Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Sterling slump less a problem for State than in past, Central Bank says

RISKS TO ECONOMY REMAIN ‘CLEARLY TILTED TO THE DOWNSIDE’, SAYS REPORT FROM REGULATOR

     

THE CENTRAL BANK MAINTAINS THAT DEMAND FOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES IN TRADING-PARTNER COUNTRIES OUTWEIGHS EVERYTHING, INCLUDING FOREIGN-EXCHANGE RATES.

Ireland’s economy is better able to deal with a slump in sterling than it has been in the past, the Central Bank has said, as the euro hovers at a five-year high against the British currency as a result of the UK Brexit vote.

The euro has surged by more than 14% since the UK referendum on June 23rd to more than 88p and some, including analysts in Investec and UBS, see the exchange rate reaching 90p by the end of the year.

The Central Bank’s latest economic forecasts, published on Thursday, which see Irish gross domestic product expanding by 4.5% this year and 3.6% in 2017, is based on a euro-sterling rate of 84p, said John Flynn, the head of Irish economic analysis at the bank.

Mr Flynn said that if the current rate persisted it would have some impact on future forecasts.

However, he added: “We’ve seen over a long period of time the economy demonstrate considerable flexibility and it’s able to deal with the sterling rate at quite different levels. The Irish economy is a much more flexible economy now than it was at various times in the past, when sterling was a challenge for us.”

The demand?

The Central Bank maintains that demand for products and services in trading-partner countries outweighs everything, including foreign-exchange rates. While recent UK economic data suggested the British economy was faring better than many had feared following the Brexit vote, the Central Bank’s chief economist, Gabriel Fagan, said it was “far too early” to determine the real impact of the decision on the world’s fifth largest economy.

Meanwhile, Mr Flynn noted that the euro-sterling rate was much more important to companies in the food, clothing and footwear sectors, as well as tourism, than elsewhere in the economy.

“And the exchange rate is generally more important for indigenous firms because the UK accounts for a greater share of export markets for those groups,” he said.

The comments follow the Central Bank’s publication of its latest quarterly bulletin in which it shaved its forecasts for personal consumption, exports and overall economic growth for this year and warned risks to these projections “remain clearly tilted to the downside” as a result of Brexit.

The organisation lowered its forecast for gross domestic product growth for this year by 0.4% points to 4.5% and left its 2017 projection unchanged at 3.6%, having downgraded its estimates more materially in July in the wake of the surprise Brexit vote.

Mixed signals confusing?

“Signals in relation to consumer spending have become more mixed, although the balance of evidence across a range of indicators points to only a marginal slowdown, with consumer spending supported by solid gains in employment and rising earnings,” the Central Bank said.

The Central Bank lowered its forecast for personal spending growth, which rebounded two years ago following years as consumers showed the first signs of recovery from the financial crisis, to 3.8% for this year from 4% previously. Its 2017 forecast has come back to 2.2% from 2.3%.

It sees underlying domestic demand, a measure of the economy preferred by some analysts given how multinationals’ activities can skew the headline figures, slowing to 4% this year from 5% in 2015, before easing further to 2.7% in 2017. It has raised its forecasts for the economic contribution from activity in aircraft leasing and multinationals moving intellectual property.

Export growth is likely to slow to 5.6% this year from a previous projection of 6.4%, before easing back to 4.4% in 2017, according to the Central Bank.

With an eye on the unveiling of Budget 2017 next week, the Central Bank said “a prudent fiscal strategy remains essential, given the negative loops between fiscal stability, financial stability and macroeconomic stability.”

It also said the Government set long-term targets that were “robust to statistical issue”, clearly a reference to the 26% GDP growth rate for 2015 that had little to do with the underlying economy.

Uncertainties

“While the uncertainties in relation to the measurement of economic growth make it more difficult to calculate the underlying path for tax revenues, it would be prudent to assume that some fraction of the recent surge in corporation tax revenues might be temporary in nature,” it said.

