Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Thursday

ECB surprise & hawkish move to cut basic interest rate to a record 0.25%

 

Another ECB rate cut won’t revive the Continent’s growth.

The European Central Bank turned heads by cutting its benchmark interest rates by 0.25 percentage points on Thursday, though calling it a dovish move would imply that the ECB has been hawkish. The main refinancing rate sat at 0.5% for six months before this week.

The best argument for a rate cut is that euro-zone inflation has been falling all year and came in below 1% in October. The central bank’s sole mandate is price stability, which means preventing excessive price changes in both directions. ECB President Mario Draghi made clear Thursday that the lower inflation outlook was the most important calculation behind the rate cut. The central banker has refused to pretend that a 25-basis-point cut in banks’ refinancing rate is the difference between euro-zone salvation and damnation, which can’t be said of some commentators.

Mr. Draghi also dismissed fears that low inflation is about to turn into a deflationary spiral. Not long ago, moderately improved business surveys were supposed to presage a strong European revival. Now, “dangerously low” inflation is said to threaten the recovery.

As Mr. Draghi pointed out, recent low inflation is due in large part to stable food prices and falling energy prices, as well as the effect of previous VAT increases dropping out of the data. But even a proper, prolonged dose of low inflation wouldn’t be the worst thing for Europe.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi Bloomberg

Inflation has been falling most in euro-zone countries where wages have been falling most, which is good for real household income and consumption in those countries. The one euro country experiencing out-and-out deflation is Greece, where relative price adjustment has been a stated goal of crisis resolution.

A weaker euro will be a boon for German exports, which the U.S. Treasury and others blame for holding back euro-zone recovery. The new government in Germany isn’t about to open its spending floodgates, which is what European Keynesians are really demanding when they complain about insufficient German “demand.” The better complaint is that Berlin won’t cut taxes, which would lift German growth and thus its demand for other countries’ exports.

Lower interest rates and more generous central-bank liquidity will also help unfreeze credit in the European periphery. Funding conditions have been looking better of late for euro-zone banks, but those banks still aren’t lending to the real economy. Easier money will induce some banks to lower their lending rates. But actual improvement in the growth prospects of countries like Italy and Spain would do more to get credit flowing again.

This goes to the bigger point about Europe’s recovery, which is that it is not and has never been in the central bank’s hands. Mr. Draghi reiterated on Thursday that fiscal, labor-market and other reforms are the real way out of the euro crisis.

The danger for many years has been that easy money would remove the pressure on governments to use pro-growth policies to revitalize their economies. As the ECB’s rates approach the zero lower bound, the temptation will be to try “unconventional” monetary policy in the form of more asset purchases. Mr. Draghi’s challenge is to keep his sights on price stability when all about him are clamoring for more.

Josephine Feehily fails to back down on property tax payment deadline & methods

 

Revenue chairwoman Josephine Feehily faces Oireachtas Finance Committee to explain collection of household tax

Revenue Commissioners chairwoman Josephine Feehily arriving at the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform sitting today to discuss issues around the payment of Local Property Tax.

The chairwoman of the Revenue Commissioners Josephine Feehily has stood over the decision to deduct credit and card payments this month for the 2014 property tax on the basis that there are significant risks involved in retaining card details.

Ms Feehily appeared before the Oireachtas Finance Committee this afternoon to explain the approach of Revenue to the collection of the tax, which was first introduced in July this year.

There has been widespread public criticism that taxpayers paying by plastic card have had to pay the 2013 tax and the 2014 tax within one year.

Answering questions from TDs and Senators at a well-attended meeting, Ms Feehily consistently said the retention of credit and debit card data was high-risk compared to the other methods of collection, in terms of security.

Retaining such information would present difficulties when it came to compliance with the Data Protection Act, she said.

The responsibilities of Revenue was to collect taxes in the State in the most efficient and secure fashion, she continued, strongly indicating that Revenue would prefer homeowners to pay using other methods which would allow them to pay in 2014 rather than in November this year. These include a single debit authority (a once-off deduction from a bank account on March 21st next year), or weekly or monthly salary deductions or direct debit payments, which are paid across the entire year.

While insisting there would be no concession in relation to credit or debit cards for 2014, Ms Fehily did say the Revenue would be willing to look at the situation again in advance of the 2015 tax. Nonetheless, she said she could not give any commitment to change. She emphasised the reluctance of Revenue to retain data from cards.

