Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Tanaiste Burton has a go at ‘excessively greedy’ landlords

Consistently increasing rents

     

Labour Leader and Tanaiste Joan Burton TD

Tánaiste Joan Burton has hit out at “excessively greedy” landlords who she says are consistently looking to increase rent prices.

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Ms Burton also claimed that tenants have been asked to leave properties by landlords whose children are returning from abroad.

The Labour Party leader was responding to accusations by Fianna Fáil that the Government to failing to address the housing crisis.

Ms Burton said 65,000 people have been provided with good housing through the rent supplement scheme.

And she rounded on some landlords who she says are consistently looking for more money from tenants.

“They are excessively greedy and they are looking for more and more money every couple of months to a scale that is not justified on economic ground,” Ms Burton said during ‘Leaders’ Questions’.

But the Dáil debate turned angry after a Sinn Féin deputy accused Ms Burton of speaking “waffle”

Ms Burton hit back and said Sinn Féin is guilty of “cynicism”.

Fianna Fail finance spokesperson Michael McGrath said people are being driven into homelessness and deserve to hear solutions.

He said in his own constituency of Cork South Central, the community welfare officer is failing to assist families because of the caps on rent supplement.

Mick Wallace TD alleges €45m ‘fixers’ fees were paid in Nama deal

Claims Cerberus looked to sell loans back to developers before they even bought portfolio

      

Independent TD Mick Wallace has made further allegations under Dáil privilege about the largest property sale in Irish history.

Independent TD Mick Wallace has made further allegations under Dáil privilege about the largest property sale in Irish history.

He claimed that €45 million in “fixers’ fees” had been paid out during the controversial sale to US company Cerberus Capital Management of an 800 property loan portfolio in Northern Ireland by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).

The Wexford TD also claimed Cerberus went to some of the major players before they even bought the portfolio and offered to sell big developers back their own loans for 50 pence in the pound and “they jumped at it”. But they had to pay a fee, he said.

Mr Wallace had revealed in the Dáil before the summer that £7million was lying in an Isle of Man bank account, linked to the Nama sale and intended for ‘fixers’.

In the Dáil on Thursday he said that was “only for openers. €45 million has been paid to fixers”.

He also said “Cerberus have been able to sell loans for double what they paid for them in a very short period of time. Why couldn’t Nama do that?”

He said that Nama sold the loans in what was called ‘Project Eagle’, for approximately 27 pence in the pound. “The missing 73 pence in the pound has been picked up by the taxpayer in the south.”

He said Cerberus was now under criminal investigation in two countries for Project Eagle. “Why haven’t they been disqualified from Project Arrow. How in God’s name can ye tolerate that?” he asked Tánaiste Joan Burton.

Mr Wallace said the latest sale portfolio had a par value of €7.2 billion that “Nama is threatening to sell for in the region of €1billlion”. He said 50 per cent of it was residential in the south and it looked like Cerberus was going to buy it.

He also described as “nonsense” claims by Nama that Frank Cushnahan, a member of the agency’s Northern advisory committee, and one of the people lined up to receive a ‘fixer’s fee’, was not privy to sensitive information or anything confidential with regard to Project Eagle.

“It is nonsense for Nama to suggest that the problems are all about the purchase. There are serious problems about the sale of Project Eagle by Nama to Cerberus and it stinks to the high heavens.”

But Ms Burton rejected his calls for a commission of investigation. She insisted that the sale of the northern Ireland portfolio was a Northern Ireland issue and that the police in the North and the UK fraud authorities should be allowed to investigate the matter.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams asked Ms Burton if she had raised the issue with the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach.

“Nama is a national body, this is taxpayers’ money,” he said. “There is enough evidence here to justify a number of investigations.”

Global Irish race to raise funds for charities in Ireland

Virtual baton to be passed between 15 cities worldwide for Irish Run the World event this Saturday

    

The goal of the second annual Irish Run the World event is to raise another $100,000 for Irish charities.

Everyone knows about St Patrick’s Day, or “St Patrick’s month” as it’s known in the US. But what about the other 11 months of the year? Is there room for another global Irish event when the diaspora can come together for a common purpose?

