Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Irish Water spends a hefty €5m on expert advice

HEFTY BILL RUN UP IN THE SIX MONTHS SINCE CONTROVERSIAL CHARGES WERE DROPPED

   

Irish Water has spent €5m on outside business strategists, lawyers, computer experts, public relations and finance specialists in the six months after the Government formally suspended the controversial charges.

The revelation that the embattled utility has paid over €826,000 a month on consultants since May 1 – when it was effectively placed in limbo by the Government – will infuriate nearly one million people who have handed over €144m in water charges last year.

Those who paid their bills still have no idea if they will get that money back if charges are ultimately abolished.

Last night Fianna Fail’s environment spokesperson Barry Cowen said legislation was urgently needed to ensure the utility was fully accountable for all money it spent.

The list of lucrative contracts includes an average monthly bill of nearly €3,000 for public relations services at a time when a major question mark hangs over the future funding of the company.

Documents reveal nearly €5m was spent on ‘third-party’ services from May 1 to the end of October this year. This includes €775,141 on ‘business change’ support services.

Ernst & Young was paid €406,268 for its expertise, while official records show accounting and consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers received €123,570.

Efforts to improve customer services supports also came with a hefty price tag, costing €774,848. It is estimated €32,285 is being spent every week to help improve and streamline customer services.

Ernst & Young also emerged a big winner, earning almost €486,000 for its expertise in the area.

Official records also show that hiring in legal expertise remains a major drain on resources – costing on average €56,800 a month.

In total, €340,830 was ring-fenced to cover costs in this area over a six-month period. Dublin-based legal firm McCann Fitzgerald was paid a total of €79,071 since the beginning of May. The next highest earner was Philip Lee, a specialist commercial law firm, who received payment of €71,438. Invoices for the services provided another law firm, Arthur Cox and Company totalled €45,410. Some €55,700 was allocated to covering the fees of a ‘senior counsel’, although records do not specify the reason for the expenditure.

PricewaterhouseCoopers received another separate payment of €68,000 for its “support on specific technical investment and engineering projects”. A further €113,277 was spent to ensure the “highest standards of governance” in areas like business analysis, information security and data protection. And Murray Consultants, one of Ireland’s biggest public relations agencies, was paid €16,866.

The expenditure comes against a backdrop of continuing uncertainty as to what approach will be adopted with customers who have already paid their water bills.

In a statement, Irish Water said it can require technical assistance and third-party support at any given time. Such expertise was not required on a permanent basis and therefore it was considered more “cost effective” to employ third-party specialists “as they are required”.

A spokesperson said the use of third-party external service providers represents just over 1pc of its annual operational costs. A company spokesman said the relevant data covers the period of May 1 to October 31 this year.

This was on the basis the clause facilitating the suspension of water charges was contained in the confidence and supply arrangement – put in place at the beginning of May on formation of the Government.

Fianna Fail’s environment spokesperson Barry Cowen said legislation was urgently needed to ensure the utility was fully accountable for all monies it spent.

He pointed out that the confidence and supply arrangement Fianna Fail has agreed with Fine Gael commits to retaining Irish Water as a national utility in public ownership. He said the agreement meant the company must be answerable to the Dail under a number of headings.

“We would have hoped that process would be complete by now, but it’s obviously not, and it’s something we’ll be taking up with the minister, with a view to bringing forward relevant legislation to give effect to that.”

He believes this would result in greater “transparency” in the operations of the utility.

The commission established to examine its future operations recommended that funding for the country’s water infrastructure should come through general taxation – but that there should be charges for wasteful use.

A special Oireachtas committee will now also decide if those who did not pay previous water charges should be prosecuted.

Deputy Cowen says the party is keeping an “open mind” on whether those who use excessive amounts of water should be liable for some financial payment.

“The main thrust of the recommendation is that it is paid for out of general taxation, and we agreed with that analysis.

“But there are many questions outstanding,” he said.

In a statement, Irish Water said “significant progress” had been made since the suspension of charges.

This includes “continuing the development of a single way of working for Irish Water as a public utility, to allow for a full transformation of services to the utility from local authorities.

“THIS IS AN ENORMOUS UNDERTAKING.

“We have developed new systems for local authorities to report vital information on operations, leakage, water and waste water quality to us electronically and in real time in a standardised and consistent way”.

These and other projects had required “specialist support”, but would have a “lasting significant value” for Irish Water as a utility.

As much as 112,000 additional jobs in construction will be created over the next three years here,

SAY CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY CHIEFS?

  

A REPORT ON THE SECTOR FOUND CARPENTERS AND JOINERS WILL BE IN MOST DEMAND.

