints at the Sunday Press and Irish Press as a sports journalist, feature writer and political correspondent.

He has been with RTÉ news and current affairs since 1989 as an editor and presenter. He has also reported extensively from abroad.

It is unclear if, at all, the move will affect his other role as presenter of The Week in Politics which airs every Sunday night on RTÉ television.

Kenny made the surprise announcement last week in what was widely considered an industry coup for Newstalk Radio, his new employer who said he would be on air from September 2nd next.

He said he was “relishing the challenge ahead and looking forward to a new chapter”, particularly in the world of independent broadcasting.

Last night, betting on Kenny’s replacement appeared to have been suspended on Paddy PowerKenny worked with the State broadcaster for the last 41 years before joining the Denis O’Brien controlled Newstalk where he will anchor the station’s prime time slot.

Thousands of AIB customers subject to loan credit errors

    

Thousands of AIB customers may have been turned down for loans because the bank sent incorrect customer data to the Irish Credit Bureau, according to reports.

The Irish Independent today reports that as many as 12,000 customers may have been incorrectly identified as having poor track records for repaying loans.

It’s believed the errors occurred over a period of six years.

Last year thousands of AIB customers learned that incorrect records were kept on their loan histories, as overdue loans were marked down as being a 4 weeks late, when in fact they may have been only overdue a week.

Harvard School study says breakfast every day can keep the doctor away

   

The well known benefits of eating a good breakfast are endless, from its metabolism-boosting powers to staving off mid-morning hunger pangs.

But recent research added a new factor to the mix, when it was found that men who regularly skipped breakfast had a 27% higher risk of heart attack or death from coronary heart disease than those who routinely ate a morning meal. 

The study, by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in the USA, is the first of its kind to indicate a direct link between the two, and found that breakfast-skippers were generally hungrier later in the day and ate more food at night, perhaps leading to metabolic changes and heart disease.

It followed 26,902 men aged 45-82 over a 16-year period and even after accounting for diet, physical activity, smoking and other lifestyle factors, the association between skipping breakfast and heart disease persisted.

Lead author Dr Leah Cahill, a research fellow at HSPH, suggests: “Skipping breakfast may lead to one or more risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, which may in turn lead to a heart attack over time.”

Cahill says the research team expects the results to apply to women as well, and they currently have a similar study with females under way.

Daniel McCartney, a lecturer in dietetics at DIT says: “Breakfast kick-starts the metabolism and wakes up the body.

“A high-fibre cereal will also slow absorption of sugar from the gut. Insoluble fibre — found in cereals such as Weetabix and All Bran and in bananas — can fill you until lunch time.

Dietitian Victoria Taylor suggests wholegrain toast or cereals like porridge with low-fat milk are a good way to start the day.

“Try a sliced banana or dried fruit on top and you’ll be on your way to five-a-day before you’ve even left the house,” she adds.

“A healthy and filling breakfast can make that mid-morning biscuit less tempting, as well as giving you another opportunity to widen the variety of foods in your diet.”

Healthy options include the following: nPorridge made with semi-skimmed milk topped with a selection of dried fruits. Oats are a good source of insoluble fibre.

* Muesli, fresh fruit and low-fat yoghurt. Added fruit counts towards your five-a-day, and low-fat yoghurt provides calcium and protein.

* Wholegrain breakfast cereal with semi-skimmed milk. Many cereals are fortified with vitamins and minerals.

* Boiled egg with wholemeal toast and low-fat spread. Eggs are a good source of protein, minerals and vitamins A, D and B2. Wholemeal bread contains B vitamins, vitamin E, fibre and a range of minerals.

Perseid meteor shower will help astronomers get a better view of space

  

As sky-watchers marvel at the beauty of the annual Perseid meteor shower — set to peak late Sunday and early Monday — astronomers will be thanking their shooting stars for another reason. Airborne pollution from vaporized meteors is proving crucial for the nextgeneration of super-sharp snapshots of exotic moons and distant galaxies.

Pollution of any kind is usually bad NEWS for telescopes, which thrive on clear skies. But shooting stars — flaming bits of debris from comets — leave behind traces of an element astronomers are harnessing to sharpen the focus of their telescopes.

