Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

EU ruling on Ireland’s Controversial Apple tax deal  backed by MEPs

COMPETITION CHIEF LAUDED FOR DECISION ON FIRM’S €13BN LIABILITY DUE TO ILLEGAL STATE AID

   

EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR COMPETITION MARGRETHE VESTAGER WAS CONGRATULATED BY MEPS FOR HER DECISION AGAINST IRELAND ON APPLE TAX RULING..

Ireland’s political isolation over the Apple ruling was laid bare on Wednesday as MEPs overwhelmingly backed the EU’s finding that the State had offered illegal state aid to the US multinational.

In a highly-charged, though sparsely attended, debate at the European Parliament, MEPs from across the political spectrum lined up to congratulate EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager on her decision against Ireland.

“Citizens who have been asked for great sacrifices cannot understand that big multinationals do not participate in this collective effort,” said Spanish MEPPablo Zalba Bidgegain.

“We as European citizens have to thank for the commissioner for her effort and for remaining so strong on the Apple case. These kinds of actions undoubtedly contribute to European citizens seeing [the European Union] as part of a solution not as a problem.”

Green MEP Sven Gielgold, a long-time tax justice campaigner, said Ms Vestager “deserved a medal” for her actions, while his colleague Philippe Lamberts said he wanted to “clone” the Danish commissioner for taking on multinationals.

German centre-right MEP Markus Ferber congratulated Ms Vestager in finding the “right lever” for tackling unfair taxation through state aid law, “even though it rewards those who ought to be punished”, referring to Ireland’s decision not to accept the €13 billion in recovered taxes.

Other MEPs referred to the funds that were extended to Ireland during the bailout, while a French MEP recalled how she had raised concerns about tax competition with former commissioner Charlie McCreevy.

While the European Parliament has little power over EU competition policy, it has taken a leading role in efforts to clamp down on multitax avoidance by establishing special tax committees in the wake of the Luxembourg Leaks and Panama Papers scandals.

Fine Gael’s Seán Kelly and Brian Hayes were among the only MEPs to question the European Commission ruling. Mr Kelly referred to it as “profoundly wrong and extremely damaging to Ireland”, while Mr Hayes accused the commission of displaying a determination “to get Apple from the start of this investigation”

Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy said that, while he supported the principle of tax sovereignty, the decision to appeal was “morally wrong and financially stupid”.

Irish food exporters must now deal with the Brexit fallout

ORNUA BOSS ISSUES WARNING AT OPENING OF NEW KERRYGOLD FACILITY IN MITCHELSTOWN, CO CORK

   

(Left pic.) Ken Maguire, general manager of Kerrygold Park, at the official opening of the facility in Mitchelstown Co Cork.

IRISH FOOD AND DAIRY EXPORTERS WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE FALLOUT FROM BREXIT, PARTICULARLY IF STERLING CONTINUES TO WEAKEN, ACCORDING TO THE HEAD OF ORNUA,KEVIN LANE.

Mr Lane was speaking as he attended the opening of the organisation’s new €38 million Kerrygold butter-making plant that will create 65 new jobs inMitchelstown, Co Cork.

Mr Lane said Brexit was not the result that Ornua had hoped for in the UK’s referendum in June on EU membership, but Irish food exporters will now have to deal with it.

“We are not pleased about [Brexit]. That is a hammer blow to us. We certainly didn’t want to see the vote that came in but we’ve got to deal with it.

“We supply a lot of cheese and butter in the UK and we have four manufacturing facilities in the UK, where we are employing 700 people.

“The last thing we wanted to see was sterling weaken so much after the Brexit vote, it’s a challenge for the Irish dairy industry to go into that market . . . we have got to deal with it to make sure that we can minimise the disruption to our business,” he said.

Mr Lane said the new facility in Mitchelstown will enable Ornua to achieve its target of producing 50,000 tonnes of butter per annum within four years, for export to some 31 countries, including the US, which is currently its largest market.