Corporation tax rose to €4.16 billion for the first nine months of the year from €3.9 billion for the same period in 2015, according to the latest exchequer return figures, published earlier this week.

Nóirín O’Sullivan ‘doing so much damage to An Garda Síochána’, says Mick Wallace

   

THE GARDA COMMISSIONER NÓIRÍN O’SULLIVAN IS DOING “SO MUCH DAMAGE” TO THE FORCE THAT IT IS IN “TURMOIL”, THE DÁIL HAS HEARD.

Revelations in this week’s Irish Examiner, about a campaign by senior officers to destroy a whistle-blower, dominated leaders’ questions yesterday

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald came under serious fire over the scandal from Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin, as well as Independents.

The Dáil heard claims that Ms O’Sullivan had given some members of An Garda Síochána carte blanche to hound and discredit whistle-blowers.

Independents4Change TD Mick Wallace, in a heated exchange, pleaded with Ms Fitzgerald to remove the commissioner.

Mr Wallace said he and his colleague, Clare Daly, have met with the two whistle-blowers who made the latest protected disclosures. he said Ms O’Sullivan has failed to end the persecution of whistle-blowers in the force.

“The Garda is in turmoil. There is a split in it with two camps. The Garda commissioner has promoted a ring around her. It is corrosive,” said Mr Wallace.

Nóirín O’Sullivan

“She is doing so much damage to An Garda Síochána that there are many good gardaí shocked at how she is operating. The Tánaiste and minister for justice and equality cannot leave her in position.”

Asked if she had any other protected disclosures on her desk, Ms Fitzgerald said: “There are no other protected disclosures on my desk.”

Mr Wallace informed the Dáil that whistle-blower Nick Keogh has written to the minister four times, but received only one reply.

“Nicky Keogh wrote to the minister four times and she replied once,” said Mr Wallace. “When he told the minister about the harassment and that he could not have been suffering without the commissioner’s knowledge, the minister wrote back to him to say she was looking for an urgent report from the Garda commissioner.

“That was May this year. The minister says she follows things up quickly. May was a long time ago.”

Ms Fitzgerald said while details of the disclosures are in the public domain, she is precluded by law from commenting. She said those involved are entitled to due process and that she would not be rushing to judgment.

“I will follow the legislation, passed in this House, where people have a right to confidentiality and due process,” she said.

“I would not be doing my job as minister for justice and equality if I did not follow due process and the law laid down regarding protected disclosures, a law on which we have all agreed should be followed.”

In response to Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, Ms Fitzgerald said Ms O’Sullivan is entitled to her full confidence.

“I want to be very clear about one thing: No findings of wrongdoing of any kind have been made against the Garda commissioner and I believe in those circumstances she is entitled to our full confidence,” said Ms Fitzgerald, adding that she would not be slow in establish a full inquiry into the allegations should it be merited.

Fianna Fáil’s Charlie McConalogue asked Ms Fitzgerald to state whether it was true that the two people behind the disclosures are likely to refuse to co-operate with any pending inquiry.

“The dysfunctionality of the Garda Síochána because of perceived system and management failures — it is hard to see beyond the saying, ‘something is rotten in the state of Denmark’,” said Mr McConalogue.

People are sheltering in libraries as they cannot afford fuel, claims Willie O’Dea?

VARADKAR HOPES TO INCREASE FUEL ALLOWANCE IN BUDGET BUT ‘CANNOT GUARANTEE IT AT THIS STAGE’

       

Willie O’Dea of Fianna Fáil: “Growing older increasingly seems to mean growing colder.

PEOPLE ARE USING PUBLIC TRANSPORT OR SHELTERING IN LIBRARIES BECAUSE THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO HEAT THEIR HOMES DURING THE DAY, ACCORDING TO FIANNA FÁIL SOCIAL PROTECTION SPOKESMAN WILLIE O’DEA.