That element is sodium. Traces of it waft in a band encircling the Earth about 55 miles above ground. American astronomer Vesto Slipher of Arizona discovered this sodium layer in 1929, but only recently have astronomers found a use for it — by zapping it with lasers.

“We can excite the sodium [with a laser] and make an artificial star,” said Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory, a multinational consortium that operates telescopes in Hawaii and Chile.

Sensors watching these artificial “guide stars” see them twinkle — the effect of atmospheric turbulence. This wavy air usually renders distant targets fuzzy. But by watching the guide star, sophisticated computers on the ground can calculate the turbulence and send that data to the telescope. Sophisticated mirrors in the telescope then deform hundreds of times per second to compensate for the wavy air.

It’s like adding a pair of glasses with rapidly changing prescriptions to the telescope.

This technique — adaptive optics — has been called the biggest advance in ground-based astronomy since Galileo’s first telescope some 400 years ago. “You get better resolution from the ground than you can from space,” Trujillo said.

Astronomers began to tinker with crude adaptive optics in the 1950s. But the technology did not mature until the military became interested in artificial guide stars in the 1980s, said Claire Max, director of the center for adaptive optics at the University of California Observatories. “At that point, it was all highly classified,” said Max, who was working at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory at the time. The military wanted to image Soviet satellites, but Max had other ideas: “I said, ‘Astronomical objects move a lot slower that satellites, so I think it will be a great idea for astronomy.’ ”

Max and her colleagues pushed the Defense Department to declassify the technology, which it did in the early 1990s. “There was a famous meeting of the American Astronomical Society when the veil was lifted and everybody heard what the Air Force was doing,” Max said.

The first laser guide-star system came online at the Lick Observatory in 1995. Max used the system to bring Saturn’s moon Titan into focus. A hazy blob sharpened into view, allowing study of the storms raging in the moon’s methane atmosphere.

Earlier this year, the most sophisticated laser guide-star system to date came online at the Gemini South telescope in Chile. The $25 million system sharpens the telescope’s 25-foot mirror onto a wider swath of sky than ever before.

“We’re looking deep into the cores of colliding galaxies now and watching black holes. It’s really fun,” Max said. “You couldn’t see any of the detail if you looked without these systems.”

It took five years to build the Gemini guide-star system, but the experience will aid the next generation of giant telescopes. Laser guide stars will be crucial for maximizing their views.

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Over a third of Ulster Bank customers have arrears and are not paying up

     

Roughly 35% of Ulster Bank’s customers in mortgage arrears are not making any payments, according to the bank’s chief executive, Jim Brown.

“They are not all strategic defaulters, but a reasonable percentage of them would be.” said Mr Brown.

On Thursday, the chief executive of AIB, David Duffy, said that roughly one in five of his customers in arrears were in strategic default.

But whereas AIB saw an increase in mortgage arrears over the second quarter of this year, Ulster Bank reported a decrease in mortgage arrears every month over the past year.

Ulster Bank will try to re-engage with customers who are not paying their mortgages, but if they refuse then the bank would start legal proceedings with aview to repossessing the house, added Mr Brown.

The wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland reported €450m in total income for the first six months of the year and an operating profit of €174m before impairment charges.

However, an impairment charge of €503m — which was down from €717m for the first six months of 2012 — pushed the bank into an operating loss of €329m.

The net interest margin was 1.85%. Mr Brown said the target net interest margin was 2.5%-3%.

There was a total loanbook of €32.9bn at the end of June and loan impairment provisions of €4.4bn at the same date. The loan to deposit ratio was 123%.

Mr Brown welcomed recent legislative changes, such as the new code of conduct on mortgage arrears and the repeal of the Dunne judgment, which made it easier for banks to repossess homes. He would like a credit bureau set up over the medium term.

RBS has had to pump roughly £14.5bn into Ulster Bank since the property sector collapsed in 2008.

There has been speculation about the future of the bank since last June when the British chancellor raised the possibility of splitting RBS into a good bank and bad bank, with Ulster Bank going into the bad bank.

David Monagan writer resigns after wrongly calling the Irish President MD Higgins a homosexual

    

David Monagan quit Forbes after wrongly reporting that Ireland’s president Michael D. Higgins is an “acknowledged homosexual.”

As iMedia-Ethics previously reported, Monagan, an American writer living in Ireland, made the error in a July 23 article about Samantha Power.  Forbes unpublished the article and replaced it with an Editor’s Note and Correction apologizing to Higgins.

