Donie's news Ireland daily BLOG update

93% of Irish home owners have paid their property tax

 

Donegal has the lowest level of compliance with payment of the local property tax.

Just 87.1% of property owners have paid up for 2013.

South Dublin has the highest level of compliance, where 94.7% have paid up.

Figures released by the Revenue Commissioners show 1.810m homeowners have paid up for 2013 – an overall compliance rate of 93%.

But the Revenue Commissioners are giving homeowners a final six weeks to pay up their property tax and household charge – to avoid interest and penalties or prosecution the Sheriff being called

The taxman is giving homeowners a final opportunity to bring their local property tax and household charge up to date.

About 100,000 homeowners have not paid up their property tax for 2013, but 460,000 haven’t paid the household charge for 2012.

Revenue is now putting out warning to four types of homeowners who have:

1. not paid 2012 household charge;
2. not filed and paid their 2013 and 2014 local property tax;
3. undervalued their property;
4. claimed an exemption they were not entitled to.

These homeowners have until March 31 to bring the property tax up to date and avoid interest and penalties.

Failing to avail of this opportunity will result in interest being charged, mandatory deduction from wages or hold back a tax clearance certificate.

Revenue can also refer the case to the Sheriff. Prosecution in the courts is also possible.

Trauma of sexual violence is complex and layered

SAYS CEO OF RAPE CRISIS CENTRE

  

Calls for increased training in judicial system following comments in rape sentence. 

A spokesman for the courts service said today that judges did undergo training in relation to rape cases. He was responding to concerns raised by the CEO of the Rape Crisis Centre who said that there was a need for judges to learn more about the impact of beliefs and attitudes which blame and punish victims of sexual violence.

Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop was speaking after the sentencing in a rape case in which the judge said he did not believe the victim had suffered a “profound psychological effect”.

Mr Justice Barry White sentenced Thomas Egan (47) from Kilmihil, Co Clare to 7 ½ years earlier this week after he was found guilty of raping a Brazilian woman he asked to clean his home.

On reading the victim impact report, Mr Justice White said: “It strikes me that your victim is more interested in compensation rather than anything else.” He also told Egan, who paid the woman €50 at the time of the offence, that he couldn’t “buy himself out” of a custodial sentence.

Egan, a father of four, was convicted last May by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of raping the woman at a house in Tipperary on July 5th, 2010.

Ms O’Malley-Dunlop believes the victim may have had difficulty in conveying the incident through English. “This was 23-year-old girl, coming from Brazil, so her first language is not English, culturally there will be differences,” said Ms O’Malley-Dunlop.

She added that in Brazil a civil case can run in conjunction with a criminal justice case and that compensation can be talked about very freely which may have caused some confusion to the victim.

“The trauma of sexual violence on a person is very complex and layered,” said Ms O’Malley-Dunlop. “What is seen on the surface can be very misleading, it may not reflect what’s going on underneath.”

“A person might present as being rational and competent, but to the uninformed eye that might look like they’re not affected,” she said.

She added that judges need to know that victims often respond to trauma with “confusion” and “panic responses” when giving evidence or under cross-examination

Ms O’Malley-Dunlop said the the centre has offered to hold education programmes for the judiciary but that no judges have accepted the offer.

The centre has had input into the Garda Síochána training programme for over 15 years and said it has seen real improvement as a result. “Because of their training, it has really helped in terms of people feeling confident in reporting incidents,” said Ms O’Malley-Dunlop.

“It would be very valuable if we had the opportunity to give input into the judicial education programme.”

A spokesman for the courts service has responded to Ms O’Malley-Dunlop’s comments, saying there is ongoing training for judges by the Committee for Judicial Studies, chaired by the Chief Justice. “A wide variety of topics have been covered in judicial training which include legal and personal issues around sexual assault, rape and victims,” he said.

He added that in the past decade there have been many examples of judicial training in this area, saying judges had attended a Dublin Rape Crisis Centre conference on ‘Sexual Abuse and Violence – Responding to Change’.`

New Irish road traffic law to increase penalty points

  

Road Traffic Act introduces roadside drug tests, increased penalty points for speeding and heavy penalties for hit-and-run drivers. 

Motorists convicted of using a mobile phone while driving will receive three penalty points under new legislation enacted today.

Penalty points for the offence will shortly rise from two to three after the Oireachtas enacted the latest Road Traffic Bill in the Seanad.

The Road Traffic (No.2) Act 2013 introduces other measures including roadside drug tests, increased penalty points for speeding and for not wearing seatbelts. The legislation will also allow for unconscious drivers to be tested.

The Bill also creates a new road traffice offence related for so-called ‘clocking’ and introduces tougher penalties for hit and run drivers.