“We have currently €750 million of retail sales around the world and we hope to grow that to €1 billion by Year 4, when we hope to be producing 1,000 tonnes of butter a week for export,” said Mr Lane.

The new facility, named Kerrygold Park, will have the capability to produce new butter products and formats that are not currently available in Ireland, said Mr Lane.

“It greatly improves our innovation capability and our ability to deliver premium dairy products to consumers around the world.”

A vote of confidence?

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed said the new Kerrygold facility was a major vote of confidence in the future of the Irish dairy industry.

“Increasing global population, urbanisation and the westernisation of diet in developing countries offers Ireland’s dairy industry significant opportunity for expansion,” he said.

“By opening new markets and developing new products, Ornua is playing a key role in delivering the demand for Irish product to meet increased supply resulting from the abolition of milk quotas,” Mr Creed told the invited audience of around 300 people involved in the dairy sector.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor also welcomed the new butter-making facility, saying it marked a logical development for Kerrygold.

“This expansion is important to our continued growth in export trade. Ornua’s strategy to develop Kerrygold as a global dairy brand will contribute to increase trade and employment in rural communities throughout Ireland,” she said.

Sligo Garda Sgt. cleared by GSOC before he took his life not knowing of the decision.

AN INQUEST HAS HEARD.

   

The late Sgt Michael Galvin & Supreme Court Judge Mr Justice Frank Clarke.

A Garda sergeant who took his own life not knowing he had been cleared by a Garda Ombudsman investigation had spoken to his best friend just before his death and had arranged to talk with him again the next day, an inquest has heard.

Father-of-three Sgt Mick Galvin, (48), took his own life at Ballyshannon Garda Station in the early hours of May 28 last year.

Supreme Court Judge Mr Justice Frank Clarke later conducted an investigation into his death after the Irish Independent revealed within days of Sgt Galvin’s funeral that the officer had been cleared by GSOC prior to his death.

The GSOC criminal investigation was launched on January 1 last year when Sheena Stewart (33) died after being struck by a taxi in Ballyshannon, earlier that day.

Sgt Galvin and two other gardaí who had interaction with Ms Stewart before her death were interviewed by GSOC investigators.

Colleagues were furious that Sgt Galvin, a former senior footballer and hurler for Sligo and a father of three who lived in Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim, was unaware he had been cleared.

Judge Clarke concluded that GSOC investigating officer Daniel Gallagher had decided that Sgt Galvin should not face prosecution on May 21.

Donegal coroner Dr Denis McsCauley said at the inquest yesterday at Donegal Town Courthouse that he had agreed with the Galvin family not to examine the Ombudsman case.

Sgt Gavlin’s friend Gda Paddy Battle told the inquest that he had taken a phone call from him at 11.50pm on May 27.

“I asked ‘what the feck are you still there for?”, said Gda Battle, who said the pair had spoken briefly about a work file and had agreed to talk the next day at 11am. Sgt Galvin had said he was planning to go home.

“In my opinion it was a normal phone call, there was nothing at all unusual about it.”

The garda said his friend was a “bright, jolly, family man” who had balanced his life between work, family and his volunteering with the GAA.

Just after midnight Sgt Galvin went into the armoury at the station. His body was found slumped in a chair in the detectives’ office at 7am. An envelope with his wife Collette’s name was found on a desk.

Supt Colm Nevin told widow Colette and family members Sgt Galvin had been an excellent station sergeant, adding: “We miss him dearly.”

World increasing awareness with people about their health is driving the growth of Weight Loss Services Market

     

Weight Loss Services Market: Overview

Overweight and obesity refer to excess body fat and it is related with increased weight-for-height. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates more than 1.4 billion adults 20 years or older are overweight and obese. Obesity not only leads to loss of confidence among obese people, but is also a great concern from health standpoint.

