Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Monday

FG and Labour have now reached an agreement on Irish water charges

  

WATER NETWORK IS TO GET A €200M UPGRADE OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS, INSET, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT PHIL HOGAN

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan confirmed an agreement has been reached between the Government parties on water charges.

“We have an agreement reached between Fine Gael and Labour in relation to the water reform package and it will be released after the Cabinet meeting tomorrow,” he said at an event in Co Westmeath last night.

The deal will include concessions for those on lower incomes. Ultimately the package will have to be signed off by the regulator, Minster Hogan pointed out. However, he promised a lot of specifics tomorrow.

“We are going to ensure that families are protected, that the lower income people and particularily people on fixed incomes are going to receive the maximum protection.”

Mr Hogan assured the people of Co Roscommon that they would have a proper “much better water quality supply” by the end of 2015.

Hoists and larger beds on standby as morbidly Irish obese expectant mums on the increase

 

One in six expectant mothers are obese and medical staff are struggling to find wheelchairs and beds big enough to cope.

Startling figures also reveal how almost 2% of pregnant women at the Coombe maternity hospital – a total of 150 – last year were classed as ‘morbidly obese’.

Professor Michael Turner from the UCD Centre for Human Reproduction said the figures reflect a nationwide trend of worrying obesity among pregnant women.

“The figures for the Coombe are close to the national rate,” said the Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital.

“We are having difficulty finding beds and wheelchairs that are big enough for morbidly obese women. One in six dads is obese as well.”

Prof Turner said there is a need for specialised equipment such as extra wide wheelchairs, examination couches and beds along with hoists and special delivery beds in Irish maternity units.

50% of Irish employees spend an average of 39 minutes on social media during working day

  

A total of 59% of workers access social media sites during their shift and spend an average of 39 minutes per working day on their own preferred websites.

More than half of employees in Ireland are unable to complete a working day without logging onto their favourite social media networks to check up on their friends’ latest activity.

A total of 59% of workers access social media sites during their shift and spend an average of 39 minutes per working day on their own preferred websites.

The social media and employment report, published today by law firm William Fry, studies the use of social media in the workplace and the measures Irish employers have taken to control the social media phenomenon.

Companies in Ireland have begun to manage their employees’ use of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter among others with 42% of companies saying they have implemented a social media policy. This figure is up from 31 per cent in 2013.

However, only 54% of the employees in these companies have read the company social media policy and less again claim to understand it.

The report claims that the 58% of Irish companies who have yet to publish a social media strategy are leaving themselves and the business open to possible legal issues in relation to social media usage by employees.

One potential problem is the issue of ‘ownership’ in social media.

A staggering 95% of employers have not discussed with their employees the ownership of work-related contacts on their employees’ personal social media accounts. These could be of significant value to the workplace and it isn’t made clear who has right to the contacts if an employee decides to leave the company.

Catherine O’Flynn Partner in William Fry’s Employment & Benefits Department said it is time for Irish companies to realise that social media usage in the workplace is an issue that needs to be dealt with.

“How social media affects the workplace is an issue that employers need to consider and deal with.  Having a social media policy and instilling best social media practice within their organisation is hugely important,” Ms O’Flynn said.

“Litigation in this area is increasing and employers need to be best placed to protect their assets, their brand and their reputation from potential damage.”

FSAI launches new horse meat tests as part of EU-wide strategy

  

No plans to test lamb dishes, in spite of UK findings that other kinds of meat were used in almost a third of samples from takeaways tested by the Food Standards Agency. 

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has begun a fresh round of DNA testing of beef products as part of an EU-wide plan to prevent horse meat adulteration.

  Some 50 samples of burgers, ready meals and other beef products will be checked for horse meat DNA and the results published soon after.

The European Commission said it would publish all results from member states before the end of July.

TESTING FRENZY

In January of last year the FSAI discovered horse meat in beef burgers manufactured here, sparking an EU-wide frenzy of testing which affected most of the continent.

The European Commission then directed EU member states to carry out more than 7,000 tests to detect the presence of equine DNA and veterinary drug phenylbutazone.

Overall, less than 5 per cent of the tested products contained horse DNA and Ireland was one of only five countries where no beef products tested positive for horse DNA. France found more cases of horse meat in beef products, followed by Greece.