The penalty for tampering with a car’s odometer (turning back the mileage) will be a fine of €2,500 and/or three months in prison.

“This Act focuses predominantly on the human factors in road safety by strengthening and extending the law in key areas. This includes a new category of novice driving licences, higher penalty points in key areas, and the testing of unconscious drivers for intoxication,” Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said today.

“The law on hit-and-run incidents has been tightened, and we have brought in a new offence of tampering with an odometer, commonly known as ‘clocking’ a vehicle. Gardaí will be able to conduct roadside impairment tests for drug driving on motorists.

The new legislation will see the introduction of fines and possible prison sentences for hit-and-run drivers. A person who flees the scene of an incident and does not offer assistance, knowing injury has been caused, will face a fine of €10,000 and up to seven years imprisonment.

In the even of a death resulting from such an incident a fine of €20,000 and/or ten years imprisonment will apply.

Penalty points will be increased for several offences under the Bill.

Speeding will now attract 3 points on payment of fixed charge and 5 on conviction (previously 2 and 4);

Mobile phone use will now attract 3 points on payment of fixed charge and 5 on conviction (previously 2 and 4);

Non-wearing of seatbelts will now attract 3 points on payment of fixed charge and 5 on conviction (previously 2 and 4);

Other offences such as non-display of an NCT certificate, which at present involve a court appearance, will attract 2 points on payment of fixed charge.

Joe Brolly appeals for more organ donations at funeral of Gary Dillon in Sligo

  

Former footballer pays tribute to Gary Dillon RIP, who was a keen supporter of Joe Brolly’s organ donation campaign. 

Joe Brolly: “The system in Ireland in the past year has improved to a great extent. We are now number three in Europe in lung transplantation, when not so long ago we were at the bottom of the list.”

Campaigner Joe Brolly appealed yesterday for more organ donations while he was at the funeral of a young man who featured in his television documentary Perfect Match last year.

Gary Dillon, (28), died at St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin last Friday and was buried in Sligo yesterday. A popular member of Calry/St Joseph’s GAA club in Sligo, he was a keen supporter of the organ donation campaign by Mr Brolly, the GAA commentator and former Derry footballer.

Sadly, Mr Dillon never had the chance to benefit from the double lung-transplant he so badly needed.

CYSTIC FIBROSIS

Mr Brolly, who attended the funeral Mass in St Joseph’s Church, Ballytivnan, Sligo paid tribute to Mr Dillon, who had helped raise the profile of cystic fibrosis sufferers throughout Ireland.

“If we had a proper organ donation system in place in time Gary would have had a very good chance of getting the lungs he needed,” said Mr Brolly.

“The system in Ireland in the past year has improved to a great extent. We are now number three in Europe in lung transplantation, when not so long ago we were at the bottom of the list.

“Sadly, Gary became too ill lately to be admitted on to the transplant list. When he did have opportunities to get on the list it was at a time when the rate of organ donation was much lower, particularly for double lung transplants.”

HOPE

Mr Brolly added that the message should go out for people to think about organ donation after death to give others hope of living.

“Thanks to Gary’s input and support for the campaign, the situation for people currently awaiting surgery is improving all the time.

“There is great hope for the future, but sadly it was too late for Gary. He was a real fighter, a charismatic young man who never allowed himself to get down about his situation.

“He was indefatigable and would accompany me to promotional events with a cylinder of oxygen on his back without one word of complaint.

Early life on Earth did not need lots of oxygen to survive

  

• Sea sponges thrive in water with only 0.5% of present day oxygen levels
• Scientists argue that early primitive life may also have needed little oxygen
• The findings suggest that the rise of animals could have created oxygen-rich oceans, rather than oxygen-rich oceans creating animals

The origin of complex creatures is one of science’s greatest mysteries.

The widely-accepted theory is that complex life evolved because oxygen levels began to rise around 630 million years ago.

But a new study claims that most primitive animals may have flourished in water that contained almost no oxygen.

The findings suggest that the rise of animals could have created oxygen-rich oceans, rather than oxygen-rich oceans creating animals.

Researchers studied the common sea sponge from Kerteminde Fjord in Denmark which they believe are similar to the world’s first animals.

They kept the sponges in an aquarium and slowly removed the oxygen.

Even with 200 times less oxygen than is currently found in the atmosphere, the sponges survived until the end of the study.

‘Our studies suggest that the origin of animals was not prevented by low oxygen levels,’ says Daniel Mills, PhD at the Nordic Center for Earth Evolution at the University of Southern Denmark.

A little over half a billion years ago, the first complex life forms evolved on Earth.

Billions of years before that, life had only consisted of simple single-celled organisms.