“I can’t look at it for this year. It’s not possible,” she said.

“These risks we have to look at very carefully. We would have to create systems and [would have to] charge taxpayers.

“It’s certainly not possible to introduce it this year. I have committed to look at it for next year. If we got into it, there would be costs,” she said.

Ms Feehily revealed that some 205,000 householders out of 988,000 taxpayers who paid in a single lump payment in 2013 had filed their returns as of today. She said it comprised a compliance rate of 35 per cent, which was very good, as there was still three weeks to go to the online deadline date.

She said there was a definite trend towards taxpayers choosing a single debit authority (money taken from bank accounts on March 21st, 2014) than card payments.

Some 15 per cent of those who had filed already had paid by debit card and a further five per cent by credit card. That total of 20 per cent so far compares to the 53 per cent who chose to pay that method for 2013.

Suggestions were put by committee chairman Ciaran Lynch, Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath and Kieran O’Donnell from Fine Gael that a two-stage mechanism could be set up where taxpayers could indicate card payment as their preferred method by the filing date, and then pay by credit card on or before January 1st, 2014.

Hundreds of Irish homes found with high levels of cancer-causing Radon gas

  

More than 400 homes around the country have been identified with high levels of the cancer causing gas radon in the past 18 months.

According to figures from the Radiological Protection Institute, one home in Tralee, Co Kerry had 26 times the acceptable level.

The institute says that occupants were receiving the equivalent radiation dose of around 18 chest X-rays a day.

Ten other homes, five in Kerry, three in Galway and one each in Clare and Wexford were identified with radon levels more than 10 times the acceptable level.

Critical shortage of nursing homes beds for Ireland’s aging population,

SAYS NURSING HOMES IRELAND CHIEF

 

Calls are being made for the Government to put a strategy in place to deal with our ageing population. 

Nursing Homes Ireland is warning there’s a critical shortfall in long term residential beds – and the Government needs to act.

It says over 4,000 new nursing home beds are required by 2016.

There are currently more than 27,000 elderly people in nursing homes.

CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland Tadhg Daly says that figure is set to increase dramatically over the next decade.

“That’s based on the CSO statistics and also some research by the ESRI,” he said.

“What they’re predicting is that given the aging demographic, and, whole sometimes we talk about over-65s, the real issue for nursing home care is those over 80 and over 85, that is the ‘older old’, and people with more complex medical needs.

“So what it means is that, based on those figures, there will be a significant increase in demand for the care of older persons generally, but specifically in terms of residential care.”

Sharp increase in suicidal farmers calling Irish helpline over financial troubles

 

Financial woes and the fodder shortage has left many farmers in an extremely difficult situation, says suicide prevention charity Console.

INCREASED STRESS HAS led to a massive jump in the number of farmers ringing a special rural helpline over the past six months.

Suicide prevention charity Console said calls to its farm and rural stress helpline increased by over 300 per cent as financial woes and the fodder shortage left many farmers in an extremely difficult situation.

The charity received more than 5,200 phone calls between March and September, compared to just over 1,300 in the previous six months.

“Often callers to the helpline are in great emotional pain and many are on the brink of ending their own lives,” said Console CEO Paul Kelly.

Kelly said that the biggest problems for callers are money worries, rural isolation, and loneliness.

He cited the fodder crisis earlier this year – when farmers began to run out of dried hay and feed for cattle because of the unexpectedly cold and wet winter – as being a major source of worry for many farmers which put a strain on marriages and relationships.

“Farmers are naturally private people, they tend not to talk about their problems but to suffer in silence,” said Kelly.

IF YOU ARE IN A TOUGH SITUATION AND NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT IT, PLEASE TRY THESE CONTACTS HERE:

1. Samaritans 1850 60 90 900 or email jo@samaritans.org
2. Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634
3. Console 1800 201 890
4. Console’s Farm and Rural Stress helpline 1800 742 645
5. Aware 1890 303 302
6. Pieta House 01 601 0000 or email mary@pieta.ie

European Satellite to fall to earth, but nobody is sure where its going to land

  

A European satellite that mapped Earth’s gravitational field in exquisite detail will be pulled down by gravity to its fiery destruction sometime in the next few days.

Where and when it will crash no one knows. It could be almost anywhere on the globe. About 25 to 45 fragments of the one-ton spacecraft are expected to survive all the way to the surface, with the largest perhaps weighing 200 pounds.