Overweight eventually leads a person to several diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), type 2 diabetes, strokes and even carry a risk of cancer. Obesity and weight gain has become one of the biggest concerns in the developed countries such as the U.S. owing to increasing adoption of sedentary lifestyle among the youth.

Weight Loss Services Market: Trends

The global weight loss services market is poised to grow in the coming years, thanks to increasing awareness among people about their health and well being. The huge consumer base is a key market driver for the growth of global weight loss services market and will continue to remain due to increasing global population, particularly in the Asia Pacific and Rest of the World.

Other prominent market drivers include consumer’s increased weight and rising disposable income among people in the developing countries. However, large number of tall and false claims misleads general public about the effectiveness of particular services. Such unfounded loss claims and misleading endorsements restrain the market growth for genuine products and services.

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11897

Weight Loss Services Market: Segmentation

The global weight loss services market can be segmented into four major segments, namely, weight loss food and diet chains, weight management programs, health clubs, and other approaches for weight reduction such as liposuction and bariatric surgery. The market is highly competitive in the developed world with simultaneous presence of several multinational and local players.

The food and diet chain segment have been growing in incessantly even during the recession period and accounted for largest share in the global weight loss services market. NutriSystem, Inc. is one of the major players in this segment and is engaged in provided meal replacement and weight loss supplements.

Weight Loss Services Market: Region-wise Outlook

Geographically, the global weight loss services market can be segmented into four major geographical regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. Historically, North America and Europe have been the largest play areas for the players in this market. The market for weigh loss services is getting a boost in the U.S. due to coverage provision of screening and counseling for obesity under the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare).According to the Health & Social Care Information Centre, obesity levels in England have illustrated a sharp increase during the period 1993 to 2011.

The obesity and overweight population continues to grow in the OECD countries as well. A report – ‘Obesity and Economics of Prevention: Fit or Fat’ from OECD presents the scale of obesity epidemic and recommends that nations make policies to prevent the consequences of obesity on the health and economy of the nation. Therefore, the market for weight loss services is expected to grow continuously in the near future. However, as the economies in Asia Pacific are growing at a rapid pace, the changing lifestyle of people in this region is resulting in more people becoming obese. This presents lucrative opportunity for market players in this highly untapped regional market.

Weight Loss Services Market: Key Players

Some of the players in this market include Northcastle Partners, NutriSystem, Inc., Weight Watchers International, Inc., Jenny Craig, Inc., Medifast, Inc., BistroMD, Inc., and Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness Clubs.

Every part of the Arctic now is becoming worse for the precious polar bear

A POLAR BEAR DRIES OFF AFTER TAKING A 2014 SWIM IN THE CHUKCHI SEA IN ALASKA.

     

AS CLIMATE CHANGE CONTINUES TO HEAT UP THE ARCTIC, THERE’S RARELY GOOD NEWS THESE DAYS FOR THE POLAR BEARS WHO CALL IT HOME. AND NOW, A BROAD NEW STUDY CHARTING NEARLY FOUR DECADES OF CHANGES IN ARCTIC SEA ICE HAS AGAIN UNDERSCORED THE ANIMAL’S PLIGHT.

The study, just out in the journal The Cryosphere, finds that in every Arctic region where polar bears live, there’s been a decline in the total number of ice-covered days the bears have at their disposal. That’s a serious problem because polar bears use sea ice as their prime hunting grounds, waiting near the edge and snatching up seals as the marine mammals surface for air.

Previous research has already suggested that as less ice is available, polar bears are forced to spend more time on land, where they have to scavenge or hunt smaller prey to survive. As this behavior becomes more frequent, scientists worry the bears could become malnourished or even starve. Earlier this week, reports of polar bears stalking a Russian research outpost drove this point home again.

A group of hungry polar bears are circling Russian scientists at a remote weather outpost in the Arctic. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

While there’s great concern about the future of the species, there’s some debate about how the bears are faring now. Scientists estimate there are currently about 25,000 bears in all, divided into 19 subpopulations throughout the Arctic. For the new study, the researchers decided to investigate sea ice trends in each of these subpopulation regions.