The emergence of animals coincided with a significant rise in atmospheric oxygen, and therefore it seemed obvious to link the two events and conclude that the increased oxygen levels had led to the evolution of animals.

‘But nobody has ever tested how much oxygen animals need – at least not to my knowledge.  Therefore we decided to find out’, said Dr Mills.

The living animals that most closely resemble the first animals on Earth are sea sponges.

The species Halichondria panicea lives only a few metres from the University of Southern Denmark’s Marine Biological Research Centre in Kerteminde, and it was here that Dr Mills fished out individuals for his research.

‘When we placed the sponges in our lab, they continued to breathe and grow even when the oxygen levels reached 0.5 per cent of present day atmospheric levels’, Dr Mills said.

Sea sponge Halichondria panicea was used in the experiment at University of Southern Denmark. They kept the sponges in an aquarium and gradually removed the oxygen         +2

Sea sponge Halichondria panicea was used in the experiment at University of Southern Denmark. They kept the sponges in an aquarium and gradually removed the oxygen

This is lower than the oxygen levels we thought were necessary for animal life.

The big question now is: If low oxygen levels did not prevent animals from evolving – then what did?

‘There must have been other ecological and evolutionary mechanisms at play,’ said Dr Mills.

‘Maybe life remained microbial for so long because it took a while to develop the biological machinery required to construct an animal.

‘Perhaps the ancient Earth lacked animals because complex, many-celled bodies are simply hard to evolve.’

The Nordic Center for Earth Evolution has previously shown that oxygen levels have actually risen dramatically at least one time before complex life evolved.

One reason the early oceans were poor in oxygen may have been because they were full of dead microbial matter, which consumes oxygen.

Some geologists now believe early animals like sponges fed on this dead matter, helping to clear the water of it and triggering a rise in oxygen levels.

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG udate

Thousands of Irish homeowners due property tax refunds in legislation error

 

Fianna Fáil blames Government for ‘ramming through legislation’ as problem found with first time buyer clause

Thousands of homeowners are expected to receive refunds on their local property tax from Revenue due to an unclear clause in the legislation.

Thousands of homeowners are expected to receive refunds on their local property tax due to an unclear clause in the legislation.Revenue said today that this move was related to a clause in legislation which was originally intended to give an exemption to some first time buyers on second hand houses up to 2016.

“However, read literally, the exemption benefits any buyer, not just a first time buyer,” Revenue said in a statement today.

The body reviewed the legislation and found that “it did not impose a liability to LPT on a non-first time buyer of a second–hand house.”

“The result is that a person who purchases a second hand house and occupies it as a sole or main residence is entitled to the exemption regardless of the fact that they are not a first time buyer,” it said.

Revenue will write to people “as soon as possible” advising them that they may qualify for an exemption. It has attempted to identify those involved by matching their local property tax data with stamp duty records, it said.

Revenue said the exemption was for first time buyers only had been clear in the notes to the legislation and the explanatory memorandum to the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act. However it said the exemption did not apply “notwithstanding the fact that the intention was clear”.

A Revenue spokeswoman was unable to confirm how many people would be involved but said “ indications are a few thousand will receive refunds”.

Fianna Fáil said the Minister for Finance needed to “clarify” whether the effect of the statement was “that any person — whether they be a first time buyer or not — who buys a second hand home between now and the end of the year for the purpose of using it as their family home will be exempt from the LPT until 2016”.

The error was a result of the Government “ramming legislation through”. Fianna Fáil spokesman on finance Michael McGrath said.

The committee stage debate on the Act was “farcical”, he said. The debate took place on December 18th last year and “so anxious was the government to ram the bill through before Christmas that the committee stage was forced through in a matter of hours. Only 2 of the 159 sections of the Bill were even debated,” he said in a statement.

The Government had to “accept responsiblity” for the mistake, Mr McGrath added.

The announcement comes after a week of widespread public criticism that taxpayers paying by plastic card have had to pay the 2013 tax and the 2014 tax within one year.

On Thursday venue chairwoman of the Revenue Commissioners appeared before the Oireachtas Finance Committee to explain the approach of Revenue to the collection of the tax, which was first introduced in July this year.

She 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.

This week the Revenue Commissioners extended the ‘paper’ filing deadline for the property tax by a week due to the volume of queries it has received.

Confusion had arisen about the methods of payment after Revenue issued letters offering seven different options, some with different payment deadlines.

Skimming devices installed by criminals at ATM machines around Ireland

   

Cash machine users are being warned about a new skimming device being used by a gang of organised criminals.

Reports say that the gang has targeted cash machines in Donegal, Galway, Limerick, Dublin and Cork over the past two months.

It is understood hi-tech card readers have also been wired to in-store ATMs.

People are being reminded to always cover their PIN numbers when using cash machines.

