Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

The numbers paying Irish water bills fall in wake of election pledge

CASH FROM JANUARY-FEBRUARY BILLS DOWN BY ALMOST €10M ON THE PREVIOUS BILLING CYCLE

   

IRISH WATER COULD NOT PROVIDE THE EXACT PERCENTAGE OF CUSTOMERS WHO HAD PAID THEIR BILLS SO FAR THIS YEAR.

The amount of money collected by Irish Water in water charges has dropped substantially following recent political controversies and the impending suspension of charges.

Irish Water released details on Thursday of the amount of money it collected for its fourth billing cycle, which covered the last three months of 2015.

The bills were sent out in January and February and the amount of money collected dropped by almost €10 million on the previous billing cycle – down to €33.4 million from €42.3 million.

Irish Water could not provide the exact percentage of customers who had paid their bills so far this year, but sources said the drop in revenue effectively brought the level of money collected back to where it was when water charges began.

Balances due for customers

A statement from the semi-State said 64% of “of customers paid water charges in first year of billing”.

“Following the recent government announcement of a suspension of domestic water charges with effect from the end of March 2016, charges for services provided apply up to that time and Irish Water is currently issuing bills to customers for services provided in January, February and March of this year,” the statemend added.

“Irish Water customers remain liable for balances due on any bills issued and Irish Water continues to accept payment and to deal with any billing queries in relation to outstanding balances. Legislation suspending water charges is due before the Dáil in June. Once this legislation is passed, we will update our customers.”

Water charges are to be suspended as a result of the recent minority government deal struck between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Right2Water reaction

Meanwhile, The Right2Water campaign said on Thursday said that Irish Water’s payment figures further illustrate the failure of the Government’s water policy. It called for a referendum to enshrine ownership of our water in public hands.

The group said that the utility’s figures reveal the level of non-payment for the first full year of its existence and show:

Brendan Ogle, Right2Water spokesperson said: “This meagre income should take account of the €80m spent on the so-called conservation grant, which was effectively a bribe to become a customer, leaving a net income of a mere €65 million in a full year.”

He added, “When the massive expenditure on the installation of water meters, consultants, advertising, legal costs and the billing process is considered, more than €1 billion has been spent on this failed project. This Government now needs to stop throwing good money after bad and scrap the whole project, saving taxpayers from more wastage.”

Pharmacy fees for medical card holders are costing the Irish State some €380 million

NEW FIGURES SEEN BY RTÉ SHOW THAT PHARMACY FEES COST MUCH MORE THAN THE MEDICINES THEMSELVES.

    

THE COST TO THE STATE FOR PHARMACIES TO DISPENSE DRUGS TO MEDICAL CARD HOLDERS WAS €380 MILLION IN 2014, ACCORDING TO NEW FIGURES.

The new figures, seen by RTÉ Prime Time, show the cost of dispensing some drugs that are prescribed under the general medical services (GMS) scheme can be in some cases nearly five times higher than the actual costs of the drugs themselves.

In 2014, the State paid €3.3 million for Aspirin – the most commonly prescribed medicine under the GMS scheme.

On top of this cost, it paid pharmacists €14 million in dispensary fees to five out the drug – nearly four times the cost of the medication.

The second most commonly prescribed drug to medical card holders is the cholesterol medication Atorvastatin. In 2014, the total expenditure on the drug by the State was €22.3 million.

€11.3 million of this was the actual cost of the drug, while a further €11 million had to do with pharmacy fees.

The third most commonly prescribed drug, Eltroxin, cost the State €10.8 million in 2014 – with pharmacy fees making up €8.3 million of this amount.

In this case the pharmacy fees cost almost five times more than the actual medicine.

In 2014, 59 million drugs were dispensed under the GMS scheme. RTÉ found that pharmacists are paid a dispensing fee of €3.50 to €5.00 to give out a drug to a medical card patient.

This brings the total cost of dispensing the drugs to €380 million.

“We need to look at all aspects of pharmaceutical expenditure and pharmacy fees are no different,” said Prof Michael Barry Director of the Irish centre for Pharmaeconomics.

You may decide at the end of it all the fees we are paying are totally appropriate, however when you have such discrepancies where you have a drug price that is a fraction of what the HSE is paying then yes – it is legitimate to look at this.”