The researchers relied on satellite data from 1979 through 2014. Every year, for each of the 19 regions, they calculated the date sea ice began to melt in the spring; the date it began to refreeze in the fall; the amount of sea ice present during the summer months (when the ice concentration is typically at its lowest); and the total number of ice-covered days per year.

They found that in 17 out of the 19 subpopulation regions, there are significant trends toward earlier sea ice retreat in the spring, generally by about three-to-nine days per decade. And in 16 of the regions, there were significant trends toward a later fall sea ice advance, again by about three-to-nine days per decade. These trends were slightly more pronounced in some regions, such as the Barents Sea off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia, and the central Arctic Basin.

An earlier spring melt was associated with a later fall freeze pretty much every time — and the researchers have attributed this pattern to a special kind of climate feedback system.

“Sunlight bounces off ice, but it’s absorbed by water,” explained Harry Stern, a mathematician and sea ice researcher at the University of Washington and one of the study’s two authors. So when sea ice melts, it opens up large swaths of water where sunlight can be absorbed and heat can be trapped. The earlier the ice melts, the more heat goes into the ocean. In the fall, when temperatures start to drop again, all of this heat has to be released before the sea ice can refreeze. But if there’s more heat stored in the water than usual, the process takes longer and the freeze is delayed.

Overall, the researchers found that the length of time between spring sea ice retreat and fall sea ice advance has increased by between three and nine weeks since 1979. The biggest single increase of any polar bear subpopulation region was in the Barents Sea, where the interval lengthened by a whopping 17 weeks.

Additionally, the researchers found the concentrations of summer sea ice is declining by anywhere from one to nine percent per decade in most regions. And the total number of ice-covered days per year has also significantly declined in every subpopulation region, generally by between seven and 19 days per decade. Again, these trends were slightly larger in the Barents Sea.

The study’s results are already being used by conservationists, said Kristin Laidre, a principal scientist and polar bear expert at the University of Washington’s Polar Science Center and the study’s other author. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has incorporated the sea ice data into its Red List assessment of polar bears (which is part of a global assessment of the endangered or threatened status of wildlife all over the world) and into its public status information on the 19 subpopulations.

As for the future of the bears’ habitat, most projections suggest things are looking pretty grim. Models have predicted that we could be seeing ice-free Arctic summers by mid-century.

The science and policy of environmental issues.

In that light, the new study “highlights the clear changes we’re seeing around the globe, especially in the Arctic,” Laidre said, adding that she hopes the results might influence high-level decision-making about climate policy and greenhouse gas emissions moving forward.

Assuming the sea ice trends are irreversible, though — at least in the short term — she said the results could also be used to “compare and contrast subpopulations of polar bears across the Arctic and identify areas where we might expect to see more negative changes occurring.”

In this way, increased knowledge of sea ice trends in each of the subpopulation regions could help inform management decisions and future conservation effort. As for the bears themselves, continued monitoring will be necessary to find out how they respond to the ongoing ice losses.

For the time being, nine of the populations don’t have enough data for scientists to make an assessment of how they’re doing, while three are known to be declining, six are considered stable and just one is growing. How these patterns change in the future remains to be seen. But given the bears’ dependence on the sea ice, the researchers have concluded in their paper that “climate warming poses the single more important threat to their persistence.”   

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Taoiseach Kenny says it is not realistic to set figure for refugees

Kenny says he instructed Minister Fitzgerald to attend crisis meeting with a ‘flexible mind’

   

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said it is “not realistic” to set a figure immediately on the number of refugees Ireland can take.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said it is “not realistic” to set a figure immediately on the number of refugees Ireland can take.

EU justice ministers will meet to discuss the migration crisis on September 14th.

