Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG (Paddy's day) 2014

Social welfare fraud tip-offs to office hit 2,000 every month

 

An average of 2,000 people every month reported a suspected case of welfare fraud to the authorities last year, new figures show.

The news comes as the Social Protection department is preparing a new anti-fraud strategy and is also going ahead with plans to add 20 Gardai to its fraud investigation team of 91 inspectors.

The recruitment of Gardai, who will retain their policing powers, drew widespread criticism of Social Protection Minister Joan Burton when it was announced last October.

But she said the fight against welfare fraud is a priority to safeguard taxpayers’ money and ensure fairness for all.

The secondment of Gardai is a trial scheme and the closing date for applications is next Monday, March 24.

It is expected the gardai will be deployed in Dublin, Dundalk, Letterkenny, Monaghan, Longford, Galway, Cork, Limerick, Navan and Sligo.

The latest statistics from the Department of Social Protection show that it received almost 25,000 anonymous tip-offs about suspected welfare fraud in 2013. This is down from the high point of over 28,000 anonymous reports in 2012 but still up markedly on the 16,000-plus reports received in 2011.

Officials stress that an anonymous tip-off is only the start of an investigation process and nobody is cut off until a clear breach of the welfare rules is established.

“In some cases the reports involve people not breaking any rules – for example, somebody receiving a one-parent family allowance and working a set number of hours as permitted by the rules,” one official said.

The Social Protection department does not want to publicise just how many anonymous tip-offs lead to the detection of welfare cheating.

But officials insist that the anonymous tip-offs are an important part of the battle against welfare fraud.

The department is currently updating its 2011-2013 anti-fraud strategy and a new plan is due for publication shortly.

Attention

The staff at the department’s ‘Special Investigations Unit’ already work closely with the Revenue Commissioners and Gardai.

Officials say they pay particular attention to schemes deemed most likely to be abused and also to sectors where casual work is most prevalent.

Irish customers of our banks have more problems than other countries have

  

Irish customers experience more problems with their banks than any other country in the world, a new research has found.

Irish banking customers, along with those living in Denmark and Spain, reported more incidents with banks per customer than in any of the 42 countries surveyed in a global banking study of more than 32,000 people by accounting giant Ernst & Young (EY).

The Irish were also among the most dissatisfied in the world with how banks resolved their complaints – half of people surveyed said complaints had not been resolved to their satisfaction.

The results come just weeks after the country’s banks were named and shamed by the Financial Services Ombudsman for the first time for their poor handling of customer complaints.

The banks publicly identified by the Financial Services Ombudsman included AIB, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland, Bank of Scotland and Danske Bank.

The damning findings in this latest research are particularly surprising because they contradict global trends.

On average, the survey found, confidence in the banking industry is on the rise, trust in banks is high and most customers are satisfied enough to recommend their main banking provider.

In Ireland, by contrast, 62pc said confidence had fallen in the past year.

Loan application refusals and charges for making a purchase were the biggest sources of complaints.

Transparency about fees and guidance on how to avoid them was the third most common source of dissatisfaction.

The Irish results were surprising, said EY financial services director Patricia Stack, given that Ireland’s banks have been investing heavily in customer service of late. “Consumer confidence globally has gone up but the results for Ireland are less positive, with confidence and trust levels decreasing the most since 2012,” said Ms Stack.

“Banks have some way to go to improve this – for example, increasing transparency around fees and charges. Additionally, improving how they deal with resolving problems or complaints will be critical if banks are to continue to win confidence and build trust.”

“The high level of customer complaints is a strong signal that banks need to get better at communicating their fees and charges with their customers.

“The good news is that solving a problem or addressing a complaint creates a critical customer interaction, which, if done well, can actually increase a customer’s business,” said Ms Stack.

Customers are increasingly on the move, the survey also found. Globally, half of respondents had opened or closed at least one product in the past year and two fifths planned to in the coming year.

Of the 60pc who were not planning to close or move their accounts, confidence in their provider was not the motivator. Nearly a fifth said it was just too difficult or time-consuming to change.

“Bank customers are not being actively retained; they simply remain with their current provider through inertia and are therefore vulnerable to competitors.