Frances Fitzgerald cannot open inquest into Mary Boyle case

DONEGAL SCHOOLGIRL’S RELATIVES ASKED FOR CASE TO BE RE-EXAMINED AFTER 1977 DISAPPEARANCE

    

The Donegal schoolgirl Mary Boyle was six years old when she went missing in 1977 and also pictured above is Ann Doherty left with a picture of her twin sister Mary Boyle and centre former detective inspector Aidan Murray.

The Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has said she cannot direct an inquest to be opened into Ireland’s oldest missing person case.

Commenting on the case of Mary Boyle, a Donegal schoolgirl who disappeared in March 1977, then aged six, Ms Fitzgerald said it is the role of the relevant coroner to schedule and conduct inquests.

She said her department has no role in this process.

The missing girl’s sister, Ann Doherty, has been meeting politicians and has given new statements to gardaí in an attempt to find out what happened to her twin sister nearly four decades ago.

Ms Doherty has alleged that her sister’s disappearance from her their grandparents’ home in Cashelard, Co Donegal has been subject of a cover-up, and that not all evidence was thoroughly reviewed by gardaí as part of the original investigation.

She has previously stated her belief that a prominent local politician was complicit in the alleged cover-up, and says she and her family know who kidnapped and murdered Mary Boyle, who is presumed dead.

In a response to a parliamentary question from Donegal TD Thomas Pringle, Ms Fitzgerald said the case is subject to an ongoing investigation and that she has asked gardaí to keep her updated on any further developments.

With the assistance of investigative journalist Gemma O’Doherty and cousin Margo O’Donnell, Ms Doherty has met Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Fianna Fáilleader Mícheál Martin and other politicians to raise concerns about how the case has been handled.

A 64-year-old man was arrested and questioned in Mullingar in October 2014 in relation to the investigation, but was later released without charge.

‘Sunscreen’ gene might help protect against skin cancer through tumour suppression

RESEARCHERS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HAVE DISCOVERED A “SUNSCREEN” GENE THAT MIGHT HELP PROTECT DAMAGED CELLS FROM DEVELOPING INTO SKIN CANCER.

     

RESEARCHERS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HAVE DISCOVERED A “SUNSCREEN” GENE THAT MIGHT HELP PROTECT DAMAGED CELLS FROM DEVELOPING INTO SKIN CANCER.

Just in time for Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, a new University of Southern California (USC) study has discovered a “sunscreen” gene that might help protect against skin cancer, revealing that the unique gene acts as a tumor suppressor for skin cancer.

“If we understand how this UV-resistant gene functions and the processes by which cells repair themselves after ultraviolet damage, then we could find targets for drugs to revert a misguided mechanism back to normal conditions,” said Chengyu Liang of USC and senior author of the study.

Over 90 percent of melanoma skin cancers stem from cell damage caused by ultraviolet radiation. The American Cancer society reports that melanoma kills approximately 10,130 people each year.

“People who have the mutated UV-resistant gene or low levels of the UV-resistant gene may be at higher risk of melanoma or other skin cancers, especially if they go sunbathing or tanning frequently,” Liang said. “Our study suggests that the UV-resistant gene may serve as a biomarker for skin cancer prevention.”

The team used data from 340 melanoma patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas, as well as two experimental groups that possessed either reduced levels of the UV-resistant sunscreen gene or a mutant copy of it in melanoma cells and 50 fly eyes; melanoma cells or fly eyes with normal copies of the sunscreen gene acted as the control groups.

After administering a UV shot to cells with the normal sunscreen gene and those carrying defective copies, the team waited for 24 hours before further examination. Subsequent analysis revealed that cells carrying normal versions of the gene had repaired over 50 percent of the UV-induced damage, whereas defective samples repaired less than 20 percent of the UV-damaged cells.

“That means when people sunbathe or go tanning, those who have the normal UV-resistant gene can repair most UV-induced DNA burns in a timely manner, whereas those with the defective UV-resistant gene will have more damage left unrepaired,” Liang said. “After daily accumulation, if they sunbathe or go tanning often, these people will have increased risk for developing skin cancers such as melanoma.”