Monagan responded to iMedia-Ethics’ inquiry about the error and pointed us to his article on the mistake for theIrish Independent.  In that opinion article for the Irish Independent, Monagan announced his resignation and offered some background on how his mistake happened.

Monagan explained that he confused Higgins — who Monagan said he voted for — with one of Higgins’ opponents in the race for president, David Norris — who is openly gay.  Monagan attributed his error to working too quickly:

“In a rush to get a complex and heavily researched story out about something altogether different – in this case, Samantha Power, the Dublin-born American ambassador nominee to the UN – I, in a last-minute addition, pasted in two erroneous words – ‘acknowledged homosexual’ – about the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, that pertained in fact not to him but his electoral rival for the job two years ago, David Norris.”

Monagan apparently didn’t do a final fact check of his article. “I hit the ‘post’ button without that last, last review critical to my lifelong trade,” according to Monagan. “And apparently, not one person at Forbes bothered a look as the post went global.”

While Monagan accepted responsibility for the “whopper,” he noted that under his agreement with Forbes, any errors had to be his own. “My contract warned that mistakes were my problem alone legally, and when the journalistic equivalent of a firestorm hit, Forbes could not even find my phone number,” he commented.

Monagan elaborated on his concerns with the state of onlinejournalism and the lack of editing, specifically in his work for Forbes.  “Generally, there are no senior editors to ask any questions about what we report, no junior sub editors to screen the article before it goes live, and certainly no fact checkers – at least not until the damage is already done,” Monagan said of writing for Forbes.

Detailing his writing agreement with Forbes, Monagan said he had to write “four original articles about Ireland each month for a base fee of $200″ and occasional small increases for articles with lots of hits or any “repeat viewer.”

But, when it all evened out, Monagan said he didn’t make very much money at all based on the average of ten hours spent per article.

In his email to iMediaEthics, Monagan also included a link to a Guardian interview with Forbes’ Lewis DVorkin about how Forbes works with its contributor content. In that April 2013 article, the Guardian reported thatForbes has “1,000 contributors” who “self-publish” and “are paid according to the size of the audience they attract.”

Chinese hoteliers pay €20m for Cork’s Fota Island Resort

 

Resort developed by Fleming Group for €90m sold on behalf of Nama

The Fota Island Resort in Cork Harbour, built by Irish developer John Fleming at cost of over €90 million has been sold on behalf of Nama to a Chinese hotelier family for an estimated €20 million.

The Fota Island Resort in Cork Harbour, built by Irish developer John Fleming at cost of over €90 million, has been sold on behalf of Nama to a Chinese hotelier family for an estimated €20 million.

Selling agents, Colliers International in conjunction with Cork auctioneer, Coholan Downing have confirmed that the resort comprising a hotel, golf courses and holiday lodges set on 500 acres, has been purchased by the Kang family.

Colliers International declined to say what price the Kang family had paid for the resort which was put on the market by receiver PriceWaterhouseCooper on behalf of Nama but informed sources confirmed that the resort achieved its guide price of €20million.

The successful bid was made on behalf of the Kang family by chartered accountants, O’Connor Pyne & Co Ltd of Ballincollig who confirmed the purchase of Fota Island Resort in a statement issued yesterday afternoon.

“The family confirm that the business will trade as normal with all commitments, such as weddings and corporate bookings being honoured. They look forward to the continuation of the successful relationship between the hotel and the golf club,” said O’Connor Pyne.

Conor Pyne of O’Connor Pyne told The Irish Times that the Kang family were familiar with Fota Island Resort from a number of visits over the past few years and were very pleased with the purchase which represents their first investment in Europe.

“As a family, they are very experienced in the hotel business with two five star hotels in Shanghai and Beijing and they have many years of experience in the sector – they weren’t involved in any previous bids for Fota so they’re obviously very pleased with the outcome.”

Marcus Magnier of Colliers International said the purchase of Fota Island Resort by the Kang family was a major vote of confidence in the Cork economy and was good news for the resort which employs over 200 people between fulltime and part time staff.

“It’s a real vote of confidence in the Cork economy – they will be undertaking work at the hotel including a certain amount of refurbishment and upgrading it if that is possible while they also plan to finish out the lodges so it’s good news for Cork,” he said.