Construction chiefs have claimed there will be 112,000 additional jobs in the industry over the next three years. A report on the sector found carpenters and joiners will be in most demand followed by general labourers, operatives and electricians.

The Construction Industry Federation has launched a new website, cifjobs.ie, to target workers who emigrated in the 10 years since the property bubble burst and the economy collapsed.

A report on the future of the sector by DKM consultants revealed the industry is set to grow by 9% a year up to 2020 and said that it can sustain more than 100,000 additional jobs.

It said there will be a need for 30,800 carpenters and joiners, 27,600 general labourers, 18,100 operatives, 15,200 electricians, 13,900 plasterers and tilers, 11,800 plumbers, 9,600 managers, 9,400 painters and decorators and 7,800 bricklayers.

CIF director general Tom Parlon said emigrants should consider coming home. ” There is sufficient work in the pipeline to require about another 112,000 jobs up to 2020 and beyond.

“The CIF is attempting to ensure there are sufficient skilled employees by engaging in several initiatives. We’re working with the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) to upskill those on the live register with construction experience. We’re attracting young people into the industry by highlighting the modern globalised careers available. Finally, we’re trying to get the positive news about the industry and Ireland in general to those in the diaspora to attract them back.”

The website will highlight jobs available in the lobby group’s member companies and allow potential candidates to engage directly with them.

Orkambi makers to meet HSE for CF drug pricing cost talks

ASKING PRICE FOR MEDICINE THAT ACTS ON LUNG FUNCTION €160,000 PER PATIENT ANNUALLY

    

THE HSE HAS INDICTED IT IS WILLING TO PAY €75M ANNUALLY, BUT NOT THE EXISTING €400M BILL ACROSS FIVE YEARS.

The Health Service Executive and US makers of cystic fibrosis drug Orkambi, Vertex, are to meet on Wednesday, December 15th, to discuss the cost of the medicine.

Orkambi, which improves lung function and reduces hospitalisation for CF patients, would cost €160,000 per patient annually, or €400 million for the health service over five years, according to its initial price.

Agreed approach

The HSE is willing to pay €75 million which would make it the sixth most expensive drug used by the Irish health system.

Minister for Health Simon Harris said he has sought to collaborate with other countries on an agreed approach to negotiations on Orkambi and the HSE has cautioned Vertex it must ask a more affordable price.

The HSE and Vertex said they are committed to finding a definitive solution.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals said this week it will only re-enter price talks on Orkambi if Government representatives with the power to make decisions are at the table.

Vertex asked the HSE to commit to having Mr Harris, HSE director general Tony O’Brien and Department of Health Secretary general Jim Breslin at the talks.

Speaking in the Seanad earlier this week, Mr Harris said this was a “complete misrepresentation”.

“The law of this land, passed by this House and the Dáil in 2013, makes clear that the HSE is the body with statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines.”

Thousands of people protested outside the Dáil this week about the issue.

The bottom line, says Fitch, is that a monkey’s speech limitations stem from the way its brain is organized.

“As soon as you had a brain that was ready to control the vocal tract,” Fitch says, “the vocal tract of a monkey or nonhuman primate would be perfectly fine for producing lots and lots of words.”

The real issue is that monkeys’ brains do not have direct connections down to the neurons that control the larynx and the tongue, he says. What’s more, monkeys don’t have critical connections within the brain itself, between the auditory cortex and motor cortex, which makes them incapable of imitating what they hear in the way that humans do.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a science fiction movie from 2011, actually has the right idea, notes Fitch. In that film, after a lab chimp named Caesar undergoes brain changes, he eventually is able to speak words such as “No.”

“The new Planet of the Apes is a pretty accurate representation of what we think is going on,” says Fitch.

Irish taxpayers warned to be careful with scam phone calls claiming to be Tax Revenue staff ?????

    

THE REVENUE COMMISSIONERS IS WARNING AGAINST A SLICK PHONE SCAM INTENDED TO SCARE PEOPLE INTO PAYING OFF A BOGUS TAX COLLECTOR.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Revenue Commissioners said a “small” number of people had contacted the office after receiving random telephone calls over the past week.

The calls are purportedly from a local tax inspector looking for so-called tax defaulters to make a payment and/or disclose their PPS numbers.

In one case, a taxpayer received a call from “Revenue Ireland” in which an automated recording told him to contact the “Revenue” urgently.

The suspicious taxpayer rang a Dublin number that was answered by a man who did not have an Irish accent claiming to be “Officer Ray Miller of Revenue Ireland”.

The taxpayer’s suspicions were confirmed when he began speaking in Irish and the bogus Revenue official couldn’t understand him or refer him to someone who could speak Irish, so he told ‘Officer Miller’ it was an obvious scam and he hung up.