About 0.5 per cent of the equine carcasses tested were found to be contaminated with phenylbutazone, or bute. This is an anti-inflammatory painkiller which can be dangerous to humans if ingested in large doses.

In the Irish tests, one sample out of 840 had traces of bute.

As well as conducting the EU tests for horse meat, the UK’sFood Standards Agency is also testing lamb dishes from takeaways following evidence that cheaper meats such as beef, chicken and turkey were being used in lamb dishes.

Not lamb takeaway

Its review of local authority sampling data, from July to December last year found that 43 out of 145 samples of lamb takeaway meals contained meat other than lamb.

Of these, 25 were found to contain only beef. Other meat species identified included chicken and turkey.

Asked if the FSAI would also be testing lamb dishes, a spokeswoman said the authority did not have any plans to do so.

However, she added that it was not the practice of the FSAI to give prior notice of tests as this would alert food fraudsters.

East Antarctica highly vulnerable to massive ice melting process and rising sea levels

   

ICE MELT WILL INEVITABLY LEAD TO THE RISE OF THE SEA LEVEL.

An area of East Antarctica is more vulnerable to thawing than previously believed, which could lead to a massive rise in sea levels.

According to Reuters, an area known as the Wilkes Basin, measuring 600 miles inland, could cause a sea level rise of 10-13 feet if it were to melt as a result of global warming. If a certain “ice plug” melts away, it could lead to a massive ice slide.

“East Antarctica’s Wilkes Basin is like a bottle on a slant,” study lead author Matthias Mengel, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said in a press release. “Once uncorked, it empties out.”

A co-author of the study, fellow Potsdam researcher Anders Levermann said the ice slide would not be stoppable or reversible if it were to begin. The researchers said there will still be time to slow warming and preserve the “ice plug.”

“The full sea-level rise would ultimately be up to 80 times bigger than the initial melting of the ice cork,” Levermann said in the release. “Until recently, only West Antarctica was considered unstable, but now we know that it’s ten times bigger counterpart in the East might also be at risk.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations group of environmentalists and scientists, recently finished an in-depth report on global warming. The report said immediate action needs to be taken to curb manmade greenhouse gases, but droughts, heat waves, large storms and rising sea levels are bound to increase. The study is the first to measure the risk in East Antarctica.

“This is the underlying issue here,” said Mengel. “By emitting more and more greenhouse gases we might trigger responses now that we may not be able to stop in the future.”

A circuit board that is 9,000 times faster than our current computers

AND IT’S BASED ON A HUMAN BRAIN

 

16 chips can simulate 1 million neurons and billions of synaptic connections & $40,000 system could drive prosthetic limbs

Researchers have unveiled a radical new type of computer designed to work like the human brain.

Called Neurogrid, the circuit board can simulate 1 million neurons and billions of synaptic connections.

EXPERTS SAY IT CAN RUN 9,000 TIME FASTER THAN CURRENT COMPUTERS.

Researchers say computers pale in comparison to the brain.

The modest cortex of the mouse, for instance, operates 9,000 times faster than a personal computer simulation of its functions.

Not only is the PC slower, it takes 40,000 times more power to run, write Kwabena Boahen, associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford, in an article for the Proceedings of the IEEE.

‘From a pure energy perspective, the brain is hard to match,’ says Boahen, whose article surveys how “neuromorphic” researchers in the United States and Europe are using silicon and software to build electronic systems that mimic neurons and synapses.

Boahen and his team have developed Neurogrid, a circuit board consisting of 16 custom-designed ‘Neurocore’ chips.

Together these 16 chips can simulate 1 million neurons and billions of synaptic connections.

The team designed these chips with power efficiency in mind. Their strategy was to enable certain synapses to share hardware circuits.

The result was Neurogrid – a device about the size of an iPad that can simulate orders of magnitude more neurons and synapses than other brain mimics on the power it takes to run a tablet computer.

The National Institutes of Health funded development of this million-neuron prototype with a five-year Pioneer Award.

Now Boahen stands ready for the next steps – lowering costs and creating compiler software that would enable engineers and computer scientists with no knowledge of neuroscience to solve problems – such as controlling a humanoid robot – using Neurogrid.

Its speed and low power characteristics make Neurogrid ideal for more than just modeling the human brain.