Fota Island Resort was developed by the Fleming Group in 2006 after John Fleming purchased the bought the original Fota golf course in 2004 from the Killeen Group, owned by the O’Mahony family, the Toyota car distributors.

The Fleming Group proceeded to add two more golf courses to the original course which hosted the Irish Open in both 2001 and 2002 while the group also built the 131 bedroomed hotel complete with a state-of-the-art leisure centre and spa with a 18-metre pool.

In 2006, Mr Fleming invited the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern to official opent the hotel which he signed up-market international chain Sheraton as the operator but when Nama took over Fleming Group loans in 2010, PriceWaterhouse Cooper was appointed as receiver.

The Irish Banking System and what do we need to know and where should it go from here?

 

Richard Curran (above) recently gave a talk on the banking crisis to students at the MacGill Summer School in Donegal. This is a full transcript of the presentation.

Good to be in Donegal as we discuss such an eagerly awaited event. A moment in history that is approaching that will give us all poise to reflect and catch our breath… Not the 1916 centenary anniversary but the Donegal match against Mayo on Saturday!

It is a sign of how far we have fallen that at a conference about ‘how stands the republic’ – we end up talking about banks.  But they are an important part of our recent past, our present and sadly our future…. for a while anyway. It will be a sign of achievement when we can have an important discussion about our country that doesn’t involve the topic of banks.  That will be a good day – and a good for the banks also.

It is also interesting to talk about where stands the republic ahead of our exit from the bailout programme when we are hoping to get the keys of the republic back or at least the cheque book.

In a nutshell what do we need to know about the banking system:

A combination of banks, politicians, regulators and borrowers  contributed to a mess that left a €64 billion citizen bailout of the banking system. At around 40pc of GDP it was probably, for our size, the most expensive state bank bailout of a developed economy ever.

Banks have been taken over by the state. They have shrunk, reduced lending, shipped big losses and tried to stay alive.

There are some signs that they are making progress. Wilbur Ross described his investment in Bank of Ireland his best in the crisis. Bank of Ireland shares are up 80 pc since he made his €300 million investment in 2011.

The other banks are trundling on, trying to rebuild profitability from the wreckage. And progress is being made. But it is slow and still tentative.

However, in trying to get back to making a profit they have seriously wounded their customers by having to hike up standard variable rates on mortgages and now preparing to move on the difficult and sensitive issue of mortgage arrears.

So, just as we may be putting the worst of the crisis behind us, we are entering a final phase which is likely to be very difficult.

Then along comes a man most of us had never heard of before: John Bowe – the head of Treasury at Anglo Irish Bank. The release of the Anglo tapes did a number of things:

- It brought new insight into what was going on inside a bank that cost us €30 bn.

- The tone of the conversations made us cringe and was generally quite sickening.

- It highlighted to us how little we knew about the detail and mechanics of this financial crash that has cost us all so much.

- It reminded us that despite a lot of posturing, the government hadn’t really done anything about holding a major inquiry into the banking crisis.

We have to deal with the past properly in order to expect citizens to move on to the future. This is about fairness and justice, but also about knowledge to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

When the Anglo crisis happened, the citizens of this country needed two things; they needed an open, transparent and independent account of what went wrong – explanations. And they needed to believe that in the event that the law was broken, there would be some kind of accountability or sanction.

In the run up to March 2009 when the Gardai went in the front door of Anglo Irish Bank, various politicians were talking about a High Court inspector being appointed to the bank.  I think that would have been a very useful development.

But once the Gardai went in, they stopped calling for an inspector. Once the Gardai went in, everything went into lock down mode. The Gardai found themselves investigating an enormous, complex set of transactions, with limited resources, outdated legislative back-up and a very heavy burden of proof.

The attempt to satisfy the second of those needs – sanction – restricted the state from being able to satisfy the first need – explanation.

We have had a number of inquiries that have added to our knowledge and understanding of the mistakes that were made – Honohan Report, Regling & Watson Report, Nyberg Report. But they have not added to our understanding of who is to blame and they have not brought us any closer to the issue of sanction. If everybody is to blame, then nobody is to blame.