Cyber scams cost Irish people a massive €300m

 

As much as one in five Irish people have lost money to cybercrime, with the losses calculated at up to €300m a new survey has found.

The study comes in the same week as it was feared that the details up to 43,000 loyalty card customers in Ireland could have been compromised by a cyber attack. Infections by computer viruses, credit card security problems and other scams have struck 22pc of people who took part in the new survey carried out by Amarach Research for ESET Ireland, an internet security company.

The survey of 1,000 people found that 9pc – which could represent as many as 314,000 people in the wider population – suffered a financial loss of up to €50. Combined with people who said they lost higher sums, ESET Ireland estimates that as much as €300m could have been lost to the Irish economy due to cyber crime.

A spokesman said: “Everyone knows virus infections occur, cards get abused, scams happen. The prevailing sentiment is still that it’s something that happens rarely and it’s primarily just a nuisance.”

He said that the survey reveals that “it has likely happened to someone you know and it actually costs them money.”

The financial losses incurred are listed as the cost of getting virus-infected computers repaired, having a credit or debit card abused or being the victim of an online scam or target of computer hacking.

The survey found that Connacht and Ulster were the hardest hit provinces with 30pc of respondents saying they had lost cash due to cyber crime, compared to 19pc in Dublin and the rest of Leinster.

According to ESET, 54pc of Irish computer users have suffered a malware infection at some point and its spokesman said that the numbers should “convince people to start taking computer security a bit more seriously”.

HELPLINES

Just this week it emerged that up to 43,000 loyalty card customers who booked getaway breaks could be affected by a security breach.

Credit and debit card details belonging to 39,000 Super Valu customers, 4,368 from Axa Insurance and 50 Stena Line customers may have been compromised following a cyber attack on Co Clare firm Loyaltybuild. The three companies said they are in contact with Loyaltybuild and set up helplines for customers who may be affected.

Loyaltybuild said they are investigating the incident and stressed that CVV (Card Verification Value) numbers – generally needed to complete online transactions – were not stored.

It said that it reported the attack to the Data Protection Commissioner as a precaution and that “Loyaltybuild had no, and indeed still has no, evidence to show that personal data has been compromised”.

ESET advised people to keep anti-virus software updated and not to open suspicious files or suspicious websites.

RSA Insurances launches an independent review of Irish office unit

    

* RSA has suspended 3 executives at Irish business

*Irish central bank checking for regulatory issue

* RSA says no material long-term impact on group

RSA Insurance has commissioned an independent review of its financial and regulatory reporting processes and controls after it suspended three senior executives at its Irish unit, it said on Sunday.

Ireland’s central bank and RSA are investigating a potential regulatory issue after the insurer suspended the Irish unit’s Chief Executive Philip Smith, Chief Financial Officer Rory O’Connor and claims director Peter Burke.

RSA has said it suspended the trio over “issues in the Irish claims and finance functions” identified in a routine internal audit, but neither the company nor Ireland’s central bank has given details of the problems.

RSA said it had appointed auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers to undertake a comprehensive review focusing on financial and regulatory reporting processes and controls within the Irish unit and group oversight and controls. It will also assess the adequacy of the remedial actions being taken and is expected to report back by the end of the year.

“While the investigation is ongoing, I am confident that these issues are isolated to the Irishbusiness,” RSA Chief Executive Simon Lee said.

“No policyholders have been affected and all our Irish businesses continue to operate as normal. Nevertheless, we want to ensure that the actions being taken in Ireland and across the group are correct and that all lessons are learnt.”

RSA is Ireland’s top insurer, offering home, motor and commercial coverage.

The company has injected capital into RSA Insurance Ireland to ensure its solvency ratio was comfortably in excess of 200 percent, the benchmark ratio set by Ireland’s central bank.

Lee said while the problems are serious, they do not have a material long-term impact on the company.

“Our capital position remains robust and we remain committed to our dividend policy which is aligned with market expectations for the full year final 2013 dividend,” he said.

Six top scientists meet to discuss how a cure for AIDS can become a reality

 

SCIENTISTS SAID FOR A CURE TO WORK, IT MUST BE SAFE, SIMPLE AND SCALABLE.

Scientists from six continents attended a meeting to discuss what needed to be done
to bridge the gap between researchers and clinicians so that a cure for AIDS could become a reality.

The conference hosted by the journals Cell and The Lancet brought leading researchers and clinicians together to discuss recent findings that could bring hope to the estimated 35 million people world-wide who live with HIV.

Living with Aids: Timothy Ray Brown, one of a small handful of people to have been successfully cured of HIV addressed the room full of doctors and scientists. Known as the “Berlin Patient, Timothy reflected on the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of his journey toward being cured of HIV.