Revenue spokeswoman Clare O’Melia said she was not aware of anyone being taken in by the scam. But she urged anyone who may have responded to a request for “an immediate payment of a tax bill over the phone” or provided the caller with their PPS number, bank account or credit card information to contact gardaí and their bank.

“Anyone who receives a telephone call purporting to be from Revenue about which they have any doubts, particularly if the call is out of the blue, should contact their local Revenue office or the Collector General’s Division at 1890 20 30 70,” she said.

“It’s Christmas and there are a lot of scams out there.” Gardaí have now also issued a statement.

“An Garda Síochána would like to remind the public to be wary of any contact from an unsolicited source, whether it is by telephone or email.

“Do not under any circumstances give out your credit/debit card, bank account, or PPS Number to anyone who makes contact with you over the phone.  An Garda Síochána, Revenue, nor any Financial Institution will ever call you and ask for your PPS number or bank account details.”

Majella O’Donnell hits out at Ireland’s mental health services

    

MAJELLA O’DONNELL HAS HIT OUT AT IRELAND’S MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, AFTER HER FRIEND WAS DENIED IMMEDIATE HELP DESPITE BEING SEVERELY DEPRESSED.

The 56-year-old wife of Donegal crooner Daniel O’Donnell has previously opened up about her own battle with depression, and how she once considered taking her own life.

Taking to Facebook, Majella decided to use her voice and revealed how she felt “angry and disgusted” after her friend with mental health issues was told she wouldn’t be seen to until next year.

“My friend Anne is a young mother who has been feeling anxious, unmotivated, irritated and generally depressed. She is aware of it and has been on antidepressants in the past,” she wrote.

“She is also aware of the fact that it is negatively affecting her relationship with her partner and putting a huge strain on them. She wanted to get to the bottom of why she feels this way. She phoned a psychiatrist to see if she could talk to someone professional and was told that a) She would have to be referred by her GP; b) She wouldn’t be seen until at least February, and c) It would cost her €300 an hour for the psychiatrist.

“What the f*** is that all about? I get so bloody angry at this kind of thing. Here is a young woman realising that she has a problem and trying to do something positive about it and this is what the outcome is! She went back to her GP who once again prescribed antidepressants, a stronger one this time – and that’s it.

“She doesn’t really want to take them as she would like to understand why she feels the way she does but she feels she has no choice,” she said.

Speaking up: Majella has suffered from depression in the past.

Majella then hit out at the outrageous fees psychiatrists are charging patients, as her friend received a quote for €300 per hour.

“I can accept that a GP needs to refer you, but what really p***** me off is the fact that no one could see her until at least February – but that doesn’t really matter because she could never afford the €300 per hour fee that is being charged. €300 per hour! What the f*** is that all about? It is shameful.

“How dare anyone charge that kind of money to help another human being who is in a desperate situation. That sort of fee cannot be justified! We have wonderful support groups around the country – like Pieta House, Aware, Mental Health Ireland, Grow and lots more – doing their best to help people with their mental wellbeing, but when someone tries to help themselves before things have reached the point of no return, this is what happens.

Make a change: Majella is disgusted with Ireland’s mental health services.

“We need, as a country, to sort this problem with accessing psychiatrists and if there is a shortage, then we need to actively start incentivising medical students to look at psychiatry as their speciality.

“Why do we have to wait until a person is so desperate for help that they are considering taking their own lives before we are willing to do something about it,’ she said.

“We need to start being pro-active about mental health instead of being reactive. There, that’s my rant over. I may be a little unreasonable about the whole subject, but it is one that I am so passionate about,” she added.

Graphene Putty could be the future of medical equipment sensors

    

THE INTERNET OF THINGS COULD BE ABOUT TO GET A BIT MORE PLAYFUL AS THE AMBER CENTRE SHOWCASES A NEW TYPE OF GRAPHENE SENSOR MADE USING THE KIDS’ TOY, SILLY PUTTY.

As an atom-thick wonder material, graphene has been prophesised for years now as the next big thing in material science.

But now, an interesting breakthrough made by the AMBER centre in Trinity College Dublin could be about to take us into the sillier side of science, or at least Silly Putty.

Led by Prof Jonathan Coleman, a research team within the centre has been looking at how a melding of graphene and the kids’ toy Silly Putty could be a match made in heaven.

Realising graphene’s unique conductive properties and Silly Putty’s ability to mould into almost any shape, the team wanted to see could they be combined to create a mouldable sensor.

Sure enough, Coleman and his team found that that the electrical resistance of putty infused with graphene – that it is calling ‘G-putty’ – was extremely sensitive to the slightest deformation or impact.