Appealing to Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar to increase the fuel allowance in next week’s budget, he said organisations representing the elderly had conducted surveys showing “people who do not light a fire until the afternoon and who go to bed early in the winter to save fuel”.

“Other people resort to taking public transport or taking shelter in public libraries and other public buildings because they simply cannot afford to heat their homes properly for a sufficient period of time to enable them to live comfortably in their homes.” The Limerick city TD said, “Growing older increasingly seems to mean growing colder.”

Mr Varadkar said the fuel allowance was increased 10 per cent last year from €20 to €22.50, and he hoped they could continue “in the same direction” next year “but I cannot guarantee that at this stage”.

The allowance is given for 26 weeks to 380,000 households at a cost of €224 million, along with an electricity or gas allowance at a cost of €228 million.

Mr O’Dea said recent research found that the island of Ireland “has the highest rate of excess winter mortality in Europe, with an estimated 2,800 excess deaths each winter”, and fuel poverty was a factor in this.

Sligo Food train leaves Dublin for theWild Atlantic Way

   

L-R: Anthony Gray, Sligo Food Trail; Eva Dearie of Failte Ireland; Finbar Filan, Sligo BID; and Marguerite Quilann, Beltra Country Market.

FÁILTE IRELAND IS PARTNERING WITH IARNRÓD ÉIREANN AND THE SLIGO FOOD TRAIL TO BRING A GROUP OF VIP WRITERS TO SLIGO, AS PART OF A SERIES OF NEW INITIATIVES TO STIMULATE REGIONAL DISPERSION AND SEASONAL EXTENSION ALONG THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY.

The media VIPs will board a Sligo Food Train from Connolly Station to Sligo, where passengers will get to sample food from Sligo and also receive information on the Sligo Food Trail as they make their journey to the Wild Atlantic Way. Fáilte Ireland will also give a brief talk on the coastal route to the media as the train progresses towards Sligo.

The focus for Failte Ireland is to help businesses and regions broaden the so-called ‘shoulder seasons’ immediately prior to and following the main summer season in tourist destinations. This is especially important along the Wild Atlantic Way, where many businesses close outside of the peak months.

To this end Failte Ireland is supporting the Sligo Food Trail by partnering with Iarnród Éireann and bringing food writers and bloggers by train from Connolly Station to Sligo, where they will be treated to a 24 hour foodie experience in and around Sligo for this Sligo Harvest Feast event.

Fáilte Ireland’s Head of the Wild Atlantic Way, Fiona Monaghan said: “The Wild Atlantic Way has been incredibly popular with the domestic market and we believe there is great potential to grow activity outside of the summer season. We have been working with hundreds of businesses along the route – who have traditionally experienced a short tourism season – to help them become ‘autumn-ready’ and grow their trading season. With an emphasis on some of the quieter places, we are working to boost visitor traffic all along the route and especially beyond the usual hotspots throughout this autumn.”

For older women, caffeine could be pill needed in warding off dementia

   

Among a group of older women, self-reported caffeine consumption of more than 261 mg per day was associated with a 36% reduction in the risk of incident dementia over 10 years of follow-up. This level is equivalent to two to three 8-oz cups of coffee per day, five to six 8-oz cups of black tea, or seven to eight 12-ounce cans of cola.

Could drinking coffee be linked to a reduced risk of dementia?

Among a group of older women, self-reported caffeine consumption of more than 261 mg per day was associated with a 36% reduction in the risk of incident dementia over 10 years of follow-up. This level is equivalent to two to three 8-oz cups of coffee per day, five to six 8-oz cups of black tea, or seven to eight 12-ounce cans of cola.

“The mounting evidence of caffeine consumption as a potentially protective factor against cognitive impairment is exciting given that caffeine is also an easily modifiable dietary factor with very few contraindications,” said Ira Driscoll, PhD, the study’s lead author and a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “What is unique about this study is that we had an unprecedented opportunity to examine the relationships between caffeine intake and dementia incidence in a large and well-defined, prospectively-studied cohort of women.”