It is the latest in a parade of spacecraft falling from the sky in what are worryingly called “uncontrolled entries.” About 100 tons of debris will fall from the sky this year alone. There are, however, no known instances in which anyone has been injured by space debris.

“It’s rather hard to predict where the spacecraft will re-enter and impact,” said Rune Floberghagen, the mission manager for the European Space Agency’s Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer, or GOCE. “Concretely our best engineering prediction is now for a re-entry on Sunday, with a possibility for it slipping into early Monday.”

GOCE (pronounced GO-chay) ran out of propellant last month and has been dropping about 2.5 miles a day. As of Wednesday, it was still 113 miles up as it circled the Earth once every 88 minutes. Its orbit goes almost directly over the poles, and as the planet rotates, almost all places on Earth pass beneath it at some point.

Two years ago, NASA’s decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, tumbling out of control, worried people around the world until it splashed harmlessly in the Pacific. Later that year, the Russian spacecraft Phobos-Grunt launched into orbit, but then malfunctioned. Instead of heading toward Mars, it crashed back to Earth a couple of months later, again falling in the Pacific without incident.

The chances that a chunk of GOCE or any other space debris will injure anyone are tiny, but not zero. Dr. Floberghagen said the debris will endanger about 15 to 20 square yards of the Earth’s surface. “If you compare that to the surface of the planet, it’s a very small number,” he said.

An uncontrolled re-entry was always the planned fate for GOCE, which was launched in March 2009. Unlike most spacecraft, which use thrusters to adjust their orbits, it has a highly efficient propulsion system called an ion engine. Unlike thrusters, the engine can fire continuously to offset atmospheric drag.

That allowed GOCE, with its sleek, airplanelike shape, to maintain a low orbit, just 160 miles up and later 140 miles. From that perch, it made gravity measurements that were much more accurate and detailed than previous ones.

“We can actually map, see geology, in the gravity map,” Dr. Floberghagen said. “This is something that is quite unique, actually.”

For example, by combining GOCE’s gravity measurements of the surfaces of oceans with altitude measurements from other spacecraft, scientists have created global maps of ocean currents.

The data will also help scientists study ice sheets and convection in the Earth’s mantle, and help oil companies figure out where to drill.

While the ion engine was able to keep the spacecraft aloft, its thrust was far too weak — “More or less equal to what you normally exert on a piece of paper when you exhale,” Dr. Floberghagen said — to push the spacecraft to a trajectory that would assure it of ending up in an empty stretch of ocean.

With its propellant tank empty, it is now guided by gravity and air friction. “Quite literally GOCE is now nearly flying like an airplane without an engine, with the upper layer of the atmosphere providing aerodynamic stabilization,” Dr. Floberghagen said.

As it descends into thicker air, the atmospheric drag will increase sharply, and its fall is expected to accelerate in a final plunge sometime between Saturday and Monday.

A day before re-entry, mission managers will be able to narrow the time of the crash within three orbits, Dr. Floberghagen said. GOCE’s instruments continue to operate, providing scientists with detailed data about its final plunge.

In 2008, the United Nations adopted guidelines to reduce the dangers caused by space debris. By then, GOCE had already been designed, but a future mission like it might have additional thrusters for a safer ending.

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.

Donie's Ireland news BLOG Thursday

More than 30% of psychiatrists disagree with the abortion proposal

     

Nearly one in three of the country’s psychiatrists who treat adults is concerned at the government’s proposal to introduce legislation which would allow a pregnant and suicidal have an abortion as treatment.

The 113 psychiatrists have signed a statement saying that legislation, which would allow for abortion as a treatment for threat of suicide, has no basis in medical evidence.

Four leading psychiatrists who carried out the survey were at Leinster House today to meet with TDs and Senators to discuss its findings- sparking yet another potential crisis for the controversial legislation.

There are around 350 psychiatrists in the country and 302 of the doctors were contacted. 14 of the doctors disagreed with the statement.

Their opposition poses a major difficulty for the implementation of the proposed legislation which will rely on psychiatrists to be involved in assessing a woman who is pregnant and seeking an abortion on the grounds of suicide risk.

The government is already facing separate objections to its proposals to have two panels of doctors assess a woman in this situation – the first three would meet her while the second would be consulted for their opinion before a final decision is made.