This was the question that I and a group of 150 Ireland FundsYoung Leaders grappled with on a cold January’s afternoon in New York in 2014, when we gathered for our third Global Young Leaders Summit.

I got involved with the Ireland Funds in 2009 in Chicago. I had been living in the US for five years, and was keen to find a way to stay engaged with home while giving something back. I attended Queen’s University in Belfast during the 1990s and saw first-hand the amazing work the Funds did in promoting peace and reconciliation through its philanthropic work, with a wide range of organisations from sports to education, and cross-community initiatives to arts and culture. The Ireland Funds had a Young Leaders programme I was able to get engaged with.

Since 1976, The Worldwide Ireland Funds, founded by Dr Anthony O’Reilly and former US ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, has raised over $500 million (€443 million) for Irish charities. The Funds are active in 12 countries and donors are from every corner of the world. What unites them is a shared connection to Ireland, whether as new emigrants or 4th and 5th generation Irish. The Young Leaders – supporters aged between 25 and 40 – decided it was time to pass the baton to the new generation of Irish living around the world. The answer was the “Irish Run the World” – a global 5km race.

Last year, 11 cities across the globe participated, starting in Sydney with Olympian Sonia O’Sullivan as the race ambassador. The virtual baton was passed to Melbourne, London, Dublin, Boston, New York, Dallas, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Chicago before concluding in San Francisco.

The goal of the Young Leaders was to raise $100,000 for charities in Ireland, which was achieved with the help of global sponsor KPMG, and numerous other city sponsors who backed friends, families and clients who were running.

In Washington DC, we gathered in Georgetown Waterfront Park for a picturesque run along the banks of the Potomac River. After the race, runners took advantage of a gorgeous autumn day to celebrate their achievement.

This year’s run will take place this Saturday September 26th, starting with newcomer Brisbane and connecting 15 cities, including other new entrants Hong Kong, Toronto and Los Angeles. The goal is to raise another $100,000 for Irish charities, while providing a healthy event for Irish people and friends of Ireland to get together under a fun philanthropic banner.

Regardless of the city you are living in or visiting this weekend, whether it be London, Toronto, Chicago or Sydney, you can participate and play your part in raising much-needed donations for Irish charities.

To get involved, donate or run the Irish Run the World, clicktheirelandfunds.org/upcoming-events to take you to your city, and follow #ylglobal5k on Twitter.

Vegetables might be making you fat despite your healthy intentions

  

A study of eating habits over 24 years has turned up the best and worst fruit and veg for a dieter’s dinner plate

Five a day: But some of the fruits and veg we perceive as healthy aren’t doing us any favours

A shock study has revealed that the vegetables which many of us are packing in to make up our healthy diet may actually be making us fat.

It might be no surprise to carb-shunners that potatoes aren’t great news, but academic research has also put sweetcorn on peas on a hitlist of foods to avoid.

The study was conducted by the prestigious Harvard School of Public Health, who have analysed dietary details from more than 130,000 adults in the US.

It shows that potatoes and celery should be binned in favour of blueberries, prunes and cauliflower if you’re watching your waistline.

The study took place over a stretch of 24 years, at four-year intervals, and asked participants about their habits with 131 different foods, including fruit and vegetables, as well as lifestyle choices like exercise and TV viewing.

The findings included news that every extra portion of fruit eaten daily was roughly equal to a pound and a half of weightloss, according to the Daily Mail.

Spud you like: But stay back if you’re watching your waistline

Those who ate sweetcorn has a 2.04lb weight gain, while peas added 1.13lb and potatoes added 0.74lbs.

Good fruits included prunes, apples, pears, strawberries, raisins and grapes, which were regularly eaten in place of desserts and are rich in polyphenols.

These plant compound are thought to alter metabolism and the way the body processes sugar.

Prunes saw a 1.28lb loss, while apples were 1.24lb, and grapes saw a 0.70lb.

  Green food: Research showed peas added peas added 1.13lb in weight

The top vegetable was cauliflower, which is commonly being used to substitute carbohydrates like rice and even pizza dough made by healthy eaters.