The findings come from participants in the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study, which is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Driscoll and her research colleagues used data from 6,467 community-dwelling, postmenopausal women aged 65 and older who reported some level of caffeine consumption. Intake was estimated from questions about coffee, tea, and cola beverage intake, including frequency and serving size.

In 10 years or less of follow-up with annual assessments of cognitive function, 388 of these women received a diagnosis of probable dementia or some form of global cognitive impairment. Those who consumed above the median amount of caffeine for this group (with an average intake of 261 mg per day) were diagnosed at a lower rate than those who fell below the median (with an average intake of 64 mg per day). The researchers adjusted for risk factors such as hormone therapy, age, race, education, body mass index, sleep quality, depression, hypertension, prior cardiovascular disease, diabetes, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

A 7,000 year-old York dog is forcing experts to rethink on Stonehenge

  

EVIDENCE OF THE EARLIEST JOURNEY IN BRITISH HISTORY HAS BEEN UNCOVERED AND A PET DOG CAME ALONG FOR THE GRUELLING 250-MILE TRIP FROM YORK TO STONEHENGE IN WILTSHIRE.

Archaeologist David Jacques has found evidence that Mesolithic man’s best friend was an Alsatian – and bones found nearby suggest the dog would have feasted on salmon, trout, pike, wild pig and red deer.

The domesticated dog tooth was dug up at Blick Mead, a site a mile from the World Heritage Site and scientific tests have shown the dog most likely came from the York area.

Mr Jacques said the findings were significant because archaeologists did not know people travelled such long distances 7,000 years ago and the journey adds to the weight of evidence of people coming to Stonehenge 2,000 years before the monument was built.

He said previous excavations uncovered a slate tool from Wales and stone tools from the Midlands and the West of England.

As the Ice Age had just ended, one of the attractions of Blick Mead would have been a natural spring in which the only puce stones in the country could be found.

It would also have been relatively easy to reach because the nearby River Avon was the M1 of its time. Large numbers of deer and aurochs – extinct massive prehistoric cattle – grazed there.

Burnt stones, wood and auroch bones from the site indicate that it was popular for feasting, an important ritual activity.

Mr Jacques, a senior research fellow at the University of Buckingham, said at that time prehistoric people were starting to tame dogs and keep them as pets and the Alsatian may even have been brought to Stonehenge to exchange.

“The fact that a dog and a group of people were coming to the area from such a long distance away further underlines just how important the place was four millennia before the circle was built,” he said.

“Discoveries like this give us a completely new understanding of the establishment of the ritual landscape and make Stonehenge even more special than we thought we knew it was.”

Andy Rhind-Tutt, chairman of Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust, said: “These amazing discoveries at Blick Mead are writing the history books of Mesolithic Britain.

“A dog tooth from York, a slate tool from Wales and a stone tool from the Midlands show that this wasn’t just the place to live at the end of the Ice Age, but was known by our ancestors for a long time widely across Britain. They kept coming here.”    

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Ireland’s older people should not have to pay more for “fair deal” health care,

Says Age Action

 

Government considers raising contribution under Fair Deal nursing home scheme

An unpublished Department of Health review lists a number of options for improving the funding of the Fair Deal scheme, including increasing the State contribution or making those in nursing homes pay more

Groups representing older people say they will oppose any attempt to increase the financial contribution by users of the Fair Deal nursing home scheme.

Age Action said the scheme was already fundamentally unfair, as no other section of society had to pay from their income, assets and home value towards their care.

It was responding to proposals by the Department of Health that could see applicants for Fair Deal having to pay more towards their care.

An unpublished review lists a number of options for improving the funding of the scheme, including increasing the State contribution or making those in nursing homes pay more.

Under one option, the level of assets discounted in the means test (€36,000) could be reduced, RTÉ’s Prime Timereported. Alternatively, the cap on the assets to be contributed could increase from 7.5%  to 10%.