“The past experience is that countries will not measure up if they’re asked to do so purely voluntarily,” said Mr Kenny. “So it may well be that they are going to have to work out a formula here to say what numbers are appropriate for each individual country, and then get on with having a plan and a strategy that can deal with that catastrophic human situation.”

Asked whether Ireland would be happy to accept a mandatory number, Mr Kenny said: “That’s a decision that’s going to be taken by the EU Council — whether you can have a compulsory, mandatory number fixed for each country, be it based on their population as a percentage of the overall population, or in whatever way.”

Mr Kenny said he instructed Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald “to go to the meeting with a flexible mind here. We’ve got to be realistic in what we can contribute. We’re not within the protocol, but we are opting in because of our personality and tradition.”

Speaking after meeting with President Francois Hollande in Paris, Mr Kenny said the photograph of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying dead on the beach at Bodrun was “absolutely shocking.”

“Any parent could see that child in their own arms. Here’s a body of a young boy; a life lost, potential wasted, washed up on a beach like driftwood. That picture more than any I’ve seen of all the tragedies may well shock political processes into taking action here, in terms of the stream of migrants and the causes that underlie that.”

Regarding the numbers of asylum-seekers Ireland will accept, Mr Kenny noted that “We have opted into the protocol” (that is to say an EU Council decision in the Justice and Home Affairs area, where Ireland normally has an opt-out).

Mr Kenny said Ireland’s “investment in humanitarian issues in Syria is substantial for a country of 4.8 million,” adding that “because of our tradition, we have indicated an extension of the naval humanitarian mission in the Mediterranean.”

Numbers

Asked what order of numbers of additional refugees Ireland could take Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: “Speaking to Minister Frances Fitzgerald, we have already undertaken to take in over 1,000 for relocation purposes. We would expect to process about 3,500 asylum applications this year. And Ireland has taken in 85,000 new citizens over the last number of years.”

The EU had talked about distributing 40,000 asylum-seekers throughout the Union. “Now we’re talking about over 100,000 people,” Mr Kenny said. “The root causes of these things in countries where there are no governments and tragic circumstances unfolding every day with no plan to deal with it has got to be sorted out.”

Minister Fitzgerald said Ireland is “of course” willing to take more refugees than already committed to, and its ability to do that “will be looked at”.

  Speaking today she said she shared the “total upset the entire country feels at the images of the little boy [Aylan Kurdi], drowned on a beach”.

“IT IS ONE OF THE MOST DISTRESSING IMAGES WE HAVE EVER SEEN.”

She said there was “a huge sense that we must do more” but said the figure of 600, which is the number of refugees the Government has committed to take under the current European refugee relocation programme, was “just one statistic in a wider context” of increased numbers of people seeking asylum here and seeking residency under other criteria.

Ireland would be “very proactive” on putting forward measures to deal with the crisis at the meeting on 14th September.

Assessed

“Obviously we will need to look at numbers again. Of course we are open to taking more here, but they have to be assessed in the first instance. It is not possible to put numbers on it at this stage.”

She agreed there was an “appetite” among the Irish people for the Government to take more but said any increase in numbers had to be co-ordinated at an EU-level and a plan had to be in place here as to where and how they would be housed.

“The reality is there have to be criteria. There are three full-time staff in my Department working out the process for taking 600. If that number were to double for instance, there would have to be additional resources. Other countries are building tented cities, using schools and gymnasiums.”

Asked if Ireland could do this, she said: “Of course, but it’s not ideal. The whole point is that this all has to be worked out.”

She said there were already hundreds of people, who had been recognised as refugees but still living in direct provision centres, because they could not find housing. There was also a 50 per cent increase in the number of people arriving in Ireland and seeking asylum here, apart from those caught up in this crisis.

“There is a wide range range of significant pressures and challenges,” she said.

Her junior minister, Aodhán Ó Ríordain, said however he was “confident” the numbers to be given protection here would “increase substantially”.