Meanwhile, new types of financial services providers with new technologies and customised services are penetrating the global marketplace and cannot be ignored” said Ms Stack.

Links & reports of stroke-drug related deaths entirely incorrect

     

There has been links between certain stroke medications and deaths.

Medical experts have urged people who take medication for strokes to continue to do so despite revelations that 19 deaths were associated with the drugs.

Some 19 deaths over the past two years were associated with the consumption of two blood-thinning drugs known as Xarelto and Pradaxa, which are used to prevent strokes.

However, the Irish Medicine Board (IMB) has said that all of the people who died had “very serious underlying conditions” and said that none of the deaths were linked to either forms of stroke medication.

It added: “The IMB continually advises that people should not cease taking any medicine without seeking medical advice and would advise anyone who has any concerns to talk to their doctor.”

The reported deaths were said to be three times higher than those linked to the older standard stroke drug, known as Warfarin.

In a statement, the IMB claimed elements of the story published in yesterday’s edition of ‘The Sunday Business Post’ were “entirely incorrect”.

It stated: “Assumptions based on comparing reports received for Warfarin with Pradaxa and Xarelto would be entirely incorrect as it is not comparing like with like. Medicine reporting rates are influenced by many factors, including the age of the medicine (with more reports received for newer medicines), the nature of the medicine and publicity about a medicine.

“Thus the reports of fatalities associated with the use of a medicine are not directly attributable to the usage of that medicine; it’s down to a number of factors including proactive calls for reporting on a medicine; the patients having significant underlying illness and treated with multiple medicines and/or surgery.”

The IMB also defended the 188 reports of suspected adverse reactions associated with the Xarelto and Pradaxa it had received in the past two years.

“Numerical comparisons cannot be made on the basis of reports received for Pradaxa, Xarelto and Warfarin and would be misleading.

“Adverse reaction reporting rates for Warfarin, which is a well-established medicine and has been available for over 50 years, would be expected to be lower than those for the newer drugs, where there is a significant effort to remind and request healthcare professionals and members of the public to report all reactions – including those suspected and expected.”

Honey could be the great antibiotic hope

  

Honey has long been known to have anti-bacterial properties. 

Honey could be the key in the battle against antibiotic resistance, experts have said. As well as being a tasty treat, honey could be used to help fight infections, they said.

Scientists at Salve Regina University in the US said that honey has a combination of weapons to beat infection including hydrogen peroxide, acidity, high sugar concentration and polyphenols – all of which actively kill bacterial cells.

CORBETT HOSPITAL DASH

COMEDIAN Ronnie Corbett was rushed to hospital suffering from chest pains, his wife said.

The 83-year-old underwent tests for several days last week before being discharged in time to attend the memorial of close friend Sir David Frost.

SNAIL VENOM PAINKILLER

EXPERTS are attempting to create a pain relief drug derived from snail venom used to paralyse their prey.

Scientists have reported creating five new “experimental substances” based on a tiny protein found in the venom of a cone snail. The substances, which could potentially be stronger than morphine, could one day lead to the development of a drug to treat chronic nerve pain, the scientists at the University of Queensland, Australiasaid.

MALE MINDS AND SEX

MEN would spend more than four hours having sex and barely three-and-a-half hours working during an “ideal day”, a survey has found.

Research conducted for Unilever Compressed deodorants also found 64pc of men confessed to regularly using their smartphones and tablets while on the toilet – while 26pc planned a to-do list while being intimate with their partner.

$1M FOR A TREEHOUSE

A US man has been told he can keep a treehouse he built for his sons – if he takes out a $1m insurance policy.

Two months after moving into a house in Wenatchee in Washington state, Zeb Postelwait received his first notice from the city to tear it down. Officials reportedly said the treehouse overhangs the public pavement. But Mr Postelwait disagrees and said he would not take out the insurance policy.

FOSSIL FIND AT SUBWAY

SCIENTISTS have long known that years before tourists were trekking Los Angeles’s Miracle Mile, dinosaurs were doing so.

A subway dig at the La Brea Tar Pits has reportedly uncovered a treasure trove of prehistoric artefacts including molluscs, asphalt-saturated sand dollars – and possibly the mouth of a sea lion.