It is also suggested older people should contribute to community services through a charge on their estate after they die.

Age Action head of advocacy Eamon Timmins said the scheme already causes hardship for older people. “The range of increased charges proposed by the document suggests a lack of understanding of the inequity of the scheme and that a belief that this inequity can be increased further – that older people who are sick and frail are a resource to be tapped time and again,” he said.

Alone chief executive Sean Moynihan said Fair Deal was not looking “particularly fair any more”. Asking older people to pay more was the easy way compared to reforming the system.

Increasing people’s contribution to the scheme could lead to cases of elder abuse, he warned. “Lifting the cap will result in a larger contribution being taken from the older person’s estate when they die. This could result in some families being less likely to put older relatives into nursing home care when they need it.”

State sets no more than 70 patients at any one time on trolleys as target

 

Fund of extra €74m to be allocated to hospital overcrowding and trolley crisis.

The Government has set new targets for hospitals to limit the number of patients who have to wait for lengthy periods on trolleys.

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said that by this winter there should be no more than 70 people at any one time waiting on trolleys for more than nine hours in hospitals.

He said the target formed part of a new initiative to tackle emergency department overcrowding. The Government is to provide €74 million in additional funding to deal with the hospital overcrowding and trolley crisis which has worsened in recent months.

As part of the initiative, €44 million is to be allocated to the Fair Deal nursing home scheme. The Minister said this would provide an additional 1,600 nursing home places and reduce the waiting time for approved applicants from 11 weeks to four weeks.

In addition, €30 million is to be earmarked to cover the cost of additional temporary contract beds until June and for more permanent community, convalescence and district hospital beds.

The measures are aimed at facilitating the discharge of patients who have completed their acute hospital care – so-called delayed discharge patients.

Mr Varadkar said overcrowding had eased since January but it remained higher than at this point last year. He also said while the number of delayed discharges had fallen from a peak of 850, the figure remained at over 700.

NURSING HOMES

“For these reasons, it is necessary to take additional action to provide more nursing home placements to free up acute hospital beds and make more community, convalescence and district hospital beds available.” He said the measures would take about eight weeks to be fully implemented.

“Reducing the level of delayed discharges and the wait for Fair Deal places in a meaningful way will improve significantly the situation in many hospitals.”

The announcement of the additional funding was made as the emergency department taskforce plan was published.

The plan produced by the taskforce includes measures to reduce delayed discharges and lengths of stay, in line with agreed Health Service Executive national service plan targets. It also includes measures to develop and extend access routes to urgent care; ensure integrated discharge planning; improve chronic disease management, and ensure effective leadership and oversight in hospitals.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association said the actions “did not go far enough to deal properly with the unacceptable delays for patients”.

Figures boost for Irish Government Coalition amid concerns for under funded hospitals

  

With just a year to go to a general election, all is going swimmingly well for the Government, at least on the economic front, 

Every economic data release continues to move in the right direction, which will, in theory, make life more difficult for the opposition over the coming year if they adopt the approach of attacking the Government’s economic competency. Many commentators and opposition politicians have expounded the view over recent years that the economy would never recover and that fiscal austerity would destroy us forever.

This is proving not to be the case and, despite the savage fiscal adjustment since 2008, consumer and business confidence levels are climbing steadily and a more solid and broad-based recovery is taking hold.

This is not to suggest that all is perfect. On the contrary, many of our important public services are creaking at the edges and are, at best, sub-standard. It has to be hoped that, as the economy gets better, the resources devoted to vital public services will increase and the efficiency of public service delivery will be addressed.

It has been proven in the past that merely throwing resources at public services does not necessarily improve their quality. But if people were to see an improvement in the quality of health, education, law and order, and public infrastructure, then the recovery would start to feel more real and the political dividend must just flow to those responsible.