Writing about the findings in journal PLOS, researchers said: “Although the magnitude of weight change associated with each increased daily serving was modest, combining an increase of one-to-two servings of vegetables and one-to-two servings of fruits daily would be associated with substantial weight change, especially if projected to the population level.”

But although there was good news for cauli lovers, those taken with sweetcorn, peas and baked, boiled or mashed spuds.

Brown rice and wholemeal bread are offers as good potato swaps.

A black hole that’s 30 times bigger than it should be has left NASA scientists baffled

   

Is it just an anomaly, or will we start seeing more of these galaxies?

Scientists have many ways to measure things around us in the universe, and so they can immediately notice when something doesn’t fit a pattern. A black hole in the galaxy SAGE0536AGN (we know, poetic) has defied all preconceptions about the size of a black hole relative to its galaxy.

SAGE0536AGN was initially discovered with Nasa’s Spitzer Space Telescope in infrared light, and is thought to be at least nine billion years old. It contains within it an incredibly bright object – called an active galactic nucleus – caused by gas being accumulated by a central supermassive black hole. Because of the size of the black hole, its immense gravitational field pulls the gas in at incredible speeds, causing the light to be emitted.

By measuring the speed of the gas moving around the black hole, astronomers at Keele University and the University of Central Lancashire have been able to discern its size. And it was a surprise.

The red and blue in this illustration is similar to a prism – it shows whether the light is moving to or away from us

The mass of the galaxy itself has been calculated at 25 billion times the mass of the sun. But the size of the black hole was calculated at 350 million solar masses – 70 times smaller than the galaxy, but still far bigger than it should be. Thirty times bigger, to be precise.

“Galaxies have a vast mass, and so do the black holes in their cores. This one though is really too big for its boots — it simply shouldn’t be possible for it to be so large,” said Dr Jacco van Loon, an astrophysicist at Keele University and the lead author on the new paper.

So scientists are now pondering whether the black hole has been growing quicker than the galaxy, or whether the galaxy stopped growing prematurely. The galaxy was actually found by accident, so there’s a chance we could find many more like it – but until then we won’t know whether this galaxy really is as strange as it seems, or whether it’s just the first we’ve found of an entirely new breed of galaxy. 

Donie's news Ireland daily Blog Tuesday

Mick Wallace must give up his seat in the Dail as motion of censure threatens

  

When deputies return from their summer holidays next month, the Dail will debate a motion of censure on the independent TD for Wexford, Mick Wallace. No doubt the motion will be adopted.

And no doubt he will ignore the slap on the wrist and continue to sit in the Dail.

But does Deputy Wallace retain the moral right to sit there?

He has admitted that he under-declared €1.4m in VAT in his construction company, now in liquidation. He has made a settlement of €2.1m with the Revenue Commissioners.

He will give up half his Dail salary of €92,000 a year. In theory, the Revenue will be paid off in 87 years. Since the deputy most assuredly will not hold his seat for 87 years, the taxpayers will be at a loss.

Meanwhile, the director of corporate enforcement, Paul Appleby, has said that he does not propose to investigate Mr Wallace’s tax default.

Why not? Among the deputies who would like an answer to this question is Tom Barry, Fine Gael TD for Cork East. He wants a “rational explanation” why the director does not have the power to investigate.

Inquiry or no inquiry, should Mr Wallace resign his Dail seat?

Of course he should. But that is not enough.

Similar activities have gone unpunished in the past.

The members should review the antiquated rules and set better and stricter guidelines for the future.

Pat Rabbitte gives order to Cardinal Brady to stay out of the abortion row

    

The Irish cabinet is set to be rocked by a fresh abortion debate as Ministers today were taking on the head of the Catholic Church Cardinal Brady who has been warned to stay out of the debate.

But as first revealed in the Herald last month the row within Cabinet could be just as contentious as the church-state divide.

This newspaper reported last month how Health Minister James Reilly was warned by his own TDs not to promote an abortion agenda as it would “rip Fine Gael apart”.