“I am confident Ireland is going to take a lead. The numbers will increase. They will increase substantially. The mechanisms as to how that will happen will have to be worked out but the Irish people are demanding we do more and want their Government to take a lead on this. It’s a moment in history and we must step up to the plate.”

Hot-spots

Minister Fitzgerald said there would be discussion at the September 14th meeting on how to best support countries with ‘hot-spots’ for migrants and refugees arriving.

She expected extra aid to be provided so temporary housing and processing centres could be built to better accommodate the needs of arriving people.

She also said the Dublin Convention, according to which asylum seekers must make their application for protection in the first EU country in which they land, was “clearly not working”.

Asked whether she thought the rule should be shelved or changed, she said: “It is going to have to be looked at. It is not being adhered to and we will have to discuss with our European colleagues where we are going with that.”

Most important, she said, was the safety of the migrating people, particularly during their attempts to cross the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. She said people-smugglers’ activities had to be disrupted while those desperate to make the crossing had to be rescued.

Ministers and TDs have said Ireland must take more refugees than it has committed to so far. They have also said Ireland must take a leading role in pushing for a comprehensive EU response to the refugee crisis.

Seán Sherlock, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, said there was “a case to be made for taking in more refugees.”.

He said Ireland had contributed €31 million towards the humanitarian effort on the ground in refugee camps along the Syrian borders, and pointed to the deployment of the Irish naval vessels in the Mediterranean who had saved hundreds of people from drowning while trying to cross toEurope.

“As a nation I think we have genuinely lived up to part of our end of the bargain but yes, there is case to be made that we should take in more.”

Pat Breen, chair of the joint committee on foreign affairs, said: “I think we could take more. It’s a balancing act. If we were to take an amount proportionate to the numbersGermany is taking, that would be 40,000. Obviously our economy couldn’t take that. But there is room for us to take more.

“It needs to be a co-ordinated response from the European Union. There are countries who don’t want to take any.”

Spiralling numbers.

He said the EU meeting of justice and home affairs ministers, scheduled for 10 days’ time in Brussels, should now be brought forward. An emergency discussion of the spiralling refugee crisis would be held when his committee reconvenes in coming weeks.

“I also think the Dáil must have a debate on this within a day or two when it’s back on September 22nd,” he said.

Jerry Buttimer, chair of the Oireachtas committee on health, when asked whether Ireland should accept more than planned number of refugees said, “Yes. Yes because it’s the right thing to do.”

Joanna Tuffy, chair of the Oireachtas committee on education, also called for a larger number of refugees to be taken by Ireland, and said Ireland needed to “take a leadership role in Europe among other countries. We should be calling for a co-ordinated response across Europe.

“The question of where more refugees would be accommodated is something that could be worked out. There are hotels. There are vacant buildings. The priority for these people is that they reach safety.”

Labour TD Joe Costello said: “We certainly should be doing a lot more. We have to be prepared to take more refugees. We have a huge diaspora of our own and we have had our people welcomed in other countries.

“It could be done at parish-level. There needs to be a buy-in at grassroots level, with people in each parish taking people in.

“We should be taking a lead in Europe. Heads need to be banged together in Europe and it needs to be done urgently. People are dying.”

I will go to Garda over disappearance of Martin Callinan’s SIM card

 

LUCINDA CREIGHTON

leader Lucinda Creighton says she is to go directly to An Garda Siochana over the disposal of personal papers and disappearance of a SIM card belonging to former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.

The Dublin Bay South TD today expressed deep concern over the Fennelly report finding that potentially valuable information was not made available to the Commission.

And she said she intends to directly contact Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan, Mr Callinan’s success, to call for a full probe.

“I will yes, I’ll be making contact with the Garda Commissioner

I don’t know the facts or circumstances here, all I’m aware of are very very serious allegations and if they are true then I think it absolutely merits a full investigation,” Ms Creighton said.