The four consultants at Leinster House today were Dr Martin Mahon, Connolly Hospital, Dr Bernie McCabe, Navan Hospital, Dr Richelle Kirrane, Connolly Hospitall and Prof Patricia Casey of the Mater Hospital.

Dr McCabe said: “I am not surprised that so many of our colleagues agree that the proposed legislation is flawed. As members of the medical profession, we have a duty to our patients to adopt best practice and an evidence-based approach to everything we do.

“The fact is that there is no evidence that abortion is a treatment for suicidality in pregnancy and may in fact be harmful to women. The Government must take this into account and reconsider its proposals.”

She declined to say what the doctors would do if they are asked to take part in the assessment of a woman after legislation is passed.

She said: “In total, 302 letters were sent to consultant psychiatrists there was over a 40pc response. Doctors were given the option to sign their names or reply anonymously. Almost 90pc of respondents agreed with the statement.

MEANWHILE:

Taoiseach Kenny says ‘no new rights’ will be contained in abortion law

 

KENNY RULES OUT HOLDING ANOTHER REFERENDUM ON ABORTION

Taoiseach Enda Kenny who said today law is not being changed on abortion. He said it was being clarified to deal strictly with the Constitution and with the X case and ‘will do so without bringing any new rights’.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said “no new rights” will be put in place when the Government legislates for limited abortion.

Speaking in Dundalk, Mr Kenny said the clarification that would be introduced would not change the law and would confirm existing rights ensuring that the lives of the mother and the unborn were given the equal status they had under the Constitution.

“The law is not being changed on abortion. The law is being codified and the law when clarified will deal strictly with the Constitution…will deal with the X case and will do so without bringing any new rights here,” he said.

Tensions on abortion law escalate at Fine Gael meeting. Rotunda master says abortion plan is ‘totally impractical’

  Politicians are still not willing to take the hard decisions on abortion

“No woman in Ireland is entitled to by choice have an abortion unless there is a real and substantial risk to her life as distinct from her health…the law is not being changed. No new rights are being inserted here.”

Mr Kenny described drafts of legislation as “meaningless”, when asked if Minister for Health James Reilly had misled people about the content of the proposed law.

“In the preparation of any piece of legislation there are numerous drafts that are always prepared…all of these are meaningless until the Heads of the Bill are actually presented to Government by the sponsoring Minister and approved by Cabinet,” he said.

  He also ruled out a new referendum. “I do not propose to have another referendum.”

A formal Government decision had been taken in December to deal with the ABC case.

Asked about dissent within his party about the Government’s stance, he said everyone would be entitled to have their “full say”.

Speaking after a meeting of the group of Ministers tasked with finding a solution to the stalemate on the draft abortion legislation this morning, Minister of State for Health Alex White said good progress had been made.

He said the legislation that will be brought in “will be quite restrictive in the context of the X case judgment”.

“It will still mean that we have a very restrictive regime in relation to regards the termination of a pregnancy in Ireland.”

“We want to put safeguards into that legislation but we don’t want to put in any kind of excessive or inordinate to the exercise by a woman of what is a constitutional right,” he said.

The ministerial group, which includes the Taoiseach, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, Minister for Health James Reilly, Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton, Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald, was convened for the first time on Tuesday after Cabinet discussions ended in disagreement over the detail of the proposed new law.

Mr White said the Government hoped to bring the Heads of the Bill to Cabinet next Tuesday and was hoping to introduce the legislation before the Dáil summer recess.

This morning consultant psychiatrists briefed Oireachtas members on their concerns about the proposed legislation.

One of the psychiatrists, Dr Bernie McCabe, said there is no medical evidence that would suggest an abortion is a treatment for suicide.

“As members of the medical profession, we have a duty to our patients to adopt best practice and an evidence-based approach to everything we do. The fact is that there is no evidence that abortion is a treatment for suicidality in pregnancy and may in fact be harmful to the woman,” she said.

“The Government must take this into account and reconsider its proposals.”

Meanwhile, some third of over 300 consultant psychiatrists contacted for a survey have supported a statement which outlines concerns with the Government’s proposals to legislate for abortion in limited circumstances.

Some 113 psychiatrists signed a statement rejecting the basis of abortion being a treatment for suicidal ideation in a woman.

The statement said: “We believe that legislation that includes a proposal that an abortion should form part of the treatment for suicidal ideation has no basis in the medical evidence available.”

The statement has also contended that it is inappropriate for the medical profession to be involved in the process.