Now Laobur’s Communications Minister, Pat Rabbitte, has spoken out in response to Cardinal Sean Brady’s promise of an all-out assault to counter any new abortion legislation.

The Government is expected to legislate on abortion following a 2010 European Court of Human Rights ruling.

But Dr Brady said the Church thinks “a referendum is the only solution” and would vigorously resist any moves to bring in abortion with members of the Church lobbying TDs.

“We would have a media campaign, we would be lobbying public representatives and also hope to write a pastoral letter on this situation,” he said.

“We would want to inform people of the ills of abortion.”

Mr Rabbitte, however, said he was “surprised” when he heard “the cardinal’s reference to lobbying and engaging, canvassing public representatives”.

“I don’t welcome the cardinal promising to engage in the political campaign,” Mr Rabbitte told RTE.

He also said the Government saw no necessity to have a referendum. Mr Rabbitte said he was surprised at the Primate’s reference to lobbying and canvassing politicians.

“I think it would be a retrogressive step to go back to the days of the Catholic Church dictating to elected public representatives how it should address an issue,” he added.

A 14-member group is due to report back to Health Minister James Reilly on the implications of a 2010 European Court of Human Rights ruling on Irish abortion laws.

RSA report gives Sligo a second place in league table of test centre’s pass rates

   

New figures show a significant variation between pass rates at driving test centres around the country.

A report by the Road Safety Authority shows a 28% gap between the highest and lowest ranking test centres, which means your chances of passing the test could depend on where you live.

The unpublished report shows significant variation in pass rates at test centres around the country.

Ennis has the highest pass rate, at almost 68%, with Sligo and Clifden coming in second and third.

However, Kilkenny comes in at the other end of the scale with the lowest pass rate at almost 40%, just after Finglas and Rathgar in Dublin.

The RSA has defended the figures, saying they are in line with other countries and depend on the number of people tested which can vary greatly between test centres.

It also said the introduction of mandatory driving lessons is expected to significantly improve pass rates.

Refusing a job and training offers means a dole cut for 1,275 people

   

Over 1,275 jobless people have had their benefits cut – because they failed to take-up work or training offers.

The Department of Social Protection said today that while there is a right to a payment, there was also a matching responsibility on the unemployed person ‘’to engage’’.

But today the Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed told RTE’s News at One that ‘’penalising those who are unemployed should be a last resort’’.

Spokesperson Bríd O’Brien said the bigger issue facing those who are unemployed was the lack of quality education places.

The Department introduced a measure last April, where jobseeker payments would be cut by €44 a week.

The reduction is for those who refuse to take-up training offers, employment opportunities or job interviews.

Since then, over 1,200 such payments have been reduced.

The highest rate of jobseeker benefit is €188, which can be cut by €44.

Lower rates of benefit face lower, proportional cuts.

The penalty applies only to an individual’s personal jobseeker payments.

No penalty is applied to any additional payments relating to adult or child dependants.

Donie;s Ireland news Blog Friday

A Bertie like and emotional Mick Wallace apologises

‘To the taxman & pledges 50% payback of his TD’s salary’

Wexford Independent Mick Wallace apologised to the Dail over his VAT returns

    

Tax cheat Mick Wallace has pledged to use half his TD’s salary to settle his VAT bill with Revenue.

The Wexford Independent formally apologised for lying to the taxman about money owed by his former construction firm.

“I am taking steps to immediately arrange that half my Dail salary will go towards paying MJ Wallace Ltd’s VAT liabilities with the Revenue,” said the emotional TD as he addressed the Dail.

Mr Wallace said he feels obliged to cover the company’s 2.1 million euro liabilities out of his own pocket as a mark of “solidarity to the Irish citizens”, whom he now works for. He maintained he made an error of judgment when he lied about his VAT bill as the property bubble burst, but stressed his personal finances were always under control.

“The manner in which the VAT was dealt with was, in hindsight, an error of judgment made under pressure at a time when the approach of the banks were changing dramatically and the value of property was dropping sharply,” Mr Wallace went on. “There was never an intention that the money that was owed would not be paid to Revenue and the motive behind the underpayment was to delay payment in order to see out this difficulty.”