In addition, the USC team found a correlation with increased cancer risk, although there is not yet any definitive evidence that lower levels or mutant copies of the sunscreen gene are directly connected to skin cancer development.

The findings were published in the May 19 issue of the journal Molecular Cell.

Scientists now find which genes help to shape our nose

    

SCIENTISTS FOUND GENES WHICH HELP DETERMINE WHETHER YOU HAVE A NEAT NOSE OR ONE TO SHAME CYRANO DE BERGERAC, PORTRAYED HERE BY ANTHONY SHER.

Four genes help determine whether you are blessed with the neatest of noses or a schnozzle that would shame Cyrano de Bergerac, research has shown.

Scientists analysed the DNA of more than 6,000 people to discover why some of us possess narrow, pointy noses while others have hooters that are broad and hefty.

They identified four genes that affect the width and pointiness of the nose, known as DCHS2, RUNX2, GLI3, and PAX1.

A fifth gene, EDAR, was found to influence the jut of the chin.

The genes are among those that regulate the growth of bone and cartilage, and the shape of the face.

GLI3, which drives cartilage growth, had the strongest effect on the breadth of the nostrils. DCHS2 was linked to pointiness, while the bone-growth gene RUNX2 modified nose bridge width.

Senior researcher Dr Kaustubh Adhikari, from University College London, said: “Few studies have looked at how normal facial features develop and those that have only looked at European populations, which show less diversity than the group we studied.

“What we’ve found are specific genes which influence the shape and size of individual features, which hasn’t been seen before.

“Finding out the role each gene plays helps us to piece together the evolutionary path from Neanderthal to modern humans.

“It brings us closer to understanding how genes influence the way we look, which is important for forensics applications.”

All the study participants came from South American countries with mixed ethnic populations. Half the population had European, 45% Native American and 5% African ancestry.

Photos of the volunteers were first examined to establish 14 different attributes, including nose bridge width, nose protrusion and the shape of the nose tip. Facial features were also measured using 3D computer simulations.

Genetic data was compared with each characteristic trait to see if there was an association.

The findings are reported in the journal Nature Communications.

Study leader Professor Andres Ruiz-Linares, also from University College London, said: “It has long been speculated that the shape of the nose reflects the environment in which humans evolved.

“For example, the comparatively narrower nose of Europeans has been proposed to represent an adaptation to a cold, dry climate.

“Identifying genes affecting nose shape provides us with new tools to examine this question, as well as the evolution of the face in other species.

“It may also help us understand what goes wrong in genetic disorders involving facial abnormalities.”

Cyrano de Bergerac, a 19th century play written by Edmond Rostand, depicts the life of a dashing French duellist and poet whose shockingly large nose stands between him and the woman he loves.

Asian hornets that behead bees and can kill humans could be heading for Ireland?

  

An Asian hornet feasts on a honey bee

Killer hornets that can wipe out bee colonies and have caused the death of several people may be heading for Ireland.

Sightings of Asian hornets have been reported in the UK and are currently being investigated by the country’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Firefighters battle giant hornets in China

Fears have now been raised that the invasive Vespa velutina, which is active between April and November, could arrive here this summer.

A small number of the vicious predators, which carry potent venom and are between 2.5cm and 3cm long, could wipe out entire bee colonies should they make their way to Ireland, according to Philip McCabe, president of the World Bee Keepers Federation.

“The Asian hornet is a very vicious wasp – around 60 of them could destroy whole colonies if they arrived here,” McCabe told independent.ie.

“It comes to the hive and identifies the larvae of bees…the queen uses this larvae to make a ‘stew’ for her young.

“Then she essentially goes into a killing frenzy and she simply beheads the bees.”

The terrifying insects are believed to have been inadvertently imported to France over two decades ago in a shipment of pottery from China.

At least six people have reportedly died in France from anaphylactic shock after being stung by the hornets.

The reported sightings of the hornet in the UK have yet to be confirmed and McCabe thinks “it’s unlikely a true Asian hornet came that far”.

However, bee keepers in the UK have now been put on high alert by the National Bee Unit (NBU) and members of the public have been asked to report nest sightings.

Unlike the European hornet, the Asian hornet is a day-flying species which ceases activity at dusk.