Of course the boom years generated a culture of greed and misguided invincibility. Take the guy who believed he could leverage up the equity on his home house to develop a portfolio of rental properties built on interest only mortgages, give up his job and never have to work again. I think he needs to ask himself some questions.

But what about the couple who borrowed vast sums for a modest apartment just to get on the property ladder, blinded by and let down by the hype of institutions that should have known better. Who could fault them?

We need a proper banking inquiry. But there are problems. The only show in town is likely to be an Oireachtas Inquiry.

- This will not be able to make findings of fact against individuals.

- It may end up sitting in court as often as sitting hearing evidence.

- It may become too party political.

- It may focus too much on the run-up to the guarantee.

- TDs on committees tend to grand stand and seek headlines for their questions rather than the answers.

As a citizen I do not feel the need to see former bank chief executives on national television being harried for the sake of headlines. But, I do want to be able to read their explanations and their account of what happened, delivered by them in the face of informed and tough questioning. I want to know the version of events of the main players and the not so main players.

I would like to hear Michael Fingleton’s explanation of what went on in Irish Nationwide for example. But I would also like to hear or read Patrick Neary’s explanation about what went on inside Irish Nationwide and why the regulator was so ineffectual.

But there are others who have a contribution to make. I would love to hear what non-executive directors of Irish banks have to say about what it was really like on the board of one of those lenders at that time.

I have spoken to some former non-executive directors privately who tell me their bank lost billions without breaching a single law, or code or rule. Perhaps they have good explanations for how all of this happened.

I read an article a few years ago by economist Jim O’Leary in The Irish Times based on a paper he presented to the MacGill Summer School, about what it was like on the board of AIB. I interviewed Con Power, a former non-executive director of Irish Nationwide about his experiences. Dermot Gleeson, former chairman of AIB also delivered a paper at MacGill some years back. These are the only public accounts I can find where non-executive directors described how things really worked. I found them informative, interesting and challenging.

Were the board of Anglo puppets for Sean FitzPatrick and David Drumm? We don’t know. The Anglo tapes suggest they weren’t. Interestingly they make a few references where Drumm is anxious about the difficult questions the non-executive directors would ask about certain things.

We need some kind of banking inquiry. If an Oireachtas one is the last throw of the dice then it should allow for experts who are not Oireachtas members either to chair it, or participate in it, or both. Ideally, I would prefer if it was not an Oireachtas inquiry at all.

We need a broader expertise and a broader perspective.

Now pour a bottle of wine without removing the cork?

       

Coravin a company founded by medical device inventor Greg Lambrecht, has introduced a game changing gadget for preserving wine that allows you to pour a glass of wine without ever removing the cork — and without oxygen ever touching the wine.

A thin, hollow needle is inserted through the cork to extract the wine. As it’s poured out, it’s replaced with inert argon gas from a small, neat canister so that oxygen never touches the wine. Remove the needle and the cork reseals itself. Nifty, yes? But it is $299.

For a room temperature bottle, that sealing happens right away. A cork from a chilled bottle may take a minute or two longer. Meanwhile, the presence of the argon gas means the wine left in the bottle will continue to evolve as it would have naturally. It also means you can return to that same bottle six months or five years later to enjoy another glass.

Obviously, at that price, the system isn’t for the casual wine drinker but for wine aficionados who have serious cellars and not many friends with whom to share important bottles. Personally, I can’t imagine any bottle lasting around my household for more than an hour or two after it’s uncorked.

There are those, however, who love wine, but have a spouseor partner who doesn’t drink. Now, instead of hesitating to open a good bottle of wine, knowing they won’t finish it, it’s possible to enjoy a glass of Sine Qua Non or Guigal Côte Rôtie and save the rest of the bottle for another week — or another year.

Think of the other possibilities. For a fancy dinner for two at home, you can open a different bottle of great wine with each course and know whatever’s left in the bottle won’t be wasted. Restaurants will be able to open important bottles without worrying whether they’ll sell the whole bottle that night.

Coravin’s inventor Lambrecht came up with the idea when his wife became pregnant with their second child and wasn’t drinking. “Like a lot of people, I wanted a glass of great wine, but didn’t want to open a bottle.” He tried all the wine preservation devices but ultimately, he says, “they all required removing the cork, and once that’s removed the wine is exposed to oxidation. I realized that if I could leave the cork in place and get out only the wine needed for that moment, the cork could continue to do the preservation work it’s been doing since the 17th century.”