Boahen is working with other Stanford scientists to develop prosthetic limbs for paralyzed people that would be controlled by a Neurocore-like chip.

‘Right now, you have to know how the brain works to program one of these,’ said Boahen, gesturing at the $40,000 prototype board on the desk of his Stanford office.

HOW IT WORKS

  The Neurogrid circuit board consists of 16 custom-designed ‘Neurocore’ chips.

Together these 16 chips can simulate 1 million neurons and billions of synaptic connections. The team designed these chips with power efficiency in mind.

Their strategy was to enable certain synapses to share hardware circuits.

It currently costs $40,000, but by switching to modern manufacturing processes, they could be made for $400, enabling them to be used to control prosthetic limbs

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Monday

Irish household tax dodgers pay up as Revenue closes in

         

REVENUE CHIEF JOSEPHINE FEEHILY SAID SHE WILL USE A A RANGE OF POWERS TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE.

Irish homeowners who dodged paying the €100 household charge are being flushed out by fears they will be targeted by the taxman.

A flood of household tax protesters are paying up ahead of the first property tax deadline, which falls tomorrow.

The Revenue Commissioners will take over responsibility for collecting both taxes from July 1, and has promised to chase any tax evaders.

In the past week alone, almost 20,000 homeowners have paid the household charge – in a massive surge.

Government sources say the rise in homeowners suddenly paying the household charge is down to the fear of Revenue being on their trail – and the risk of having all their income audited.

Revenue is expected to target those who failed to pay the household charge in the first wave of enforcement.

It will use a database identifying the 1.2 million households who have paid the charge and will cross-reference it with details of those sent property tax demand letters. A comparison of both databases will help identify non-payers.

“Over the last number of weeks there has been a lot of interest in paying up on the household charge arrears,” a government source said.

“The first thing Revenue will look at when they get the list is the people who haven’t paid the household charge. They are putting themselves up in lights if they haven’t paid the household charge.”

Similar to the Revenue’s policy on income tax dodgers, failure to pay the property tax will result in people running the risk of an audit.

They also face the prospect of being hit with hefty late-payment interest of 8pc, additional cash penalties and the possibility of being prosecuted.

In the past week alone, some 19,478 household charge rebels paid up as the arrival of the property tax made them anxious about being caught.

This is almost a three-fold increase on the previous week, when 7,753 paid. Almost 1.2 million households have now paid the tax, or 74pc.

Revenue has a lot more power to enforce payment than the local authorities did under the household charge, and often cites the threat of an audit for taxpayers who fail to file their tax returns on time.

Chairwoman Josephine Feehily said she was confident that 97pc of people would pay the property tax, and will use a range of powers to ensure compliance.

They include taking the tax from PAYE workers’ pay packets, drawing the money through attachment of bank accounts and taking deductions from state payments.

Evaders may also be tracked through power or phone providers, the HSE, or the Private Residential Tenancies Board.

Most of this year is expected to focus on updating the database of compliant households, with enforcement action expected to begin later this year.

Services

Environment Minister Phil Hogan said that some €125.7m has been collected through the household charge, which had been allocated to local authorities to provide essential services.

But he warned that the Revenue Commissioners would chase evaders.

“In the last few years Irish people have had a tough time of it and, in spite of that, nearly 1.2 million people paid the household charge,” he said.

“We are on the road to economic recovery but it is a road that requires difficult decisions. This Government is prepared to take the hard decisions that will get us there.

“The tax base in Ireland will be broadened this year with the introduction of the Local Property Tax and in the long run this will provide local authorities with the ability to raise funding locally and spend it on necessary local services.

“Any liability to the household charge that remains un-discharged on July 1, 2013, shall be treated as a charge of €200 to local property tax that is due and payable on that date.”

A €30 penalty was added to the €100 household charge on January 1 for those who had not paid. This has since increased to €144, and will rise to €145 next month and to €200 from July 1 – the day Revenue takes responsibility for collecting it.

FG confirms changes to abortion Bill are possible

  

TDs and Senators will be allowed to deliberate on ‘small print’ of legislation

Fine Gael has confirmed anti-abortion backbenchers will be able to introduce amendments to proposed legislation, in a move that could set the party on a collision course with Labour.