Global sea levels could rise much faster than scientists previously imagined

  

Scientists say that the Greenland ice sheet has contributed more than any other ice mass to sea level rise over the past two decades and has the potential to raise global sea level by more than 7 metres

North-east corner of Greenland ice sheet, excluded from computer simulations predicting sea rise as it was considered ‘stable’, has lost 10 billion tonnes of ice a year since 2003.

Sea levels across the world are set to rise much faster than previously imagined as the Greenland ice sheet, which has been stable up to now, has started to melt.

Regional warming has triggered a sudden and sustained mass loss in Northeast Greenland ice sheet.

Scientists found that the northeast Greenland ice sheet lost about 10 billion tons of ice a year from April 2003 to April 2012.

The Greenland ice sheet is thought to be one of the largest contributors to global sea level rise over the past 20 years, accounting for 0.5 millimetres of the current total of 3.2 millimetres of sea level rise per year.

According to previous measurements and aerial photographs, the northeast Greenland ice sheet margin appeared to be stable for 25 years – until 2003.

Northeast Greenland, where the glacier is found, is of particular interest as numerical model predictions have suggested there is no significant mass loss for this sector, leading to a probable underestimation of future global sealevel rise from the region.

An international team of scientists, including Professor Jonathan Bamber from the University of Bristol, studied the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream which extends more than 600 km into the interior of the ice sheet: much further than any other in Greenland.

Professor Bamber said “The Greenland ice sheet has contributed more than any other ice mass to sea level rise over the past two decades and has the potential, if it were completely melted, to raise global sea level by more than seven metres. About half of the increased contribution of the ice sheet is due to the speed up of glaciers in the south and northwest. Until recently, Northeast Greenland has been relatively stable. This new study shows that is no longer the case”.

The international team of scientists discovered that the last remaining stable portion of the Greenland ice sheet is stable no more.

The new result focuses on ice loss due to a major retreat of an outlet glacier connected to a long river of ice – known as an ice stream – that drains ice from the interior of the ice sheet.

The Zachariae ice stream retreated about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) over the last decade, the researchers concluded.

For comparison, one of the fastest moving glaciers, the Jakobshavn ice stream in southwest Greenland, has retreated 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) over the last 150 years.

Ice streams drain ice basins, the same way the Amazon River drains the very large Amazon water basin.

“Northeast Greenland is very cold. It used to be considered the last stable part of the Greenland ice sheet,” explained lead investigator Michael Bevis of The Ohio State University. “This study shows that ice loss in the northeast is now accelerating. So, now it seems that all of the margins of the Greenland ice sheet are unstable”.

Study leader Shfaqat Abbas Khan, a senior researcher at the National Space Institute at the Technical University of Denmark, said that the finding is cause for concern.

“The fact that the mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet has generally increased over the last decades is well-known but the increasing contribution from the north-eastern part of the ice sheet is new and very surprising,” Khan said.

Climate change could lead to famines sooner & by the 2030’s

    

Crop yields could be in danger sooner than we thought.

New research suggests that from the 2030′s onwards man-made climate change will significantly reduce crop yield in temperate and tropical regions.

“Our research shows that crop yields will be negatively affected by climate change much earlier than expected,” Professor Andy Challinor, from the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds and lead author of the study, said in a news release. “Furthermore, the impact of climate change on crops will vary both from year-to-year and from place-to-place – with the variability becoming greater as the weather becomes increasingly erratic.”

The researchers created a new data set by looking at 1,700 published assessments on how climate change will affect rice, maize and wheat crops. The team was able to gather the largest-ever dataset on crop responses.

In the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report researchers reported that regions such as Europe and the majority of North America would be able to deal with a few degrees of warming without seeing it affect seasonal harvests. These new findings will be incorporated into the panel’s fifth report set to be published in the near future.

“As more data have become available, we’ve seen a shift in consensus, telling us that the impacts of climate change in temperate regions will happen sooner rather than later,” Professor Challinor said.

The research team concluded the world would see crop consequences after a warming of only two degrees Celsius, or by the 2030s. In the second half of the century decreases of over 25 percent could be even more common.