Timothy Ray Brown said:

I am the first person in the world to be cured of HIV, but I know in my heart I’m not the last.

People around the world tell me my story is about hope… This hope can translate to a cure.

Keynote speaker Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health in the US, began the meeting by suggesting that, for a cure to work,
it must be safe, simple and scalable.

Preventative measures: He said that preventive strategies such as the expansion of HIV testing, circumcision, treatment as

prevention, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission was the best way forward to creating an AIDS-free world.

The possibility of a cure and the hope of a vaccine was discussed at the event.

Nobel Prize winner David Baltimore of the California Institute of Technology noted:

We need a vaccine, but we still don’t have an open road in front of us.

He added that scientists should not follow models of traditional vaccines but, rather, to “think about the extremely exciting observations that have been made about the kinds of antibodies that patients make in response to a long-term HIV infection”.

Vaccine: Speakers examined the various promising avenues toward developing an effective vaccine, including very recent work from Michel Nussenzweig and Dennis Burton on producing monoclonal broadly

Neutralising antibodies in macaques.

Speakers at the event discussed some of the challenges they faced and what can be done for HIV patients who have been living with the disease for many decades.

Speakers said thatas patients age, they are faced with a new set of problems.

Steven Deeks, of the University of California, San Francisco, explains that, for long-term HIV patients, “despite unquestioned success, the risk of developing many morbidities remains higher than expected.”

Other diseases: HIV patients have an increased risk of developing cancer, cardiovascular disease and liver disease,

compared to the general population. Members of the audience at the conference who are living
with HIV noted that mental health concerns should also be prioritised for research and support in the community.

Closing the conference, Nobel Laureate Françoise Barré-Sinoussi said:

I’m here as a witness of 30 years of HIV science and translational research… We need to continue the effort of working together if we want to make progress toward a cure.

Climate change very much an uncertain science

 

You don’t have to be a ‘denier’ to question many of the West’s short-sighted policies on renewable energy

GLOBAL WARMING IS A QUINTESSENTIAL PUBLIC-POLICY ISSUE. UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENCE IS CRUCIAL; SO IS UNDERSTANDING THE ECONOMICS

  For many who advocate costly responses to “irrefutable evidence” that the world’s climate faces catastrophe, global warming has become a substitute religion. Increasingly offensive language is used: the most egregious example being the term “denier”. We all know the particular meaning that word has acquired in contemporary parlance. It has been employed in this debate with malice aforethought.

The mantra of “the science is settled” is often invoked, as if there is no room for argument. Scientists are experts in science. Judges are experts in the law. Doctors are skilled at keeping us healthy. And elected politicians are experts at policy-making. It is their job to reflect community attitudes on such matters. Global warming is a quintessential public-policy issue. Understanding the science is crucial; so is understanding the economics.

By 2030, there will be 2.2 billion more middle-class consumers in the world than now – a quarter of the world’s population lifted out of poverty, through economic growth, in less than 20 years. Surely this should appeal to all our moral instincts. So it should be hard to justify anti-global warming policies standing in the way of growth in developing countries.

In the past five years, the dynamic of the debate has shifted from exaggerated acceptance of the worst possible implications of what most climate scientists tell us, towards a more balanced approach. There are a number of reasons for this. The global financial crisis played a decisive role, and the collapse of the Copenhagen Summit, in December 2009, dealt a blow to the cause of a worldwide agreement on global warming.

Countries such as China have watched Western industrialised nations achieve the high per-capita GDP to which they rightly aspire, through energy usages presently condemned as harmful to the environment. What right has the already affluent West to deny them this?

Meanwhile, the leaked emails from the University of East Anglia, the errors over the Himalayan glaciers, and the nakedly political agendas of some of those giving “impartial” scientific advice have degraded the image of the IPCC as the unchallengeable body of scientific experts on global warming. Moreover, technology has altered the parameters of the debate.

The extraction of oil and gas from shale has had a huge impact on the US energy scene. Gas emits 45 per cent less carbon dioxide than coal, and costs far less than wind and solar power. In 2012, US emissions of carbon dioxide dropped to their lowest level in 20 years.

I have always been an agnostic on global warming. I never rejected completely the concerns of many eminent scientists, but history tells me of mankind’s capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. Australia is a resource-rich country, and Australians have now elected a government with a pragmatic attitude on global warming. The high tide of public support for over-zealous action on the issue has passed. My suspicion is that most people in countries like ours have settled into a state of sustained agnosticism on the matter.

Of course, the climate is changing. It always has. There are mixed views about how sustained that warming is and about the relative contributions of mankind and natural causes. The views are anything but mixed about the soaring cost of electricity bills, with a growing consciousness that large subsidies are paid for renewable energy, placing an increasingly heavy burden on the poor.