Can detect the footprint of the smallest spider

To test its effectiveness, the team mounted the G-putty onto the chest and neck of human subjects and used it to measure breathing, pulse and even blood pressure.

To the team’s amazement, it showed unprecedented sensitivity as a sensor for strain and pressure, hundreds of times more sensitive than normal sensors, offering hope for future use in medical devices.

It could also be used as a precise impact measurement device capable of detecting the footprints of the smallest spiders.

Speaking of its potential, Coleman said: “While a common application has been to add graphene to plastics in order to improve the electrical, mechanical, thermal or barrier properties, the resultant composites have generally performed as expected without any great surprises.

“The behaviour we found with G-putty has not been found in any other composite material. This unique discovery will open up major possibilities in sensor manufacturing worldwide.”     

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Áras Attracta’s services criticised in a draft HSE report

THE CARE HOME WAS THE CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT OF AN RTÉ PRIME TIME INVESTIGATES PROGRAMME.

   

A DRAFT HEALTH SERVICE EXECUTIVE (HSE) REPORT ON THE ÁRAS ATTRACTA CARE HOME IN CO MAYO IS BELIEVED TO HAVE IDENTIFIED NUMEROUS ISSUES INCLUDING LOW MORALE AND FRAUGHT RELATIONS BETWEEN MANAGEMENT AND STAFF.

The home was the controversial subject of an RTÉ Prime Time Investigatesprogramme in 2014, which examined care practices for adults with intellectual disabilities.

According to the broadcaster, a draft report of a review of services, which has been two years in the making and which is due to be published next month, has found failures throughout its management system.

In particular it found low staff morale, ineffective use of staff resources and weak governance, particularly in respect of “bungalow three” which featured in the documentary.

“Staff in Áras Attracta…describe bungalow three as the ‘forgotten bungalow’ where there was a culture of bad practices,” Prime Time Investigates reporter Barry O’Kelly said.

“Management are criticised under a number of different headings. It notes as well there were fraught relations between management and staff in Áras Attracta.

“However it also states that even today there are many relatives of people who are living in Áras Attracta, people with intellectual disabilities, who are happy with the services provided there. It also notes that the HSE has introduced quite sweeping changes since our programme almost two years ago.”

A spokesman for the HSE declined to comment other than to say the completed report would be published in the first week of September.

Minister Flanagan clarifies consular care policy in relation to Pat Hickey in Brazil

IRISH OFFICIALS IN ONGOING CONTACT WITH BRAZILIAN AUTHORITIES

    

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan has responded to calls from the family of Pat Hickey for the Minister and Government to intervene in issues surrounding his detention in Rio de Janeiro.

In a statement issued this afternoon, the Hickey family called on Minister Flanagan and Minister for Sport, Shane Ross to intervene urgently in addressing “extremely worrying” issues surrounding his arrest and detention and the effect it is having on his health.”

The family said they were “gravely concerned about the effect this degrading and humiliating ordeal has had on their father and grandfather and how it continues to affect his physical and mental health.”

MINISTER FLANAGAN RESPONDED BY SAYING:-

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provides consular care to Irish citizens who have been arrested or detained overseas.

“We are currently assisting two Irish citizens detained in Rio de Janeiro.

“In general it is Department policy not to comment in detail publicly on individual consular cases, of which there have been almost 1,500 already this year.

“Any Irish citizen who requests or avails of consular assistance is entitled to privacy and confidentiality.

“However, I wish to make certain points in response to today’s statement from the Hickey family.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing ongoing consular assistance to Mr. Hickey through the Irish Embassy and Consulate in Brazil.

“My officials are in ongoing contact with the family of this citizen and with legal representative acting on his behalf.

“Senior officials of the Department met with Mr Hickey’s Dublin-based solicitors on Wednesday, 24 August, and discussed the family’s concerns in detail, and explained the Department’s approach to this consular case.

“In general terms, the Department’s focus in cases of arrest or detention of Irish citizens overseas is on a number of specific issues including ensuring that the citizen has access to legal representation, that the citizen is not being discriminated against on the grounds of nationality, and that the host authorities are fulfilling their responsibilities in ensuring the welfare and wellbeing of our detained citizen.

“In this context my officials are in ongoing contact with the Brazilian authorities.

“The Department cannot however provide legal advice or interfere in any way in the judicial processes in another country.

“I have agreed to meet with the Hickey family and arrangements will be made for this meeting to take place in the coming days.

“ In the meantime, my Department is continuing to monitor developments in this consular case closely and is continuing to provide all appropriate consular advice and assistance to Mr. Hickey and his family.”