In some regions farmers have already been forced to adjust their planting dates or crop variety in order to adapt to warming temperatures.

“Climate change means a less predictable harvest, with different countries winning and losing in different years. The overall picture remains negative, and we are now starting to see how research can support adaptation by avoiding the worse impacts,” Professor Challinor said.   

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Tuesday

Make Meatless Mondays a weekly practice for 2014?

and IT WILL BE GOOD FOR THE CLIMATE AS WELL

       

This year has seen much heated debate over climate change – on the campaign trail, in Washington and in newspaper headlines. But a conclusion shared by a growing number of climate experts underscores the fact that Americans can do more than just debate climate change; each and every one of us can take action to fix the problem.

In fact, every time we sit down to eat we can choose to help stop global warning, and it’s as easy as eating our fruits and vegetables.

Let’s look at the big picture. Raising enormous numbers of animals for food—tens of billions globally—causes significant emissions of three of the most important climate-changing gases — methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide – which disrupts weather, temperature and ecosystem health.

This is one reason the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations calls animal agriculture one of the top causes of climate change, contributing nearly 20 percent of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, the mass production of farm animals is a main cause of deforestation, clearing land for grazing as well as to grow corn and soy to feed to billions of farm animals. I don’t think we could create a less efficient and more environmentally troublesome model to feed the world if we tried.

And, of course, the industrial scale production methods inherent to factory farming are the source of inhumane practices and large amounts of animal suffering.

With the mounting evidence of animal agriculture’s damaging toll, leading climate experts, environmental organizations and animal welfare advocates are urging people to take one simple action to yield big results for the planet: eat less meat.

Rajendra Pachauri, Ph.D., the chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Vice President Gore, makes no bones about his stance, stating “Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there…”

The European Union has come to the same conclusion. This year, a study for European Commission found that among the behavioral options studied, the continent’s greatest potential for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 was to simply reduce its meat intake.

As we start out this New Year and plan how to better ourselves and the world around us, we can start by cutting back on meat for a more sustainable  and more compassionate planet.

Eating less meat is a simple solution to a big problem, which is why the Meatless Mondays campaign has gained such widespread support among climate scientists, environmental nonprofits, celebrities like Oprah and Paul McCartney,  more than 2,400 hospitals, schools and restaurants  and millions of Americans.

An increasing numbers of family farmers also are voicing their support for Meatless Monday as a means to achieve a more sustainable agricultural system. With the rise of industrial-style consolidation, more and more animals are being raised on fewer farms with the result being that factory farming has harmed animals, farmers, and the environment alike.

Eating less meat might be the most simple – and delicious – way to help combat global warming and factory farming in 2013. At The Humane Society of the United States, we call it implementing the Three R’s: reducing the consumption of meat and other animal-based foods; refining the diet by avoiding products from the worst production systems, like gestation crates for breeding pigs and barren battery cages for egg-laying hens; and replacing meat and other animal-based foods in the diet with plant-based foods.

While we don’t know what steps will be taken in 2014 to combat climate change by the world’s politicians and businesses, we can take action for a more sustainable planet every time we eat, and January 1 is as good a day as any to get started.

Small Firms Association warning that tax rates in Ireland are an impediment

  

The Small Firms Association (SFA) has warned that Ireland’s tax rates are an impediment to entrepreneurship and business start-ups.

SFA chairman AJ Noonan said that despite the impact on the sector in the years since 2008, there are still 200,000 small firms in Ireland, employing 655,000 people and 13,000 new businesses being set up each year.

BUT HE WARNED THAT TAX RATES WERE TOO HIGH.

“The marginal tax rate of 55pc for self-employed at average earnings is well above the OECD average of 36pc. These levels of tax rates are unusual across OECD countries and it is an obstacle for entrepreneurs and business start-ups,” said Mr Noonan.

“Ireland’s small business sector is deeply embedded in the Irish economy; it is now time to put jobs and small business at the centre of everything. With the right environment small businesses in Ireland will generate 20,000 jobs in 2014.”

Eight Sleeping Positions and their effects on your Health

 8 

Getting enough sleep is the most important thing – but did you know that how you sleep can also impact your health? Let’s take a look at eight common sleeping positions and what they do to your body.