Of all the economic indicators we track, the labour market is by far the most important. For every person who comes off the live register and moves into employment, the State saves €21,000. For individuals struggling with debt, attaining a meaningful job can make a significant difference, both mentally and financially.

In this context, the news continues to get better. In March, the number of people on the live register, which is not a measure of unemployment but is a good indicator of the health of the labour market, fell to 348,700, which means it has declined 42,556 over the past year and by 76,400 over the past two years.

The unemployment rate has fallen to 10% of the labour market, down from over 15% three years ago. Despite what the cynics might suggest, this is an impressive labour market performance and does suggest that the economic policy approach is working. For some, that is a bitter pill to swallow.

For Government and other policy-makers, it is essential that efforts continue to be directed at further improving labour market conditions. In this context, recent utterances from the trade union side give cause for concern.

The notion that we would start to increase public sector pay in an environment where the Exchequer is taking in over €6bn less than it collects in revenue makes no sense. On the private sector front, allowing wages to creep back up at a time when the recovery is still trying to gain traction would not be advisable but would just undermine competitiveness and further press the already pressed small business sector.

If Government is going to ramp up spending, it should direct it at capital projects rather than public sector pay; and it should also adjust personal taxation to put money back in the pockets of the squeezed private sector. Economically, it would be much more advantageous to help people through a cut in the direct tax burden rather than through wage increases.

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) is arguing for some leeway from the EU to facilitate higher capital expenditure, which echoes a call last week from the International Monetary Fund. This makes a lot of sense. The IFAC is less enthusiastic about tax cuts, which also echoes recent advice from the ESRI.

As I wrote last week, while such advice makes perfect economic sense, it fails to recognise the political realities facing Government over the coming year. Tax cuts would be far preferable to wage increases. The reality is this is what the choice will be. The hope is that workers will be less anxious to push for wage increases if there is a pledge to gradually reduce the tax burden. Perhaps that is too much to hope for and maybe I think I live in Utopia.

Spirits roused by music and hula-hoops for Dunne’s Stores strikers in Galway

 

Public expresses sympathy at several city branches

Tánaiste Joan Burton meets striking Dunne’s Stores workers and union representatives on the picket line at Henry Street in Dublin.

Music, hula-hooping and beeping horns roused strikers’ spirits at several Dunnes Stores outlets in Galway today.

Small numbers of shoppers and Dunne’s Stores staff had passed pickets by lunchtime.

“We’ve had great support from the public, and our only problem is the number of young staff who decided to show up for work – when we are doing this for them,” Mandate union member Margaret Kelly said outside the Dunne’s Stores branch at Westside.

Ms. Kelly, who has worked with the company for 14 years, said her contract was “one of the better ones”.

“So it’s sad to see some people leaving the union to show up for work, and I can only think it’s because they are frightened of losing hours altogether,” she said.

She described how her daughter, who works at another branch, had found herself the only member of her section supporting strike action earlier on Thursday morning.

“We aren’t looking for more money, but for some decent working conditions,”Ms. Kelly said.

“We are doing this for our grandchildren, but some staff just don’t seem to understand that,”she added.

“The management put up rosters on Tuesday, but can change those by Wednesday and say it is because of ‘budgets’, “she said.

“Your wages can vary from €450 a week to €150 a week, depending on one manager, “she said, adding that she feared her hours would be cut next week because of her action.

Outside Westside, rock-trad band Cúla Búla played some jigs and reels in support of the Mandate members, as part of their grand tour of six Dunne’s Stores branches in Galway. Their “support” was Shazzy, the hula-hooping performance artist.

The band said they had taken a break from working on their first studio-recorded album, which is due out in a few weeks.

“Car drivers have been beeping their horns, people expressing their support, and it’s been really effective so far, “band member Will O’Brien said. “This is one of Ireland’s biggest corporations, and it seems shocking that it would refuse to negotiate with staff.”

Former city mayor and Independent councillor Catherine Connolly visited each of the Galway branches to voice her support. “It’s interesting, and heartening, to see that the majority of strikers are women – leading the way,”she said.