What are the highest paid jobs in Ireland in 2016?

     

THE AVERAGE ANNUAL SALARY ROSE TO JUST OVER €37,000 IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, BEFORE DIPPING SLIGHTLY BY THE SUMMER, FIGURES NOW SHOW.

Official data shows that the average weekly wage at the start of the year rose 1.5% on the same period in 2015, to €713.41.

But it dipped fractionally in the three months to the end of June to €703.83, according to the Central Statistics Office.

There were wide variations across sectors.

The best paid sector to be in is Information and Communications, which includes IT companies, publishing houses and telecommunications.

It recorded an average weekly wage of €1,063.39, which means, in theory, these type of firms had an annual average salary of around €55,296.

In close second was the financial, insurance and real estate sector, which had average weekly pay of €1,014.66.

At the bottom of the pack were the accommodation and food services sector, and the arts, entertainment and recreation and other services sector, with average weekly earnings of €331.81 and €467.77 respectively.

Average weekly earnings in the private sector showed an increase of 1.5pc from €635.52 to €644.98 in the year to the end of June.

Average earnings are falling in the public sector, but at €905.97, they’re still healthier than the private sector.

Average weekly earnings increased in nine of the 13 sectors in the economy up to the end of June.

The largest percentage increase was 5% in the professional, scientific and technical activities sector, which includes legal and accounting businesses, management consultants, architectural and engineering firms, and advertising – where average weekly earnings rose from €800.41 to €840.39.

The construction sector saw a near 4% hike in average wages to €734.49, while there was an increase of 2.5% in the financial, insurance and real estate sector.

The public administration and defence sector experienced the largest percentage sectoral decrease, falling from €933.00 to €900.88, a drop of 3.4%. The CSO said this was due to the recruitment of temporary Census field staff, who were on lower-than-average weekly earnings and weekly paid hours.

If you strip those workers out, the sector had average weekly earnings of €928.90, a fall of 0.4%.

In the five years up to June, average weekly earnings rose by 2.1pc, from €689.32 in June 2011 to €708.83 five years later.

Across the public sector, average weekly earnings fell 1.2pc to €905.97, but if you exclude the temporary census staff, the fall is just 0.3%.

Three of the seven public sector sub-sectors had annual increases in average weekly earnings, with Gardaí recording the largest rise of 4.7% from €1,245.30 to €1,304.11 in the year to June. That means, according to the CSO, the average annual Garda pay in June was €67,813.

The CSO said the education sector recorded the highest average hourly earnings in the year of €37.89, while also showing the lowest hours worked of 23.9 hours.

The Gardaí had the next highest earnings, with average hourly earnings of €30.52. But they worked the longest, at 42.7 hours.

First official estimates put overall 2016 Irish cereal harvest down by 15%

   

HARVEST IS APPROXIMATELY 30-50% COMPLETE, DEPENDING ON THE AREA OF THE COUNTRY, ACCORDING TO TEAGASC’S LATEST CROP REPORT.

It says significant areas are still to be harvested in the midlands, north east and north of the country.

According to Teagasc, larger growers are now being forced into harvesting at higher moistures to reduce the amount to be harvested.

It says yields of winter barley and oilseed rape have been largely disappointing, whereas winter wheat and spring barley harvested so far are reporting good yields and quality.

Overall the tonnes harvested this year is predicted to be 15% lower than last year in its first provisional estimate of harvest 2016.

The decrease is a combination of reduced areas (-7%) and lower yields. The main trends are that yields are mixed with winter barley and winter oilseed rape generally disappointing whereas winter wheat and earlier sown spring barley yields are holding well.

Grain quality has been mixed with low hectolitre weights in many winter barleys and skinning (loss of some of the grain hull) reported in malting barleys.

Prices remain depressed due to supply exceeding demand and high worldwide stocks of small grains and maize.

Teagasc says the poor yield combined with lower prices is resulting in negative margins for many crops this year with poor prospects for an increase in grain price due to an expected very large world harvest.

Faces of murderers could be recreated from DNA left at crime scenes after science breakthrough

  

SCIENTISTS HAVE IDENTIFIED THE GENES THAT SHAPE FACIAL FEATURES INCLUDING NOSE SIZE AND FACE WIDTH, ACCORDING TO A NEW REPORT

New findings may also help researchers to learn how facial birth defects arise

The faces of murderers or rapists could be ‘recreated’ from DNA left at the scene of the crime, according to new research.

Scientists have identified the genes that shape the extraordinary variation in the human face.

Many features, such as nose size and face width, stem from specific mutations, say researchers.

Previous studies have suggested they are controlled by genes , but this is the first to shed light on how variants contribute to the range of different forms we see.