From this agnostic’s viewpoint some broad conclusions can be drawn. Never accept that all the science is in; remain open to the relevance of new research. Keep a sense of proportion, especially when it comes to generational burden-sharing.

Lord Lawson’s compelling point in his book, An Appeal to Reason, that the present generation should not carry too heavy a burden so that future generations are only 8.4 times better off rather than 9.4 times wealthier, should be heeded by all policy-makers. Renewable energy sources should be used when it makes economic sense to do so. And nuclear energy must be part of the long-term response.

I doubt whether the word “fracking” was widely known, let alone used, five years ago. Yet “the shale revolution” now under way in the United States has the potential to be a game changer. Technology will continue to surprise us.

Donies News Ireland daily BLOG update

Irish Teachers working for €50 a week on Job-Bridge schemes

 

A good few of Irish schools are using the Job-Bridge scheme to hire qualified teachers to work for only €50 a week on top of social welfare payments.

This is despite one of the country’s biggest education unions ordering members not to take jobs in the Government’s controversial internship scheme, amid suggestions that young teachers are being exploited.

Schools struggling with overcrowded classrooms and ever-tightening budgets are turning to the scheme to get the extra staff they need.

New figures show 58 teaching positions were taken up under Job-Bridge. At least 32 of the posts were for primary teachers, who were hired across 17 different counties. There is currently an advertisement for two primary teachers in Claregalway on the Job-Bridge website.

The Government had previously cleared the way for schools to use JobBridge in this way, sparking anger from the INTO union, which says that teachers should be employed either full-time or paid a fair rate for substitution work.

JobBridge offers nine-month internships to unemployed people who get an additional €50 a week from the State on top of their social welfare payments.

INTO had passed a ruling saying primary schools should not recruit teachers under the internship scheme, which it described as “exploitative”.

However, many schools are desperate for extra staff as they face restrictions on the number of teachers they can employ based on the number of pupils in attendance.

The Department of Education has set the pupil-teacher ratio at 28-1 in primary schools, and maintained that figure in the Budget.

Although they cannot employ an extra teacher full-time once they reach this limit, many schools are successfully applying to JobBridge for an additional teacher to tackle overcrowded classrooms.

Fianna Fail education spokesman Charlie McConalogue said the Government had to provide more jobs for desperate young teachers, not only JobBridge placements.

“The answer is not to get young teaching graduates to basically work for free for a year. That’s not fair. They’ve trained for four years and we have to respect their role,” he said.

Sinn Fein education spokesman Jonathan O’Brien said JobBridge allowed the department to get teachers in on the cheap.

“I don’t think it’s right that you give somebody an extra €50 a week to go into a classroom teaching, with all the pressures and strains and responsibilities, and not have a real prospect of full-time employment at the end,” he said.

However, Fine Gael TD Jim Daly, who is a former school principal and INTO member, believes JobBridge is beneficial to teachers and schools.

LANGUISHING: He obtained the latest figures showing dozens of schools ignoring INTO’s directive following a parliamentary question.

Mr Daly said young teachers could gain experience through the scheme, as they would otherwise be languishing on the dole. He has appealed to INTO to lift its threat of sanctions against schools that hire teachers through JobBridge.

Graduates must complete 300 hours of teaching practice within three years to register  as a qualified teacher.

However, Mr Daly said many are unable to get the work experience they need because principals were hiring fully qualified teachers. He said JobBridge provided a foot in the door.

“They can’t break the cycle. JobBridge is a perfect fit, but the INTO’s attitude smacks a little bit of ‘I’m alright Jack, close the door after me’,” he said.

An INTO spokesman disagreed, saying it was impossible for teachers to balance JobBridge with the odd day of more lucrative substitution work.

“What Deputy Daly is essentially saying to young teachers is that they should work for €10 a day,” he said. “That is callous.”

INTO said there was no evidence that hundreds of teachers would jump at the chance to take up a JobBridge internship.

And it added that the opposition to the scheme comes from recently qualified teachers.

Junior education minister Ciaran Cannon urged INTO to reconsider its stance, given that 1,400 new teachers will be recruited in primary and secondary schools next year.

Irish house prices down 2.6% but up in Dublin 12.3% year to September 

 

A two-tier property market is now emerging as prices continue to slide outside the capital

National property prices rose again in September, advancing by 3.6 per cent on an annual basis, up from the 2.8 per cent reported in August. Prices are now growing at their fastest rate since September 2007.

In Dublin, property prices are now 12.3 per cent higher than a year ago, according to CSO’s residential property price index, but the two-tier market continues with prices outside of the capital falling by 2.6 per cent in the year to September.