Mr Wallace, who earns more than 130,000 euro a year in pay and perks, also admitted he had considered resigning his position, but said he was not a quitter. His actual salary is around 90,000 euro, which would mean he is committed to paying back about 45,000 euro.

The property developer turned politician told Revenue he knowingly under-declared 1.4 million euro in VAT in 2008 and 2009, as tax chiefs were carrying out an audit investigation the 56-year-old said he was aware that his remarks had upset Irish citizens who were struggling due to the dire economic climate.

The usually flamboyant Independent was on the verge of tears as he addressed his colleagues – notably without his trademark pink T-shirt and instead dressed in a more sombre dark blue. He spoke for around 10 minutes, despite being allocated 15 minutes in the chamber.

Mr Wallace had initially distanced himself from the tax bill which piled with penalties and charges, stands at 2.1 million. He stated it was the company’s liability and that as it is now insolvent, could not be paid back to the authorities.

“This was not a cavalier comment, but a statement of fact,” he went on. However,

Cardinal Sean Daly makes an apology for failing the children of Ireland

   

The Catholic Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Seán Brady has asked forgiveness, for himself and on behalf of the church, for failing “the little ones”, and has spoken of the “deep shame” felt as a result.

“May God forgive us for the times when we as individuals and as a church failed to seek out and care for those little ones who were frightened, alone and in pain because someone was abusing them,” he said in a homily at a Mass in the RDS yesterday at the 50th International Eucharistic Congress.

“That we did not always respond to your cries with the concern of the good shepherd is a matter of deep shame. We lament the burdens of the painful memories you carry.

“We pray for healing and peace for those whose suffering continues.”

The cardinal added: “I want to take this opportunity of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress to apologise for the times when some of us were blind to your fear, deaf to your cries and silent in response to your pain.”

Referring to the large granite Healing Stone unveiled at the congress opening ceremony last Sunday, he said: “My prayer is that one day this stone might become a symbol of conversion, healing and hope. I hope it will become a symbol of a church that has learned from the mistakes of the past and strives to become a model for the care and wellbeing of children.

“What this stone represents,” Cardinal Brady said, “what has happened in the church in Ireland and in other places in the world, is a stark warning to all that there can be no passing by on the other side, no room for half-heartedness in our care for the vulnerable and the young.”

The stone would “serve as a reminder of those children and young people who were hurt by a church that first betrayed their trust and then failed to respond adequately to their pain. The words of the Gospel echo in my mind: ‘It is not the will of your Father that any of these little ones should be lost’.”

He said “every moral choice we make, no matter how small, has consequences . . . As Pope Benedict said, ‘our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone’.”

Sympathy offered by Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Ireland

over birth procedure's of Symphysiotomy

   

The institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Ireland has offered its unreserved sympathy to women who have suffered as a result of controversial symphysiotomy operations.

However, the group said the operation appeared at the time to offer a method of safe birth in some cases of obstructed labour in mothers with contracted pelvis.

It said that due to moral beliefs, contraception was ethically unacceptable and illegal, while Caesarean section was considered too risky both for mothers and infants for many years.

The institute’s statement follows the official publication yesterday of a draft report commissioned by the Department of Health on the use of symphysiotomy between 1944 and 1984.

It is estimated that up to 1,500 women underwent symphysiotomies, an operation to widen the pelvis during childbirth, which has since been linked with lifelong health problems among many women such as incontinence, chronic pain and mobility problems.

Support groups such as Patient Focus and Survivors of Symphysiotomy have criticised aspects of the report and say it left out the opinions of women who underwent these procedures.

Patient Focus has recommended that funds from a settlement due as a result of protracted discussions between the State and the Medical Defence Union should be used to provide redress for victims.

“In this way we can finally draw this very sad story to a dignified and just conclusion for all the hurt women and their families,” the group said.

The group Survivors of Symphysiotomy added that the report was an “apologia” for the operation and veiled the fact that it was a discarded and discredited operation until it was “exhumed” in Ireland in the mid-1940s.