The findings published in PLOS Genetics may also help researchers to learn how facial birth defects arise.

And they could even have applications in forensics, helping police construct more accurate faces of dangerous criminals being hunted for murders, rapes and robberies.

The discovery of the genes that determine human facial shape could provide valuable information about a person’s appearance using just DNA left behind at the scene of a crime.

They are based on a DNA analysis of 20 facial characteristics measured from 3D images of 3,118 healthy volunteers of European ancestry and almost a million mutations, or SNPs (single base pair) variations.

Dr John Shaffer, of the University of Pittsburgh , said: “There is a great deal of evidence genes influence facial appearance.

“This is perhaps most apparent when we look at our own families, since we are more likely to share facial features in common with our close relatives than with unrelated individuals.

“Nevertheless, little is known about how variation in specific regions of the genome relates to the kinds of distinguishing facial characteristics that give us our unique identities, e.g., the size and shape of our nose or how far apart our eyes are spaced.

“In this paper, we investigate this question by examining the association between genetic variants across the whole genome and a set of measurements designed to capture key aspects of facial form.

“We found evidence of genetic associations involving measures of eye, nose, and facial breadth.

“In several cases, implicated regions contained genes known to play roles in embryonic face formation or in syndromes in which the face is affected.

“Our ability to connect specific genetic variants to ubiquitous facial traits can inform our understanding of normal and abnormal craniofacial development, provide potential predictive models of evolutionary changes in human facial features, and improve our ability to create forensic facial reconstructions from DNA.”

Facial width, the distance between the eyes, the size of the nose and the distance between the lips and eyes all had statistically significant associations with certain SNPs.

The researchers also considered results from two similar studies and confirmed certain previous findings.

Until recently, virtually nothing was known about the genes responsible for facial shape in humans.

Added co author Dr Seth Weinberg: “Our analysis identified several genetic associations with facial features not previously described in earlier genome wide studies.

“What is exciting is many of these associations involve chromosomal regions harbouring genes with known craniofacial function.

“Such findings can provide insights into the role genes play in the formation of the face and improve our understanding of the causal factors leading to certain craniofacial birth defects.”

Several of the genetic regions contributing to face shape detected contain genes known to play a role in facial development and abnormalities.

In the future, the scientists hope to identify genetic risk factors that lead to anomalies such as cleft lip and palate.

But they warned it is important to keep in mind these findings likely represent only a small fraction of the genes influencing the size and shape of the human face.

Many of the genes influencing facial features are likely to have small effects, so successfully mapping a large number of these genes will require much greater sample sizes and a more comprehensive approach to quantifying those of interest.    

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

The Labour party is to abolish USC for low and middle income earners if elected

THE PARTY LAUNCHES IT’S ELECTION MANIFESTO AND SAYS IT ENDED THE ECONOMIC CRISIS?

   

Brendan Howlin, Joan Burton, & Alan Kelly at the launch of the Labour Party’s election manifesto in Dublin on Monday.

Labour will establish a new savings scheme to help first time buyers purchase a home if re-elected to Government.

The party launched its manifesto on Monday committing to abolishing the Universal Social Charge for all low and middle income earners.

It also promises to negotiate a new public sector pay deal in 2018 in advance of the end of the Lansdowne Road Agreement and will increase the pension to €260.

There are also measures to introduce a register for childminders to allow for inspection, increased child benefit payments and for universal free GP care by 2021.

Under the Labour proposals for every € 4 a first time buyer saves the Government will provide a top-up of € 1.

• Full results: New Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll
• Inside Politics email digest: Sign Up Now
• Election 2016: Five things we learned from the leaders’ debate

This is subject to a cap of € 1,200 a year for every five years.

This would a buyer could receive a maximum of € 6,000 over five years saving.

The party’s manifesto commits to a referendum on repealing the eighth amendment of the Constitution.

It also vows to introduce mandatory training on sexual violence for all trainee Gardaí and recruit an additional 700 Gardaí a year to bring the strength of the force to 14,500.

The manifesto commits to the formal recognition of the travelling community.

A Constitutional Convention will also be re-established to examine end of life issues and the place of faith in the Constitution including the requirement of religious declarations by office holders.

Tánaiste Joan Burton said Labour in Government ended the economic crisis.

However she insisted there was much more work to be done.

Ms Burton said: “We cannot take this opportunity for granted. There are parties who have been reckless with the country’s finances in the past and parties who would be reckless with them if in Government.

“Those parties would return us to crisis. Labour will not allow that to happen.”