National property prices rose by 1.8 per cent in September, for the fourth consecutive month, pushing the property index up to 3.6 per cent on an annual basis.

In Dublin, property prices are now 12.3 per cent higher than a year ago, growing by 3.9 per cent in September.

Dublin house prices increased by 4.2 per cent in September, up by 12.2 per cent on September 2012, while apartment prices in the capital also advanced, and are up by 11 per cent on September 2012.

However, the CSO adds the caveat that apartment prices are based on lower transaction levels.

Outside the capital, prices fell  by 0.1 per cent in September, matching August’s decline. On an annual prices, prices outside of Dublin fell by 2.6 per cent in the year to September.

Dublin house prices are now 49 per cent lower than their highest level in early 2007, while apartments are 59 per cent lower.

David McNamara of Davy Stockbrokers says that the “stark divergence” between Dublin and the rest of the country “points to a market currently supported by a lack of supply, with an influx of cash buyers compensating for weak mortgage lending”.

“Evidently, cash buyers are attracted by rising rental values, attractive yields and the current perception of property as undervalued,” he said. Cash buyers accounted for 54 per cent of national transactions in Q2 and a similar split looks likely in Q3 according ot Mr McNamara.

Looking ahead, he expects growth rates in Dublin to start to moderate “as some of the big gains at the tail end of 2012 fall out of the annual comparison”. Outside of the capital, he expects prices to fall further “in many oversupplied regions”.

Dublin house prices are now 49 per cent lower than their highest level in early 2007, while apartments are 59 per cent lower.

Outside of Dublin, the price of residential properties is 48 per cent lower than at their peak in 2007.

IT problems affect production of new Irish driving licences

  

Daniela Reicke (left) Cork, and Aoife Murphy, Blarney, Co. Cork at the launch of the new credit-card sized driving licenses at Government Buildings.

CUSTOMERS IN NORTHWEST MOST AFFECTED BY ISSUES ON FIRST DAY OF OPERATIONS

Operations at the National Driver Licence Service are running normally again after an IT problem left members of the public unable to renew or obtain new licences on what was the first day of the new service.

The service changed today meaning members of the public seeking a new license or a renewal must now visit one of the service’s new centres rather than the motor tax office.

As part of a face-to-face application  process, a photo and signature is captured digitally on plastic licenses.

The glitch affected 12 centres located “predominantly” in the northwest of the country, according to a spokeswoman for the service.

There was also disruption to the customer helpline which was out of service for “a brief period” this morning.

Callers to all 34 national centre offices were affected between 10am and midday – but the spokeswoman said the helpline is now up and running again.

“There have been a few teething issues with the ‘Go Live’ of the new NDLS service today, which is to be expected  with the introduction of a new national service,” said the spokeswoman.

“As soon as the issue was identified remedial action was taken and we can report that the issue has now been fixed .

“We would like to thank the public for their patience today as we introduce  the new National Driver Licence Service and get it bedded in.”

Revenue to seek 2014 Local Property Tax payment from Irish household's by Christmas

  

Irish Revenue is to write to 960,000 property owners

PROPERTY OWNERS WHO OPT TO PAY THE LOCAL PROPERTY TAX FOR 2014 USING A DEBIT CARD, CREDIT CARD OR CHEQUE WILL HAVE TO PAY BY NEXT MONTH, ACCORDING  TO THE REVENUE COMMISSIONERS.

Revenue is to write to 960,000 property owners asking how they intend paying next year’s tax.

People who made a single payment this year are asked to contact Revenue to let them know their preferred payment option for 2014.

Revenue has said 46% of householders paid the tax for 2013 by cheque, cash, credit card or debit card.

They will have to contact  Revenue in the coming weeks.

Those making paper tax returns must select a payment option by 7 November. 

People filling out tax returns online have until 27 November.

Local Property Tax Manager with the Revenue Commissioners Vivienne Dempsey told RTÉ News: “If you are paying at source, so through your wages or your pension, then it will come out on your first payment in January and be spread evenly across the year to December.

“But if you pay by debit card or by credit card, or if you are sending in a cheque, the payment will come out in November.”

Housework and Gardening, can help & boost your Heart Health

Study of Swedish seniors found a reduced death risk of up to 30%

   

ACTIVITIES SUCH AS GARDENING, DO-IT-YOURSELF PROJECTS AND HOUSEWORK MAY BE AS GOOD AS FORMAL EXERCISE WHEN IT COMES TO REDUCING THE RISK FOR HEART ATTACK AND STROKE, SWEDISH RESEARCHERS SAY.

For people 60 and older, just keeping busy with daily activities can reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems by nearly 30 percent and even prolong life, they added.