Fine Gael chairman Charlie Flanagan insisted the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill would not be “rubber-stamped”, with TDs and Senators getting numerous opportunities to “deliberate on the small print” of the law.

However, Labour says it is determined that the Bill will pass through the Oireachtas unamended, with a senior party source firmly rejecting three proposed alterations which some Fine Gael backbenchers are seeking.

These include the introduction of a “gestational cut-off point” after which terminations cannot be performed in cases where the mother is suicidal, along with a “review” of the legislation after 12 months if abortion figures escalate.

A third amendment being sought is legal representation for the unborn child if a woman is granted a termination on grounds of suicide.

No fait accompli
Mr Flanagan said: “There will be an opportunity for amendments. This isn’t just a parliamentary rubber-stamp. I wouldn’t like people to think that this is a fait accompli because it isn’t.

The Oireachtas health committee hearings on the “heads” or broad outline of the Bill begin next week, and once published the legislation must pass through various stages in the Dáil and Seanad.

However, Mr Flanagan stressed the extent to which amendments would be accepted “is one for debate and deliberation”. Taoiseach Enda Kenny said yesterday the “review” proposal would be a matter for discussion at the health committee hearings.

Responding for the first time to the Catholic bishops’ description of the planned law as “morally unacceptable”, Mr Kenny said Ireland was a republic, in which politicians had a “duty and responsibility” to legislate.

“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion here but, as I explained to the cardinal and members of the church, my book is the Constitution and the Constitution is determined by the people,” he said.

The people’s wishes
“We live in a republic and I have a duty and responsibility as head of Government to legislate in respect of what the people’s wishes are.”

Mr Kenny expressed the hope the Government could “bring everybody with us” on this matter, but senior party figures remain concerned about the voting intentions of a small number of deputies.

Minister of State for equality and mental health Kathleen Lynch of Labour said any Government, “either now or in the future” could repeal any piece of legislation.

In response to the bishops’ suggestion that the Bill “appears to impose a duty on Catholic hospitals to provide abortions”, Ms Lynch told RTÉ Radio One’s This Weekprogramme it was “only reasonable” that facilities funded by the State complied with the law of the land.

Mr Kenny said the people’s wishes had been determined and set out by the Supreme Court judgment on the X case. “It is time to bring clarity and certainty to it. ”

Asked if Fine Gael members were concerned about excommunication from the Catholic Church, he said: “I have my own way of speaking to my God.”

A 15 year old boy develops dipstick test for cancer

  

Experts say the pancreatic dipstick stands a chance of becoming the world’s best and cheapest test for the disease.

A 15-year-old US high school student whose uncle died of pancreatic cancer has developed the first test for the disease that could detect tumours before they become too advanced to treat.

Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate for any cancer, which has remained unchanged for 40 years. It is symptomless in its early stages and strikes more than 8 000 people a year in the UK and 45 000 in the US. Four in five patients are inoperable by the time they are diagnosed and fewer than four in 100 live for five years.

Jack Andraka wrote from his home in Maryland to 200 professors seeking laboratory time to develop his idea for a screening test that would be as simple to use as a pregnancy test. The son of a civil engineer and an anaesthetist, he got the idea after researching the problem on the web and coming up with a system.

Of the 200 professors, 199 rejected or ignored him. But Professor Anirban Maitra, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, an expert in the genetics of pancreatic cancer, was intrigued. He invited Jack to come and speak to specialists in the disease who interrogated him for more than an hour.

At the end of the interview, the specialists were sufficiently impressed to allow him space in their laboratory to develop his system. The result was a dipstick paper sensor that detects the level of a protein called mesothelin in the urine (or blood) which is a biomarker for pancreatic cancer.

It is 168 times faster than the existing, inaccurate method of measuring serum tumour markers, more sensitive and, at 5 cents each, cheap. It won the $75 000 (about R680 000) Grand Jury prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair last year. Jack was recently invited to speak at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) in London.

Experts say the pancreatic dipstick stands a chance of becoming the world’s best and cheapest test for the disease – but it will take many years of trials and further development before it can be made commercially available. Several pharmaceutical companies are said to be interested.

Jack was invited by Michelle Obama to the State of the Union address in February, where Barack Obama told the crowd what he had achieved. “Not bad for a guy who is just barely old enough to drive,” the President joked.