Scam artists in Donegal are posing as ESB technicians

MEN ARE ATTEMPTING TO FIND OUT WHEN THE HOUSES WILL BE VACANT BY ASKING RESIDENTS WHEN THEY ARE AVAILABLE FOR REPAIRS OR UPGRADES.

     

LOCAL’S IN CO DONEGAL ARE BEING TOLD TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SCAM ARTISTS POSING AS ESB TECHNICIANS.

A spate of incidents has been reported in recent times in which a man in a yellow ESB jacket and driving a yellow van emblazoned with the ESB logo has sought to gain entry to people’s homes across the county.

The pretext for his visit is usually to read a meter or to examine a fuse box.

The most recent incident has been reported in the Castlefin area near Lifford.

“I was canvassing next door to where the latest instance happened,” Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick McGowan told TheJournal.ie. So yes, I can confirm that it is happening.

The woman in question didn’t let the man in, but she doesn’t want anyone to enter her house now, she is obviously worried.

McGowan confirmed with the ESB at the time that they had no such meter readers operating in the Castlefin area.

“It was very, very real, and confirmed. They had no-one in that area. We need to deal with this now because the next thing we know they’ll have moved to Galway or Mayo or somewhere else,” he said.

Gardaí were informed of the incident at the time but “they didn’t come out til the next day” according to McGowan.

“I was involved with setting up the text alert in the Finn valley area,” the councillor says.

We have a lack of Garda resources here – there’s only one or two gardaí in Letterkenny who can deal with this.

People around here tend to be in touch with each other and to perform their own security.

McGowan says he has “no idea” who the perpetrators are, but the suspicion is that the men involved are casing houses with a view to future burglaries – by asking residents about when they are available for repairs or upgrades.

“There’s been a lot of sightings of ESB vans about the place now but they have all turned out to be legitimate when confronted,” he says.

Can sex in later life (Over 50’s) improve & protect brain health?

   

DR HAYLEY WRIGHT DISCUSSES RESEARCH WHICH EXPLORES WHETHER SEX FOR THE OVER 50’S CAN PROTECT AND EVEN IMPROVE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS.

Would it be such a bad thing if we can add a healthy sex life to our lifestyle choices that help to keep us mentally and physically healthy in later life?

Scientific and medical research has unveiled a whole host of lifestyle factors that promote or protect cognitive functions – especially memory – in older age. Memory is a particularly hot topic at the moment, especially with the increased public and political focus on dementia.

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX

In light of all this evidence for the effects of health and lifestyle on brain function, it is surprising that there has been little focus on sexual activity and cognition. We could argue that sexual activity impacts upon all areas of life – the social, emotional and physical aspects at least – so let’s talk about it!

We used cross-sectional data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing to answer our research question. In our analysis, we took into account many factors that might influence either sexual activity or cognition – age, education, wealth, levels of physical activity, cohabiting status, general health, depression, loneliness and quality of life.

Even after adjusting for all of these factors statistically, we established that there is indeed an association between sexual activity and higher scores on tests of cognitive function in people over the age of 50 years.

WHAT NEXT?

Our finding is very exciting, but it does open up the proverbial can of worms. We have simply revealed an association between two variables – a correlation. There are many words of caution to heed when interpreting correlational data, especially in light of the many spurious relationships that can be detected if we only look for them (e.g. the divorce rate in Maine correlates with the per capita consumption of margarine).

What we need to clarify now, is whether engaging in sexual activity leads to better cognitive function, or indeed the other way around – whether people who have higher cognitive functioning are those who tend to remain sexually active in later life.

WOMEN AND HORMONES?

Our study also uncovered a surprising gender difference in our findings. Sexually active men performed better on tests of memory (word recall) and executive function (number sequencing) than those who were not sexually active.

However, in women, we only found a strong association between sexual activity and memory function. So, in short, sexually activity was not related to scores on the number sequencing task (e.g. fill in the blank – “9, 7, _, 3”) in women. This finding has left us with a great deal more research questions in our quest to find out why.

As with all new findings, it’s possible that these results could be due to a whole range of biological, social, or psychological variables. The good news is that we have already begun our search for answers.

Previous scientific research has already shown that sex-specific hormones that circulate around our bodies before we are even born, can actually impact upon brain development and cognitive function throughout the lifespan. We are currently exploring whether the gender difference we have found is due to hormonal differences in men and women, which influence certain brain regions and functions.

IS IT LOVE?

We think that there could be two broad underlying mechanisms that affect brain function in our study: i) heightened levels of intimacy and companionship in sexual relationships; ii) surges in sex-related hormones as a result of regular arousal.

Basically, we now want to find out whether we are dealing with a biological or a social phenomenon.