And so for the past 14 years he’s built prototype after prototype, experimenting with different needles, different inert gases, different wines and every other variable. He’s conducted countless blind tastings to find out whether the wine had changed at all after he accessed it. He’d go back to the same bottles after a month, three months, six months, a year, even seven years. At first he tasted with fellow wine geeks, but the past few years it’s been with master sommeliers, winemakers, restaurateurs — and wine critic Robert Parker, who is a fan.

Joe Bastianich, partner in the Mozza restaurant group and other Mario Batali projects, was one of the first restaurateurs to try Coravin. Now he’s an investor and spokesman for the project: “It’s really a game changer for the entire wine industry. All of a sudden you can taste any bottle in your cellar without pulling the cork. It will change the way people treat their cellars and the way restaurants serve wine.”

Bastianich has been using the system every night at Del Posto and Otto in New York for a year now. At Del Posto, wines by the glass start at $35 and go up to $400 — the latter, a 1999 Jacobo Conterno “Monfortino” Barolo which goes for $1,800 a bottle.

With this device, wine by the glass service looks very similar to bottle service. The server brings the bottle to the table and without pulling the cork, pours out a glass of wine. Expect to see more restaurants, including Osteria Mozza, using Coravin in future.

Coravin 100 with stand and two pressurized Coravin capsules costs $299 ($279 without the capsules). Capsules, which allow access up to 15 glasses of wines, are $10.95 each. Buy six for $56.95, bringing the price for each to just over $8. However, federal regulations prohibit air travel with them. Get this, though, “If you plan to travel, we will safely ship your Coravin Capsules directly to your destination.”

Irish athlete pays tribute to donor after winning GOLD at transplant games

  
Ireland’s first liver transplant recipient has now won a total of four medals at the World Transplant Games in South Africa.

The Carlow man Tony Gartland, 50, secured GOLD in the 5,000m Race-walk event, and Bronze in the 800m race today.

This brings his total medal tally to four – including one gold, one silver and two bronze.

Gartland underwent a liver transplant 20 years ago at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin.

This afternoon, he paid tribute to the hospital – and his donor.

“Yes, I was the first, at St Vincent’s Hospital, in Ireland, 20 years ago,” he said.

“I can’t believe I’m still alive and kicking after all those years, and without their skill and dedication, I wouldn’t be alive today.

“I’d also like to acknowledge my donor and his family. I don’t know who they are, but they’re out there somewhere, and without them I wouldn’t be alive, never mind taking part in the Transplant Games in South Africa.”

World’s first talking robot ‘Kirobo’ astronaut to go into space

 

Scientists in Japan will on Sunday launch the world’s first talking “robot astronaut” into space.

Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor engineer Fuminori Kataoka chats with humanoid robot Kirobo in Tokyo, Kirobo’s name derives from the Japanese words for “hope” and “robot”.

The humanoid robot, named Kirobo, is scheduled to blast into space around sunrise from an island off southern Japan on board a supply ship bound for the International Space Station.

The robot was created as the world’s first talking companion for astronauts, in particular for Koichi Wakata, who will become the firstJapanese commander of ISS when he heads to space later this year.

Kirobo, whose name is derived from the Japanese words for “hope” and “robot”, is the creation of a conglomeration of companies and scientists with the support of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The pint-sized dimensions of the robot – who stands just 13.4 inches tall and weighs 2.2 pounds – belie the sophistication of the cutting edge technology it contains.

Scientists from the University of Tokyo created the robot hardware and movement, Toyota Motor Corp was behind the voice recognition technology while conversation content was created by Dentsu the advertising agency.

The end result is a small monochrome robot with large round eyes and red boots possessing an ability to converse in Japanese, shake hands, stand up on its own and adapt to a zero-gravity environment.

On board the ISS, Kirobo will engage in the first human-robot conversation in space as part of an experiment in order to determine whether robots can potentially be of assistance to humans on missions by communicating directly with them.

Unveiled by its creators late last month, the robot appeared before gathered media and declared: “This may look a small step, but it will be a big stride as a robot.”

Kirobo, whose missions will also include relaying messages from control rooms to astronauts, has a twin robot called Mirata who will remain grounded in Japan, monitoring any problems encountered in space.