It nests in tall trees in urban and rural areas – but also in sheds, garages, under decking or in holes in the wall or ground.      

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Ireland’s existing health system demands an extra €1bn to run it?

Says Leo Varadkar

  

The Minister for Health Leo Varadker says serious questions about health funding must be answered.

The Minister for Health Leo Varadkar, says serious questions about the level of funding for current healthcare must be answered if the country aspires to an adequate health system.

The health service needs as much as another €1 billion of investment to simply meet existing demands, and even more is required to cope with a growing and ageing population, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has said.

Mr Varadkar, writing in Wednesday’s Irish Times, also says serious questions about the level of funding for healthcare must be answered if the country aspires to an adequate health system.

“Questions remain, such as whether we are willing as a society to pay for it, and whether we are willing to embrace the major organisational changes required,” he says. “This will require courage and trust, but I am confident that with the right vision we can succeed.

“No form of universal healthcare is possible unless we are willing to find the resources needed to make it work.”

Underfunded service

He says an underfunded service will be a poor service, even if it is well organised.

“With the current staffing of specialist doctors, midwives and nurses, critical care beds and other capacity, no system of universal healthcare will be able to deal with unmet demand.

“What really matters is having adequate well-trained staff, sufficient capacity and infrastructure, good organisation, management and financial control, clinical governance, quality and safety systems.”

Meeting existing, unmet needs “would cost between €700 million and €1 billion, on top of the natural increase needed every year to cope with a rising and ageing population”, an amount he says seems like a lot but would only restore health budgets to where they were eight years ago.

Mr Varadkar also outlines how he believes primary care can be achieved over five years, effectively the duration of a second term in office.

Whether the funding for future health needs comes from the exchequer or an insurance-based system like Universal Health Insurance is secondary to whether enough money is made available, and whether it is correctly spent, he says.

The Irish Times reported earlier this week that the annual cost of UHI, championed by Mr Varadkar’s predecessor Dr James Reilly, could be between €2,000 and €3,000 to cover a standard package of benefits for one adult.

External consultants also told the Government in a confidential report the estimated cost of a more comprehensive series of benefits could be between €3,000 and €4,000 per year, far higher than previously estimated

About 70% of Irish households register with Irish Water on time for grant

But we still do not know exactly how many people have paid their first bills to the semi-state body.

 

An estimated 70% of householders had registered with Irish Water by Tuesday’s deadline date to allow them claim a €100 water conservation grant from the Government.

It is still not known exactly how many people have paid their first bills to the new semi-state company.

The first quarterly billing cycle for Irish Water was for January, February and March, with the first bills landing in April. The second round of bills will be sent out from July onwards.

It is understood the board of Ervia, Irish Water’s parent company, has been informed of the level of payments but is not yet known when the figures will be released.

A Government spokesman said on Tuesday the figures will be published “in due course” and added the Coalition would have “no issue” with publication of the figures once they have been finalised by Irish Water.

Under severe pressure

The Government has come under severe pressure from the Opposition to publish the figures, and another anti-water charges protest is planned for outside the Dáil tonight.

An Irish Water spokeswoman said over 1.32 million people, or 70 per cent of those who can register with the semi-state, had done so as of earlier this week.

Registering with the company does not mean a householder has to pay their water charges, and they are entitled to claim the €100 grant even if they do not pay.

The grant will be administered and paid by the Department of Social Protection, and a separate application process for the payment of the €100 will open later this year.

Of the 1.32 million who have registered, about 80 per cent are customers who will be billed for their water, while the remaining 20 per cent have their own water services, such as group water schemes.

An estimated 1.5 million households are either connected to mains water or waste water services, which means they will be billed by Irish Water. Some 1.05 million of those – 70 per cent – have registered.

The spokeswoman said while Irish Water experienced a lot of activity on Tuesday, it was not enough to hugely change those figures.

Meanwhile, the lifting of boil water notices for thousands of people “would simply not be possible” without Irish Water, Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly has said.

He was speaking after the company confirmed the HSE had lifted boil water notices for 11,300 customers in the Killeglan and Castlerea areas of Co Roscommon.

This came after Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspections of related water treatment plants earlier this week.

A boil water notice for 6,000 customers in Boyle was lifted on May 1st.