Being on your feet and active cuts the time spent sitting around, pointed out lead researcher Elin Ekblom-Bak, of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences and the Karolinska Institute, in Stockholm.

“Sitting is mainly replacing time you spend in daily activity and vice versa,” Ekblom-Bak said. A recent study found long periods of sitting actually increased the risk fordiabetes, cardiovascular disease and death, she noted.

“The results of this study showed  that activities of daily life are as important as regular intentional exercise for older adults for cardiovascular health and longevity,” she said.

But that doesn’t mean formal exercise isn’t important. “We saw that those who exercised regularly and that also had a daily physically active life had the lowest risk of all,” Ekblom-Bak explained.

The time people spend exercising, however, is only a small part of the day, which leaves a lot of time for daily activities or sitting, she added.

For the new study, researchers collected data on more than 3,800 men and women in Sweden who were born in 1937 and 1938. Participants were asked about their lifestyle, which included information on their diet, whether they smoked or drank alcohol, and how physically active they were.

The participants were also asked how often they took part in activities, such as gardening, do-it-yourself projects, car maintenance and blackberry picking over the past year. They were also asked about any exercise they did.

To see how heart-healthy they were, the researchers examined the participants and took blood samples to assess levels of fat and sugar. They also checked for high levels of blood-clotting factor, which is linked to a raised heart attack and stroke risk.

During more than 12 years of follow-up, 476 of the participants died from or experienced a first heart attack or stroke, and 383 died from other various causes.

People whose daily activities kept them moving reduced their risk of a heart attack or stroke by 27 percent and the risk of dying from any cause by 30 percent, compared to people who spent the least amount of time on their feet.

“Promoting daily life activities is as important as recommending regular exercise for older adults for cardiovascular health and longevity,” Ekblom-Bak said.

“This is particularly important for older adults as they tend to spend a greater portion of their active day performing non-exercise physical activity, as they often find it difficult to achieve recommended exercise intensity levels,” she said.

The report was published online Oct. 28 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Traditional notions of retirement often don’t support continued physical activity at this stage of life, a U.S. expert said.

“It is almost expected that as we age, we move less,” said Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist and exercise physiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center, in New York City.

“Retirement, a patient told me, is for sitting around, resting and watching TV,” she said. “Unfortunately, sedentary lifestyles now range across all age with the same unhealthy results: increased risk for diseases such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and certain cancers.”

The human body is designed to be moving a good portion of the day, Heller said. “The less one physically moves, the less they are able to move ,” she said.

Regular physical activities such as house cleaning , gardening, lawn care and climbing stairs help keep the body mobile and strong, Heller said.

“You can burn up to six times as much energy per minute when house cleaning as you do when you are sitting still. People of all ages need to be encouraged to get up off the couch and turn off the computer and TV and move,” she said.

Heller said there are simple ways to add more physical activity into the day, such as the following:

• Standing up when talking on the phone.
• Marching in place when watching TV — at least during the commercials.
• Getting up from your desk every hour and doing jumping jacks, knee lifts or knee bends for three to five minutes.
• Climbing a flight of stairs every few hours.
• Vacuuming the house.
• Mopping the floor.

Another expert described the physical fallout of being sedentary.

Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said sitting for too long may have adverse effects including burning fewer calories, and increasing insulin resistance and fats in the blood.

“Greater time spent in non-exercise physical activities can potentially counter these effects,” Fonarow said. “These findings further emphasize the importance of decreasing sedentary time and encouraging everyday regular non-exercise physical activity to improve cardiovascular health.”

Although the study found an association between being active around the house and reduced heart risk, it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

United Nations cooks up a battle plan to defend Earth from asteroids

  

Nowhere’s one straight out of the comic books: The United Nations has announced it’s going to start proactively searching for asteroids in Earth’s path — and taking measures to protect us from deadly collisions.

Asteroids, or as they’re known in the scientific community, “flying death rocks,” can be thrown off-course by a single hit from a spacecraft, if the projectile is launched five to ten years in advance.

This isn’t the last-minute USS Enterprise-style save you were probably looking for when you clicked that remarkably exciting headline, but a last-minute save would mean certain death for people unfortunate enough to be in the flying death rock’s path.

First steps, according to our besties at Scientific American, are the UN officially forming an International Asteroid Warning Group (note: will not include X-Men). This group will work with the existing Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Since no nation or space agency has claimed responsibility for keeping Earth safe from asteroids yet (thanks, America), private entities and astronomers will keep an eye out for potentially dangerous asteroids. Once these are identified, nations in a position to defend Earth will have to designate an agency, such as NASA, to coordinate counter-measures.

We live in thrilling times, my friends. Next stop: Starfleet!

may be as good as formal exercise when it comes to reducing the risk for heart attack and stroke, Swedish researchers say.