The initiative came from four Consultant psychiatrists, Jackie Montwill, Martin Mahon, Bernie McCabe and Richelle Kirrane who wrote to all of their psychiatrist colleagues to ascertain if they supported the statement and wished to sign it. Some 14 of their colleagues opposed the statement. The four were among a group of psychiatrists opposed to the legislation who briefed parliamentarians in Leinster House this morning.

Dr Mc Cabe said: “I am not surprised that so many of our colleagues agree that the proposed legislation is flawed.

“As members of the medical profession, we have a duty to our patients to adopt best practice and an evidence-based approach to everything we do. The fact is that there is no evidence that abortion is a treatment for suicidality in pregnancy and may in fact be harmful to women.

Irish Revenue Commissioners claws back €359m from ‘cash business’ audits

    

The Irish Revenue Commissioners revealed yesterday that it took in €359m as a result of audits on companies.

Most of those audits were focused on so-called cash businesses. The construction sector was the leader in that regard, with 1,306 audits yielding about €39.3m, while landlord or rental properties brought in €42m from just 733 audits.

Chairwoman Josephine Feehily added the Revenue was “very active” in investigating tax evasion through offshore accounts. The “Offshore Project” yielded €18m, and more may follow, she said.

“Our investigations have led to the uncovering of two types of cash extraction schemes with a total tax at risk of €198.5m.”

Enquiries are ongoing in 84 companies across the two schemes at the moment.

The Revenue chairwoman warned that “aggressive” tax avoidance schemes posed a “serious threat to the Exchequer and can undermine the entire tax system by negatively influencing taxpayer behaviour”.

By the end of last year, the Revenue was investigating schemes worth a possible €110m in capital gains tax.

Revenue increased its net take last year even as it warned that staff cuts were making it harder than ever for the department to do its job.

Publishing its annual report for 2012, the Revenue said net tax and duty receipts increased 7.1pc to €36.7bn last year. That was the second increase in returns in a row – the first time that has happened since 2007.

The net debt available for collection – which excludes debts that are being disputed or are under insolvency proceedings – fell 10pc to €1.2bn.

The improvements in collection came even as the commissioners saw staff levels fall by 230 during the year to 5,732.

Ms Feehily made clear the fall in staff levels had hurt the department’s ability to enforce tax collection but added that automation of several processes had allowed her team to still be efficient despite this.

Ms Feehily said her team, which focuses on the shadow economy such as tobacco and alcohol, last year drilled down in particular on fuel laundering.

That strategy was a “considerable success”, she said.

Overall, the Revenue seized more than 1.1 million litres of laundered fuel during the year.

Illegal tobacco consumption “is being contained” – with 95.6 million cigarettes seized last year.

Irish property prices down for March,  CSO figures show

   

Nationally residential property prices are were 5.8% lower than in March 2012 

Residential property prices fell 3% in March compared to a year earlier, but they rose slightly in Dublin, new Central Statistics Office figures show.The annual rate of decline in residential property prices has slowed sharply from 16.3% a year ago, but prices are on average 51% below their 2007 peak.The CSO said the March fall of 3% compares with an annual rate of decline of 2.6% in February.

Taken monthly, residential property prices fell by 0.5% in the month of March. This compares with a decrease of 1.5% recorded in February.

Dublin house prices were on average 1.4% higher than a year ago, but Dublin apartment prices were 2.2% lower than in the same month of last year.The CSO noted though that there is a lot of volatitlity in the apartment index, because of the low number of sales.The price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland, excluding Dublin, fell by 0.3% in March compared with a decline of 0.6% in March last year. Prices were 5.8% lower than in March 2012.

The CSO says that overall house prices in Dublin are now 55% lower than at their highest level in early 2007. Apartments in Dublin are 62% lower than they were in March 2007.

Commenting on today’s figures, Davy’s chief economist Conal MacCoill said they suggest that the housing market may have cooled in early 2013 following the expiration of mortgage interest relief.

He said he believes the improvement in affordability will underpin house prices. ”But constrained mortgage lending, and increased supply of repossessed homes, will limit the pace of the recovery,” he added.

Evidence of British countryside’s big cat found

REMAINS OF ‘DEVON BEAST’ REDISCOVERED

 

THE BIG CAT THAT SUPPOSEDLY ROAMS THE DEVON COUNTRYSIDE IN ENGLAND HAS GAINED ALMOST A MYTHICAL STATUS. NOW, RESEARCHERS HAVE DISCOVERED EVIDENCE THAT A CREATURE REALLY DID WANDER THE BRITISH COUNTRYSIDE IN THE EARLY 1900S.