“This now means that over 17,000 people can drink their water in Roscommon this year that couldn’t last year,” said Mr Kelly.

“This would simply not be possible without the creation of Irish Water. Irish Water was able to target and prioritise these vulnerable areas and bring to a close the sorry saga of boil water notices in quick fashion.

“I have no doubt that similar successes will be replicated throughout the country.”

John Tierney, Irish Water’s managing director, said dealing with the boil water notices had been a “top priority” since the utility came into existence.

“Irish Water as a national water utility has been able to fast-track and co-ordinate the completion of this and other projects in Co Roscommon so that boil water notices will be lifted for 22,700 customers in Roscommon by the end of this year,” he said.

“We acknowledge the work of the contractors and Roscommon County Council in helping us to achieve this.”

Ireland’s national house prices are up 1.7% in second quarter

Says Myhome.ie

   

The average asking price nationwide for a house is €202,000

House price growth continued in April, May and June with the national asking price rising by 1.7% in the three month period, while prices were up 6.1% on the year.

According to the latest house price survey from MyHome.ie, the rate of increase was higher in Dublin with prices up 2.3% over the three months, and 10.4% on the year.

The average asking price nationwide is €202,000, while in Dublin it is €282,000, according to today’s figures.

MyHome.ie also noted that cash buyers still account for over 50% of transactions in the housing market.

The author of today’s report, Conall MacCoille, chief economist at Davy, said the data pointed to a modest increase in house prices for the rest of the year.

The economist said that while the outlook remains uncertain, he believes house prices look set to rise by close to 10% for the calendar year.

“However as the figures for new instructions indicate, annual price inflation is likely to slow towards 5% by the end of the year. This is not a negative given that wages have not kept pace with house prices, stretching affordability,” he added.

Today’s report also found some evidence that the supply situation for housing was beginning to improve.

Angela Keegan, Managing Director of MyHome.ie, said the total number of homes listed on the site rose by 9.4% between the first quarter and the second quarter.

“The upward trend has been most marked in Dublin where we now have 5,550 properties listed, up 18.6% from March,” she added.

Ms Keegan also said that transaction levels remained strong early in 2015, but as with supply, they are coming off a low base.

In the first four months of the year for which the data is close to complete, transaction values are up 59% and by 48% in volume terms on the same time last year.

“While it is encouraging to see the market moving in the right direction the bigger picture continues to show that the Irish housing market remains illiquid. It’s clear we still have some way to go before we can say we have a properly functioning market,” Ms Keegan stated.

With a general election looming, Davy economist Conall MacCoille urged the Government to avoid introducing any measures aimed at relaxing credit constraints and inappropriately stimulating demand even further.

“The key to restoring a healthy Irish housing market is to implement sorely needed measures to alleviate planning and other bottlenecks that are holding back housing supply,” the economist stated.

BBC Three to be axed despite an outcry

   

The BBC’s director-general Tony Hall last week said the BBC needed to make some more cuts.

BBC3 has been the launchpad for hits such as Gavin and Stacey

BBC Three is to be axed from television despite evidence that moving the youth-oriented channel online will offer poor value for money.

The BBC Trust has given provisional approval to the plans, which, by its own analysis, are likely to limit the channel’s reach among young audiences and alienate viewers in ethnic-minority, lower-income and rural households.

The recommendations will disappoint actors such as Aidan Turner, Olivia Colman and Daniel Radcliffe, who joined the campaign to save the 12-year-old channel, praised as a seedbed of talent that has given many household names their first break.

The trust said the decision had

Children in Ireland who have been diagnosed with cancer

Will be issued with medical cards for five years

    

THE CHANGE WILL APPLY AUTOMATICALLY FROM TOMORROW,

Children under 18 who have been diagnosed with cancer will be issued with a medical cards for five years.

The change will apply automatically from tomorrow, July 1st, according to Fine Gael Senator Colm Burke and TD Mary Mitchell O’Connor.

On a support page for Lucy O’Connor – a nine-year-old girl who was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer in September 2014, and was refused a medical card until February this year – her family writes “one of the positives of going public, with Lucy’s story, is that from July 1st 2015, all children under 18, diagnosed with cancer in Ireland, will receive a medical card for 5 years.”