1. ON YOUR BACK, ARMS AT SIDES

  Sleeping on your back with your arms at your side is generally considered to be the best sleeping position for spine health and it’s good for your neck, too, as long as you don’t use too many pillows. That said, back sleepers tend to snore more than those in any other position and sleep apnea is strongly associated with sleeping on the back.

2. ON YOUR BACK, ARMS UP

 This so-called “starfish” position is also good for the back. Whether you have your arms up around your pillow or not, sleeping on your back may also help to prevent facial wrinkles and skin breakouts. However, like the arms-down back sleeping position, this one can also result in snoring and problems with acid reflux. Plus, having your arms up can put pressure on nerves in your shoulders, leading to pain.

3. FACE DOWN

  Sleeping on your stomach can improve digestion but unless you’ve developed a way to breathe through your pillow, it most likely leads to you tilting your face in one direction or the other. This can put a lot of strain on the neck. Sleeping face down can also cause back pain, as the curve of the spine is not supported.

4. FETAL POSITION

  Sleeping all curled up into a ball with your knees drawn up and your chin tilted down might be comfortable but it can do a number on your back and neck.

The extreme curl of the fetal position can also restrict deep breathing. That considered, sleeping like a fetus can have you sleeping like a baby if you typically have problems with snoring or if you’re pregnant.

5. ON SIDE, ARMS AT SIDES

  When you’re sleeping on your side with both arms down, the spine is best supported in its natural curve. This can definitely help reduce back and neck pain while also reducing sleep apnea. The downside? Sleeping on the side can contribute to skin aging due to gravity, meaning facial wrinkles and sagging breasts.

6. ON SIDE, ARMS OUT

This position has many of the same benefits of sleeping on your side with your arms straight down. However, any side sleeping can cause shoulder and arm pain due to restricted blood flow and pressure on the nerves, which may be exacerbated by having your arms out in front of you.

7. ON THE RIGHT SIDE

  If you’re a side-sleeper, which side you sleep on also makes a difference. Sleeping on the right side can worsen heartburn while sleeping on the left side can put strain on internal organs like the liver, lungs, and stomach (while minimizing acid reflux). For pregnant sleepers, doctors typically advise sleeping on the left side, since this can improve circulation to the fetus.

8. PILLOW-SUPPLEMENTED

Regardless of which sleeping position you prefer, it’s highly likely that you can get a better night’s rest with less pain in the morning by supplementing your body with a pillow.

Back sleepers can put a small pillow under the arch of their spine, side sleepers can place a pillow between their knees, and stomach sleepers can place a pillow under their hips to support the joints and allow for full, pain-free relaxation.

Social welfare fraud claim tip-offs rocket to 21,000

 

More than 21,000 cases of suspected welfare fraud have been reported to the Department of Social Protection in anonymous tip-offs by members of the public this year.

The massive increase in reports of people abusing the social welfare system, up 2,500pc in just five years, shows that public acceptance of such practices has dropped since the economic collapse.

People allegedly working while claiming benefits make up the majority of the reports, while others related to allegations that lone parents were living with their partners and that people living outside the jurisdiction were claiming benefits.

TRIGGER: Social Protection Minister Joan Burton said that each report made by a member of the public is followed up but social welfare payment is not suspended or stopped solely on the basis of an anonymous report.

The tip-offs, however, may trigger a review of a person’s entitlements.

Minister Burton is expected to soon announce record savings of more than €700m through targeting fraud and clerical errors during 2013.

While the number of anonymous tip-offs from the public has grown rapidly, only 16pc resulted in welfare payments being reduced of stopped, according to a recent survey.

2013 a record year for organ transplants in Ireland

SAYS KIDNEY ASSOCIATION

   

THE NUMBER OF LUNG TRANSPLANTS AT THE MATER DOUBLES TO 32

This year was a “record” one for organ transplants in the State which reached 293 , the Irish Kidney Association said today.

There were 18 more transplants this year than in the previous record year of 2011, according to end-of-year figures released by the association.

It said the highlight achievement for the year was the more than doubling in the number of lung transplants at theMater Hospital from 14 in 2012 to 32 in 2013. This figure is more than the total number of transplants from 2009 to 2012.