When Jack was asked at the RSM meeting whether he was worried that, having sent his idea round to so many experts, somebody else might take it up and develop it, he replied that it would not have mattered because it was for the benefit of humankind. That won him the loudest applause of the day.

Mentor’s view’An honour to have him in my lab’Jack Andraka’s mentor, Professor Anirban Maitra, said: “Jack Andraka is fabulous. I have been delighted and honoured to have him in my lab. He sent me a nice write-up on his lab plans and research, very interesting coming from a 15-year-old boy… I am fortunate to have answered his email.”

Steve Pereira, a member of Pancreatic Cancer UK’s medical advisory board and consultant gastroenterologist at University College Hospital, London, said: “It is very impressive that a 15-year-old can be interested and stimulated to look into an area that is under-researched.

“Mesothelin has been looked at before but the innovation was to develop the test as a dipstick for urine… The excitement is in using new technology to bind an antibody to a dipstick and then use it like a pregnancy test.” – The Independent

RNLI volunteers prove to be Koda the dog's best friend after fall from cliff

   

VOLUNTEER RNLI CREW MEMBERS ABOVE NICK SEARLS AND IAN FITZGERALD WHO RESCUED KODA WHO FELL OFF A CLIFF IN SANDYCOVE, CO CORK

Man’s best friend has learned that a dog’s own best buddy is an RNLI volunteer.

Koda, a pedigree husky, can testify to that fact after owing her life to Cork RNLI volunteers Nick Searls and Ian Fitzgerald

Koda was inspecting the coastline around Sandycove, outside Kinsale, when she got too close to the edge and slipped over the cliff.

The dog landed in water with a strong current that swept her more than 100 metres out to sea despite her desperate struggles to reach the shore.

A jagged reef also meant that her owner, Sally Anne Baggy, couldn’t get close enough to help drag the struggling dog from the water.

Luckily, two Kinsale RNLI volunteers were at the scene within minutes, and realised the danger facing the terrified dog.

Nick Searls dived into the heavy seas and swam over 200 metres to reach the now-floundering animal.

He managed to attach a harness and was able to swim slowly back to shore, dragging the weakened Koda with him.

Nick was then assisted by safety line out of the sea by Ian Fitzgerald.

Koda was immediately taken to a Kinsale vet, who said that, despite being exhausted and shocked, the dog was none the worse for her ordeal.

80% of Irish employees spend 56 minutes of working day on social media

      

46% of employers do not have policy on use of websites such as Twitter and Facebook

The browsing of social media services takes up an average of 56 minutes of the working day for more than 80 per cent of Irish employees, a report issued today claims.

Law firm William Fry, which published the report, said that even though 40 per cent of companies had imposed work-time bans on websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, employees were using their mobiles or other devices to get around the restrictions.

The report claims that 46 per cent of Irish employers do not have a social media policy in place, which the law firm said left businesses open to internal disputes, abuse and potential litigation.

However, William Fry associate Catherine O’Flynn said there was a limited value to placing absolute restrictions on social media use by staff.

“Instead, companies should focus on defining realistic limits for access to social media in the workplace,” she said.

The report is based on a combination of telephone and online polling by market research firm Amárach. A total of 200 companies each employing more than 50 people were surveyed by telephone and 500 employes were surveyed online.

The research found there was little clarity when it came to ownership of work related social media accounts, with confusion over what happens to work contacts when an employee leaves a company.

Just 17 per cent of employers who responded to the survey said they had discussed this matter with their employees.

“As the economy recovers and movement within the job market increases, these issues will arise more frequently,” the report says.

It also warns employers that they could be held liable for acts of bullying, harassment or discrimination carried out by employees on social media sites, even if they were carried out without the consent or knowledge of management.

“It will be helpful to an employer’s defence to show that they took practical steps to prevent the act complained of, by having a social media policy which identifies and requires appropriate employee conduct on social media sites,” the report adds.

Almost three quarters of employers (73 per cent) said they were not concerned that confidential business information might be posted on social media sites by employees.

Some 56 per cent of respondents said they encourage their employees to report negative comments made about their business, but 38 per cent of workers said they would do nothing if they came across negative comments about their employer on social media.

workers said they would do nothing if they came across negative comments about their employer on social media.