She made the remarks ahead of the party’s think-in in Dublin this morning.

In his report, Mr Fennelly said it has been striking how little documentary evidence was available to his team.

Mr Callinan told the Commission that he had cleared out all personal papers after he announced his retirement and he did not have any written notes to support his evidence. He was, however, able to produce his diary for the year 2014.

On March 25, Mr Callinan went to a filing unit in the Conference Room, where he kept personal papers, and requested black refuse sacks as he wished to sort through his files.

He later asked a Superintendent to dispose of 8 to 10 bags of personal papers, which were shredded on April 4th, 2014.

The report also details how the SIM card in Commissioner Callinan’s phone was removed and subsequently destroyed.

The Commission again wrote to Mr Callinan and asked him to search for the phone.

He found it and furnished it to the Commission but it had no SIM card in it and no information stored on it.

An Assistant Commissioner said that the phone had been returned to the force by Mr Callinan – but that the SIM card had been removed.

The issue of the shredded papers and missing SIM are among the factors that prompted calls to recall the Dáil next week to discuss the Fennelly report.

Renua Ireland wants a new flat tax on all incomes

Declan Ganley urges party not to shy away from big ideas at first think-in in Dublin

  

(Right pic.) Lucinda Creighton and Declan Ganley at a Renua Ireland think-in in Wood Quay, Dublin.

Renua Ireland is working on a radical new policy that would see the introduction of a flat tax on all income, with bands and most allowances being scrapped.

The disclosure was made during the party’s first think-in in Dublin, during a session on the economy.

Businessman Declan Ganley, who was a guest speaker, told delegates that a flat tax regime was a “great disrupter” and would create a huge buzz that would attract international business and finance to Ireland.

“It’s going to be controversial. You can welcome the debate. It’s going to create a long-term sustainable economy,” he said.

A flat rate is a system of taxation where one tax rate is applied from the smallest incomes, including social welfare, to the largest.

There are variations on the idea, including the concept of a negative income tax, put forward by Milton Friedman in his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom.

A negative income tax would allow personal deductions, or a threshold, before the flat tax was applied.

If the person’s income did not reach that threshold, they would be paid a negative tax calculated on the amount of the shortfall. This would replace some welfare payments.

Renua chairman Eddie Hobbs disclosed that Mr Ganley’s idea had already been taken up by the party and work on a policy was at an advanced stage.

It is thought that Renua does not favour a true flat tax, but one that would include deductions and balancing measures to protect vulnerable families and individuals.

Mr Ganley urged the party not to shy away from big ideas.

“Do the stuff that vested interests will resist and they will hit you hard, but you can take them head on,” he said.

Mr Ganley also attacked what he described as crony corporatism in Ireland.

He said there was a perception that there was a very small circle of individuals who have unique access to the halls of power and have the ability to capture part of this economy and make it available for self-enrichment.

In a thinly-veiled reference to businessman Denis O’Brien, he told the meeting there should be no room for those who ignore the findings of a tribunal, or allow Dáil Éireann to be browbeaten because it does not suit their political or business agenda.

‘Honesty on tax’

Lucinda Creighton told the think-in that people needed to be honest about tax.

“If you’re in favour of tax reductions, you are a bad, evil right-winger,” she said. “If you want to increase tax you are a caring, kind-hearted, loving person.”

She pointed to the 1,200 per cent increase that occurred in the capital gains tax take in the five years after 1997, when the rate was reduced from 40 per cent to 20 per cent.

Ms Creighton also said she will ask Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan to assess whether an investigation is needed into the destruction of documents by former commissioner Martin Callinan.

The interim report of the Fennelly Commission, which investigated Mr Callinan’s resignation, found that the former commissioner had documents destroyed as he left his post.

The commission also found that a SIM card belonging to Mr Callinan could not be recovered.

Ms Creighton said she will be making contact with Ms O’Sullivan on the issue.