In Knocknacarra, one of Galway’s largest suburbs, a half-empty carpark at 2pm on one of the busiest shopping days of the season reflected the level of public support.

“I had no idea things were so bad – but you’d wonder about how other shopping chains are treating their staff,” said Pat Butler, a local resident collecting a prescription in a nearby chemist.

Eating more eggs and dairy could cut your risk of diabetes?

   

Eating more eggs and dairy could reduce the risk of diabetes, according to new research from two Nordic countries.

In a study from the University of Eastern Finland looking at the dietary habits of more than 2,332 men, those who ate around four eggs per week were found to have a 37% lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those who only ate one a week.

The men, aged between 42 and 60, took part in a study from 1984 to1989 and found that following up just under 20 years later, 432 men were diagnosed with the disease.

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, said that eggs contained many nutrients that could affect glucose metabolism and low-grade inflammation.

However eating more than four eggs was not found to bring any significant additional benefits.

Type 2 Diabetes is becoming increasingly widespread throughout the world, with research showing that lifestyle habits, such as exercise and nutrition play a crucial role in the development of the disease.

Jyrki Virtanen, adjunct professor of nutritional epidemiology a the University of Eastern Finland, said there had been little previous scientific evidence either way on eggs and diabetes risk.

As a result, the new findings underlined the problem with demonising single dietary ingredients.

He said: “A possible explanation is that unlike in many other populations, egg consumption in Finland is not strongly associated with unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking, low physical activity or consumption of processed meats.”

“The study also suggests that the overall health effects of foods are difficult to anticipate based on an individual nutrient such as cholesterol alone.”

Meanwhile, a second study from Lund University in Sweden found that eating high fat cheese and yoghurt lowered the risk of type 2 diabetes by a quarter, but high fat meat increased the risk.

Scientists examined the eating habits of 27,000 people aged 45 to 74 in the early 1990s, and found 2,860 people were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 20 years later.

Dr Ulrika Ericson said: “When we investigated the consumption of saturated fatty acids that are slightly more common in dairy products than in meat, we observed a link with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

“However, we have not ruled out the possibility that other components of dairy products such as yogurt and cheese may have contributed to our results.

“Moreover, different food components can interact with each other. For example, in one study, saturated fat in cheese appeared to have less of a cholesterol-raising effect than saturated fat in butter.

“Our results suggest that we should not focus solely on fat, but rather consider what foods we eat. Many foodstuffs contain different components that are harmful or beneficial to health, and it is the overall balance that is important.”

Astronauts could land on Mars by year 2039

   

A new report has revealed that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) could send humans to Mars within next 15-25 years.

The space agency’s Mars mission could reach orbit by 2030, and it is possible that a team of astronauts will be waking on the red planet by 2039.

The Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization involved in research and engineering projects related to astronomy, recently held a workshop to discuss strategies for sending humans to Mars.

The goal of the Humans Orbiting Mars workshop was to gather expert science, engineering, and policy professionals to build a consensus on the key elements of a long-term, cost constrained, executable program to send humans to Mars.

At the workshop, a credible plan for a long-term Humans to Mars program that constrains costs by minimizing new developments was presented.

An orbital mission in 2033 is required for a sustainable, executable, and successful Humans to Mars program. The mission will enable scientific exploration of Mars and its moons while developing essential experience in human travel from Earth to the Mars system.

“Getting humans to Mars is far more complex than getting to Earth’s Moon,” Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye said. “But space exploration brings out the best in us. By reaching consensus on the right set of missions, we can send humans to Mars without breaking the bank.”

The Planetary Society noted that an independent cost estimate showed that NASA could launch such a mission with costs falling within its budget.

“We believe we now have an example of a long term, cost constrained, and executable humans to Mars program,” said Professor Scott Hubbard, workshop chair and Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University. “This workshop was an important step in community-building among the many groups interested in Mars science and exploration.”