“Delighted that no other family will have to go public with their story. In saying that, the support from you all has been amazing, so thank you,” the post adds.

Minister for Primary Care, Kathleen Lynch, says it is a key recommendation of the Clinical Advisory Group which was set up to look at medical card eligibility.

Deputy Lynch said, “this decision is welcome. It is in line with the more compassionate approach that we have adopted towards awarding discretionary medical cards.

“I support it and look forward to the HSE implementing it in an efficient and sensitive manner,” she adds.

The free GP care for children under six scheme is also set to commence tomorrow.

Northern Ireland firm 3fivetwo buys Sligo hospital 

  

A Northern Ireland’s large private healthcare firm is expanding into the Republic as part of its “multi-million pound” investment after buying a private hospital in Sligo.

3fivetwo is finalising a deal to acquire the 19-bed St Joseph’s Hospital, which is set to be rebranded as Kingsbridge Private Hospital Sligo, in a nod to the firm’s private business in Belfast.

The deal secures all 60 jobs at the hospital, and 3fivetwo has said it’s aiming to create new roles on the back of the deal.

The value has not been disclosed, but it is understood much of the “multi-million pound” figure will go towards the “expansion and development of services in the years ahead”.

And the final sale is expected to be agreed in the new few weeks.

Headquartered on the Lisburn Road in south Belfast, the group – which boasted increased turnover of more than £40m in its last set of published accounts – employs 240 staff. That’s alongside the services of a further of 400 consultants and 300 nursing staff.

St Joseph’s Hospital was founded in the 1950s and until early last year was part of the Mount Carmel Medical Group.

Mark Regan, 3fivetwo group development director, told the Belfast Telegraph: “It’s a multi-million pound investment, not in the purchase alone but in the expansion and development of services in the years ahead. You can’t put a price on the provision of healthcare to a local community.

“In addition to obvious benefits for patients, the securing of hundreds of jobs at KPH Sligo and peripheral suppliers is priceless.”

And earlier this month the firm revealed it was adding another 20 jobs as part of a £3m investment.

The company said plans for growth were in response to increasing demand for private health due to budget cuts, soaring waiting lists and pressure on public services.

It now has three facilities in south Belfast, including cosmetic surgery, dental and fertility businesses.

It also operates the Chelsea Private Clinic on King’s Road, London.

And Kingsbridge Private Hospital on Belfast’s Lisburn Road is now being extended in a £2.5m project.

Signs of human-esque communication discovered in babbler birds

A key element of the human language has been discovered in the Australian babbler bird.

  

A key element of human language has been discovered in the babbler bird.

Stringing together meaningless sounds to create meaningful signals was previously thought to be the preserve of humans alone, but the new study has revealed that babbler birds are also able to communicate in this way.

Researchers at the Universities of Exeter and Zurich discovered that the chestnut-crowned babbler, a highly social bird found in the Australian Outback, has the ability to convey new meaning by rearranging the meaningless sounds in its calls.

This babbler bird communication is reminiscent of the way humans form meaningful words. The research findings, which are reveal a potential early step in the emergence of the elaborate language systems we use today.

Lead author Sabrina Engesser from the University of Zurich said that although previous studies indicate that animals, particularly birds, are capable of stringing different sounds together as part of a complex song, these songs generally lack a specific meaning and changing the arrangement of sounds within a song does not seem to alter its overall message.

In contrast to most songbirds, chestnut-crowned babblers do not sing. Instead its extensive vocal repertoire is characterised by discrete calls made up of smaller acoustically distinct individual sounds, she added.

Researcher think that babbler birds may choose to rearrange sounds to code new meaning because doing so through combining two existing sounds is quicker than evolving a new sound altogether, said co-author Andy Russell.

The researchers noticed that chestnut-crowned babblers reused two sounds “A” and “B” in different arrangements when performing specific behaviours. When flying, the birds produced a flight call “AB”, but when feeding chicks in the nest they emitted “BAB” prompt calls.

The authors report that in the chestnut-crowned babbler, the first sound element “B” is what seems to differentiate the meaning between flight and prompt vocalisations, akin to cat and at in English, where the c represents the meaning differentiating element, or phoneme.