The Department of Health yesterday said the report was the first stage in a two-part process and that the views of women and other interested parties would be considered as part of a consultation process over the coming months.

In its statement, the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the operation was an “exceptional and rare intervention” in obstetric practice in Ireland, occurring in fewer than 0.05 per cent of all deliveries between 1940 and 1985.

The group said the persistence of symphysiotomy in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda until 1984 was outside of normal practice. It added that symphysiotomies performed “on the way out” at Caesarean section – or carried out as an elective procedure before labour – were found to be deviations from good practice.

“Symphysiotomy was only valid as a specific response to the clinical problem of mild to moderation obstruction in labour,” it said.

Sales up but profits down at Bord Gais utilities

     

The state owned utility company Bord Gáis will shortly begin seeking a corporate adviser to work on the sale of its energy business, which is likely to go ahead next year.

The group yesterday reported that sales grew 5 per cent to €1.6 billion but profits slipped 15 per cent to €94 million as a result of increased finance and depreciation charges.

Earlier this year the Government earmarked for sale one of the group’s key divisions, Bord Gáis Energy, along with a number of other State assets.

Group finance director Michael G O’Sullivan confirmed yesterday that Bord Gáis will take the first step in recruiting a corporate adviser to work on the sale in the coming weeks.

This will involve advertising for bids from interested parties in the official EU Journal. It is likely to be three to four months before a successful candidate is hired.

Merchant or investment banks or stockbrokers normally act as advisers in corporate sales.

New Era, the agency established to oversee the sale of State assets, will appoint a firm of its own, but Mr O’Sullivan stressed yesterday that whichever organisation Bord Gáis hires will be the lead adviser.

He explained that factors such as directors’ legal obligations and the company’s own knowledge of the market led to a decision that the board would be directly involved in the sale.

Once advisers are hired, it could take between nine and 12 months before a sale goes ahead, which means that a deal is likely to be done at some stage late next year.

Bord Gáis Energy supplies gas and electricity to consumers and businesses and operates a number of electricity generating plants.

The group’s other main division, Bord Gáis Networks, will remain in State ownership as it is considered a strategically important part of its energy infrastructure. It is responsible for the Republic’s natural gas transmission network, operates two interconnectors between Scotland and Ireland through which most of the natural gas used here is transported, and owns infrastructure in Northern Ireland and on the Isle of Man.

The Government recently charged the group with establishing Irish Water, the Republic’s new water utility, which will see it taking over from the local authorities, which are responsible for water services.

Bord Gáis yesterday said it paid a €33 million dividend to the exchequer. The group’s profits before tax slipped 15 per cent to €94 million last year from €123 million in 2010.

The fall in profits was down to an increase in net finance costs from €75 million to €86 million and an increase in depreciation charges from €132 million to €163 million.

The rise in finance costs included an increase in interest payments and debt and a fall in finance income, mainly the interest earned on cash balances.

The group increased the amount of cash held in low-interest, short-term accounts during the year to boost liquidity.

Revenues grew 5 per cent from €1.525 million to €1.6 million on the back of increased sales of electricity.

A million people with Diabetes in UK not getting the all basic 9 point health checks

 

About a million people with diabetes are at an increased risk of stroke, blindness, amputation and heart attacks because they are not getting all the medical checks they should, an NHS audit has found.

Little more than half of diabetes patients in England (54 per cent) are receiving all nine checks, which include assessing blood pressure, blood sugar and the state of their feet. In Wales the figure is 60 per cent.

There are thought to be just over two million people with type one and type two diabetes in England and Wales, according to Diabetes UK.

The National Diabetes Audit, published today (Thursday), found that in almost a quarter of English local health authority areas, less than half of patients were receiving all the checks. It also found those under 55 were less likely to get all their checks than older patients.

The authors concluded that the geographical and age variation “may partly be due to patients not attending appointments but may also reflect the amount of care provision offered in some areas”.

The overall proportion receiving all nine checks in England has gone up slightly, from 51 per cent in 2009/10 to 54 per cent in 2010/11.