There was also a record 38 living donors taking part in the kidney transplants atBeaumont Hospital, the association said. It also noted that 86 deceased donors saved the lives of 245 people, ten of whom received two organs.

Beaumont Hospital’s transplant team had record activity with 195 transplant operations and 38 living donor operations, the association said. There were 185 kidney operations at the hospital in 2013.

In addition there were 55 liver transplants at St. Vincent’s Hospital and 11 heart transplants at the Mater Hospital.

“Transplantation is a national team effort. The public are an essential element of the team with their generosity to donate organs,” Mark Murphy, chief executive of the Irish Kidney Association said in a statement.

He said transplant teams from St Vincent’s Hospital, the Mater Hospital and Beaumont Hospital had achieved “outstanding results in very difficult times for the health service”.

The HSE’s service plan for 2014 planned more investment in management of organ donation giving “encouragement to the 550 people on transplant waiting lists (of which 480 are waiting for kidneys)”, he said.

For organ donor cards freetext DONOR to 50050 or visitika.ie

€1.75m paid to Irish Farmers to protect 344 rare Hen Harrier birds

 

Forget about the millions of euro spent on turkeys this Christmas, Ireland’s most expensive bird is the rare and protected Hen Harrier.

New figures show that the Government spend on the bird of prey in the 10 months to the end of October this year amounted to €1.75m — or an average spend of over €5,000 per recorded adult bird.

The most recent national survey recorded between 128 and 172 breeding pairs across the country, giving an estimated total of 344 adult birds.

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the Department of Arts and Heritage confirmed that €1.75m was spent on conservation measures for the bird between January and October 20.

The largest proportion of the monies goes to farmers whose land is located in Special Protection Areas for the Hen Harrier. In the first 10 months of this year, farmers received €1.64m.

The highest amount was received by a Co Clare-based farmer who received €16,054 — with two other farmers from that county receiving in excess of €14,000. Two farmers from Co Galway received the second and third highest amounts at €15,097 and €14,884.

The vast proportion of the remainder — €97,342 — went on farmer planner fees.

SUPPORTED: In a statement yesterday, the Department of Arts and Heritage said it believed that the overall spend on the Hen Harrier represented value for money for the taxpayer.

A spokesman said: “Without the traditional type of hill farming in Hen Harrier areas being supported, it would be expected that the Hen Harrier population would decline and possibly become extinct. The Hen Harrier is a magnificent bird of prey and a beautiful part of Ireland’s natural heritage.”

The spokesman also claimed that the scheme supported farmers to remain on the land.

“The general trend in the absence of such a scheme has been land abandonment and rural depopulation, and without this scheme it is likely that much more high nature value farmland and habitat would have been lost,” he said.

Climate change worse than Scientists thought?

‘CATASTROPHIC RATHER THAN SIMPLY DANGEROUS’

      

Climate change may be far worse than scientists thought, causing global temperatures to rise by at least 4 degrees Celsius by 2100, or about 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a new study.

The study, published in the journal Nature, takes a fresh look at clouds’ effect on the planet, according to a report by The Guardian. The research found that as the planet heats, fewer sunlight-reflecting clouds form, causing temperatures to rise further in an upward spiral.

That number is double what many governments agree is the threshold for dangerous warming. Aside from dramatic environmental shifts like melting sea ice, many of the ills of the modern world — starvation, poverty, war and disease — are likely to get worse as the planet warms.

“4C would likely be catastrophic rather than simply dangerous,” lead researcherSteven Sherwood told the Guardian. “For example, it would make life difficult, if not impossible, in much of the tropics, and would guarantee the eventual melting of the Greenland ice sheet and some of the Antarctic ice sheet.”

Another report released earlier this month said the abrupt changes caused by rapid warming should be cause for concern, as many of climate change’s biggest threats are those we aren’t ready for.

In September, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said it was “extremely likely” that human activity was the dominant cause of global warming, or about 95 percent certain — often the gold standard in scientific accuracy.

“If this isn’t an alarm bell, then I don’t know what one is. If ever there were an issue that demanded greater cooperation, partnership, and committed diplomacy, this is it,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after the IPCC report was released.