She also said Renua will cut the number of people working in Irish Water as part of an overhaul of the utility company if the party is in government after the next election.

She said that her party will restructure and overhaul Irish Water – which she described as “an absolute disaster” – while keeping water charges in place.

HSE to fund on limited basis cost of multiple sclerosis drug

Extended campaign by patients proves success for medicine that helps sufferers to walk

   

Patients have been paying up to €500 a month for Fampridine from their own resources.

The Health Service Executive has agreed to fund on a limited basis the cost of a drug that helps people with multiple sclerosis to walk.

The announcement that Fampridine (known commercially as Fampyra) is to be reimbursed under the State-funded drugs schemes follows a lengthy campaign by patients who says the drug has greatly aided their mobility.

The HSE says it is in the final stages of putting in place the arrangement around a “responder-based” reimbursement programme for Fampridine.

The cost of the drug will be covered where a demonstration of clinical response, based on objective criteria agreed with clinical experts, is recorded, it says. This clinical response must be shown to persist based on objective measurement at six-monthly intervals.

Annual cost

In 2013, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, which rules on the cost-effectiveness of new drugs, found Fampridine would cost nearly €7,000 per patient each year. It said the €20 million annual cost to the State over five years would take money from other areas.

The HSE then decided that it could not approve the reimbursement of Fampridine and claimed the manufacturer, Biogen Idec, had failed to demonstrate or provide any formal justification for the prices proposed. Biogen maintained it had offered significant price reductions in the talks.

Agreement has now been reached on a reimbursement arrangement.

Patients have been paying up to €500 a month for Fampridine from their own resources after Biogen started charging for the drug last year following a free trial period.

Multiple Sclerosis Ireland expressed delight with the progress on reimbursing Fampridine, which it said had a significant impact on patients’ ability to remain independent.

Animals and not catastrophe, caused first mass extinction

   

The rise of early animals, not meteorite impacts or volcanic eruptions, led to the world’s first known mass extinction, which took place about 540 million years ago, suggests new research.

While mass extinctions are generally associated with catastrophic events, like giant meteorite impacts and super volcanoes, the new study puts the blame on the emergence of complex animals that can change their environment.

“People have been slow to recognise that biological organisms can also drive mass extinction,” said Simon Darroch, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, US.

“But our comparative study of several communities of Ediacarans, the world’s first multicellular organisms, strongly supports the hypothesis that it was the appearance of complex animals capable of altering their environments, which we define as ‘ecosystem engineers,’ that resulted in the Ediacaran’s disappearance,” Darroch said.

Researchers believe that earliest life on Earth consisted of microbes – various types of single-celled micro-organisms. They ruled the Earth for more than three billion years.

Then multi-cellular organisms like Edicarans emerged and in their heyday,they spread throughout the planet. They were a largely immobile form of marine life shaped like discs and tubes, fronds and quilted mattresses.

After 60 million years, evolution gave birth to another major innovation: animals.

Animals burst onto the scene in a frenzy of diversification that palaeontologists have labelled the Cambrian explosion, a 25-million-year period when most of the modern animal families – vertebrates, molluscs, arthropods, annelids, sponges and jellyfish – came into being.

“These new species were ‘ecological engineers’ who changed the environment in ways that made it more and more difficult for the Ediacarans to survive,” Darroch said.

The researchers performed an extensive palaeoecological and geochemical analysis of the youngest known Ediacaran community exposed in hillside strata in southern Namibia.

The site, called Farm Swartpunt, is believed to be 545 million years old.

Having ruled out any extraneous factors, Darroch and his collaborators concluded that “this study provides the first quantitative palaeoecological evidence to suggest that evolutionary innovation, ecosystem engineering and biological interactions may have ultimately caused the first mass extinction of complex life.”

The researchers believe that as humans are the most powerful ‘ecosystem engineers’ ever known”, an analogy between the Earth’s first mass extinction and what is happening today can be drawn.

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. IANS