You might be thinking, “but couldn’t it be a combination of both?” and you’d be right, it could be. Everyone loves a good old nature versus nurture debate, and it would be great to hear your opinions of what might be underlying the association we have found. Nature or nurture, biological or social, love or sex?

HEALTHY (SEX) LIFE, FOR A HEALTHY BRAIN

There are many exaggerated examples of how to keep our minds active and brains healthy as we get older, such as “eating leafy vegetables improves your IQ”, or “brain training prevents dementia”, and so on. Whilst these are inflated versions of scientific research, they resonate with all of us. However, when we get down to the real science, all of this research has actually highlighted that what is good for your heart is good for your brain.

Would it be such a bad thing if we can add a healthy sex life to our lifestyle choices that help to keep us mentally and physically healthy in later life?

A dad’s rubbish bin ice battle is a metaphor for our life’s struggles

HILARIOUS VIDEO SHOWS A MAN TRYING AND FAILING TO REPEATEDLY DRAG A BIN UP AN ICY DRIVEWAY IN THE FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

  

THIS FATHER’S HILARIOUS BATTLE WITH A WHEELIE BIN ON AN ICY DRIVE PRETTY MUCH SUMS UP LIFE’S EVERYDAY STRUGGLES.

A Gloucestershire man has become a viral star after millions watched a video of him struggling with the rubbish bin on an icy morning

Alun Miles, from the Forest of Dean, is the star of the viral video which has racked up more than 2.5 million views in three days and been shared more than 30,000 times.

He posted the video on Facebook with the caption: “Trying to put the bins out this morning, a little bit frosty one could say!!!” Go on and have a laugh at the man's expense????????

Mr Miles added: “It took me ages to get the bin out, the bit you can’t see is the dustbin men at the top of the drive laughing also!!!”

In the clip he is seen trying to push the rubbish bin towards his gate to catch the bin men only for him to repeatedly slide backwards on the ice.

His wife, heard laughing loudly throughout the clip, recorded the video as she watched the slapstick Chuckle Brothers-style scene unfold alongside her their two children.

She explained: “He had been out there a while before we even noticed … then I watched for a minute before running for the phone.”

His sister-in-law, Carrie-Anne Bailey, added: “My brother-in-law attempted to put the family’s weekly rubbish out for collection.

“It was a cold frosty morning in the Forest of Dean and little did he know just how challenging his morning task would be.”

Extinct new plant species discovered in chunk of amber wood

   

BIOLOGISTS HAVE DESCRIBED A NEW SPECIES OF EXTINCT PLANT, BASED ON TWO FOSSIL FLOWERS THAT WERE TRAPPED IN CHUNKS OF AMBER FOR AT LEAST 15 MILLION YEARS.

Strychnos electri belongs to the genus whose tropical shrubs, trees and vines are famous for producing the deadly toxin strychnine.

The US researchers named it after the Greek word for amber (“elektron”) – the fossilised resin of long-dead trees.

The two flowers were among 500 fossils collected on a 1986 field trip by Professor George Poinar of Oregon State University.

Prof Poinar is a renowned entomologist and most of these specimens were insects. But after nearly 30 years working on the bugs, his eye settled on the flowers.

They were remarkably complete – unlike most plant fossils found in amber, which are usually just fragments.

In 2015, he sent high-resolution photos to Professor Lena Struwe at Rutgers University.

Probably poisonous

“These flowers looked like they had just fallen from a tree,” said Prof Poinar. “I thought they might be Strychnos, and I sent them to Lena because I knew she was an expert in that genus.”

Prof Struwe set about comparing the physical structure of the flowers to all 200 known Strychnos species, combing the collections of multiple museums and herbaria.

“The characters mostly used to identify species of Strychnos are flower morphology, and that’s what we luckily have for this fossil,” said Prof Struwe.

“I looked at each specimen of New World species, photographed and measured it, and compared it to the photo George sent me. I asked myself, ‘How do the hairs on the petals look?’ ‘Where are the hairs situated?’ and so on.”

For the animals of the late cretaceous, S. electri was probably not very good eating, “Species of the genus Strychnos are almost all toxic in some way,” said Prof Poinar.

“Each plant has its own alkaloids with varying effects. Some are more toxic than others, and it may be that they were successful because their poisons offered some defence against herbivores.”

The most famous such alkaloid, strychnine, is a toxin that once formed the basis of many rat poisons – as well as being one of Norman Bates’s murder weapons in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho.

But these plants also fall within the “asterid” family, which includes more than 80,000 flowering plants including many of the ones humans eat, from potatoes and mint to sunflowers and coffee beans.

The new discovery is a crucial addition to the fossil record of this family, which is very poorly understood.