The large cat that supposedly roams the British countryside in England has gained almost a mythical status. It’s on par with the Loch Ness monster, Big Foot and New York City’s sewer alligators. Yet now, researchers have discovered evidence that a large cat really has been wandering the Devon countryside–at least in the early 1900s.

The evidence itself came in the form of a mounted Canadian lynx that was rediscovered in a museum’s underground storeroom. It was actually first mislabeled as a Eurasian lynx, which once roamed the British countryside and became extinct around the 7th century. Extensive study of the specimen revealed that it was the non-native cousin of the creature. More than twice the size of a domestic cat, the Canadian lynx was shot by a landowner in the Devon countryside in the early 1900s after it killed two dogs.

The Canadian lynx is actually a denizen of North America. It lives in four geographically distinct areas in the United States, including the Northeast, the Great Lakes States, the northern Rocky Mountains and the southern Rocky Mountains. It’s generally a solitary animal, hunting and travelling alone; it prefers various forest types, including both young and old. Currently, only about 1,000 lynx exist in the lower 48 states.

So how did a lynx from North America journey across the ocean to the British countryside? It turns out that there was an increasing fashion for exotic-and potentially dangerous-pets at the time. It’s possible that the Canadian lynx actually escaped from its enclosure before it began terrorizing the countryside. After examining the specimen’s bones, researchers were actually able to conclude that the lynx had been kept in captivity long enough to develop severe tooth loss and plaque.

“This Edwardian feral lynx provides concrete evidence that although rare, exotic felids have occasionally been part of the British fauna for more than a century,” said Ross Barnett, lead researcher, in a news release. “The animal remains are significant in representing the first historic big cat from Britain.”

Previously, many believed that wild cats entered the British countryside following the introduction of the 1976 Wild Animals Act. Yet this latest find reveals that wild cats were introduced far earlier, though there’s no evidence to suggest that they have actually been able to breed in the wild. Currently, Britain is without any native big cats.

“There have been enough sightings of exotic big cats which substantially pre-date 1976 to cast doubt on the idea that one piece of legislation made in 1976 explains all releases of these animals in the UK,” said co-author Darren Naish in a news release. “It seems more likely that escapes and releases have occurred throughout history, and that this continual presence of aliens explains the ‘British big cat’ phenomenon.”

Postmortems show dolphins got entangled in fishery gear off Mayo

 

Ministers to examine ways of minimising risks

A pair of dolphins in Killiney Bay. Common dolphins are plentiful in Irish waters but because they feed on fish shoals very close to boats, they are at risk of being accidentally caught.

Postmortems on several dolphins found dead along the Mayo coast in January indicate they had become entangled in fishery gear.

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan expressed concern at the findings and said he had agreed a meeting between his officials and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to see how risks to dolphins could be minimised.

Thirteen common dolphins were found dead along the Mayo coast at Achill Island over one week in January. Most were washed up on Keel Strand, Dookinella and Keem Bay.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group had expressed concern at the unusually high number of dolphins washed up in the same area and said it was unprecedented. TheDepartment of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht said the situation was considered sufficiently unusual to warrant further investigation. It commissioned postmortem examinations on five of the animals and a special veterinarian team carried out the work at the Department of Agriculture’s regional veterinary laboratory in Athlone.

The examinations found evidence consistent with entanglement in fishing gear apparent in each animal and all postmortem findings suggested the dolphins were accidentally caught up by trawl-type fishery gear.

Common dolphins are plentiful in Irish waters but because they feed on fish shoals very close to boats, they are at risk of being accidentally caught.

Mr Deenihan pointed out that dolphins were subject to strict protection under national and international legislation. “I am concerned by any killing of these species, even where accidental,” he said.

“A meeting has been agreed between my officials and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to examine what further actions may be taken to minimise the risks to dolphins,” he said

Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney said he shared Mr Deenihan’s concern about the high number of dolphin deaths. He said many Irish and European fleets operated in an area that was intensely fished and it was not possible to say which of the fleets were involved in the incident.

“The results of these postmortems certainly remind us of the need to further our efforts to reduce incidental by-catch to the lowest possible level across all EU and third country fleets fishing in waters around Ireland,” he said.