Tuesday's all Ireland news as told by Donie

A Body recovered in search for the missing Galway fisherman

File photo of the Irish coast guardThe Valentia Coast Guard confirmed that the body of a man had been recovered by the Aran Island Lifeboat team near Mace Head just after midday. The body was brought to University College Galway.

  Gerry Folan was last seen rowing his currach at 5pm on Monday

A BODY HAS been recovered during the search for a fisherman who went missing off the west coast of the country yesterday. The Valencia Coast Guard confirmed that the body of a man had been recovered by the Aran Island Lifeboat team near Mace Head just after midday. The body was brought to University College Galway.

Search teams had already recovered the currach which the 43-year-old man was last seen rowing in at around 5pm yesterday. The currach has been taken to Salthill Garda Station to be examined.

The search continues for missing fisherman off the West coast of Ireland

         

Both the Sligo and Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopters were involved in the overnight operation, which resumed at first light this morning.

A major air and sea search is under way for a fisherman missing off the west coast.

The 43-year-old was last seen rowing a 5.5m (18 foot) currach from the Mace Head area of Co Galway at about 5pm yesterday.

The alarm was raised late last night. A currach was discovered in the area this morning.

Both the Sligo and Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopters were involved in the overnight operation, which resumed at first light.

The Air Corps Casa maritime patrol aircraft is also searching the area, with the Aran Islands RNLI and Coast Guard crew from Costello Bay due to rejoin search teams. Valentia Coast Guard is co-ordinating the operation.

A RNLI spokeswoman said conditions for searching overnight were good, with a slight swell.

Up to 2,000 protesters take part in Sligo’s silent protest over the Cregg House budget cuts

Up to 2,000 people took part in a silent walk through Sligo this evening in protest at budget cuts at Cregg House which cares for 214 people with intellectual disabilities.

   

The Daughters of Wisdom have said they may have to withdraw from Cregg House, Wisdom Services, which runs the centre, has said its budget is €1.3m less than that needed to keep services at 2011 levels, a situation which is unacceptable.

At present, it says Cregg House is working without a psychology service and its social work and speech and language services are most inadequate.

Some of its residential accommodaiton is also not fit for purpose.

Wisdom says it cannot enter into a further service level agreement with the Health Service Executive on the terms offered.

The HSE has said it is disappointed that an agreement has not been signed, but that the budget cut is consistent with other disability services in the region, and it unfortunately does not have the additional funding needed to meet the deficit.

The executice has said it will, however, work with Wisdom Services to ensure that the serivce users will continue to receive the care and support they need.

This evening, Sr Jean Quinn, Provincial of the Daughters of Wisdom, said that there had been no contact from the HSE since last week and she feared the Daughters of Wisdom would have to withdraw from Cregg House, where they have been for 57 years, on safety grounds because of cuts in staff and services.

WINNING! Men set to outlive women for the first time ever

Well done lads, we’ve had a bit of a win today as researchers now believe that men will outlive women for the first time since records began. We’ll see you down the local for a celebratory tipple.

Before now, women folk have been enjoying up to six extra years on this beautiful earth, mainly because their sense of cop on is a bit better than ours, but mostly because they have fancy female hormones, which help protect their health. Sadly for women, that’s not the case anymore.

Thanks to ‘Girls Nights Out’, half priced Ben and Jerry’s and the high rate of male immigration, a role reversal could be on the cards for the next generation of Irish males that will see them living longer. In all seriousness, smoking, binge drinking and over eating are shortening the female population’s life span.

So basically, all the twelve-year-old boys in the country could end up outliving their future wives – that’s if they’re foolish enough to get married.

Statistics now show that the 12-year-old males of today will live to see their 87th birthday. This will see them match the lifespan of their female peers. However, this also means that younger male kids could eventually outlive females.

“There has been a huge decline in the numbers working in heavy industry; far fewer males smoke than before and there is much better treatment for heart disease, which tends to affect more males than females,” said Professor Leslie Mayhew of the City University, London.

Woman will still live longer than men for the foreseeable future. But ladies… we’re slowly catching up.

EU Authorities have expressed concerns about elements of Ireland’s banking bailout programme

Eurostat, the European Statistical Agency, has published a report on the Irish economy today.

       

It raises questions about the fact that the restructuring of AIB and Irish Life and Permanent has not yet been completed. It is also expressing concerns about the ownership of NAMA. 

Today’s report from Eurostat is the first official analysis of last year’s government deficit and debt position to come from Europe.

The report refers to 2011 so we are already familiar with a lot of the information. The deficit to GDP ratio, which is the tool used to measure government finances, has come in at 13.1%. However when you strip out the cost of bailing out the banks that figure falls to 9.4% which is lower than expected and better than the target agreed as part of our EU/IMF bailout.

The Minister for Finance has issued a statement today welcoming the figures and pointing out the fact that the deficit figure has fallen into single digits is a very positive development.

However Eurostat has raised some concerns over Ireland’s financial position. It questions the fact that the restructuring plans for AIB and Irish Life and Permanent have not yet been finalised.

In response the Department of Finance has issued a statement saying the reason for the delay is because the future structure of IL&P still hasn’t been worked out and is the subject of negotiations with the EU/IMF bailout team and that it is expected to be resolved in the coming weeks.

The other concern highlighted today is about the ownership structure of NAMA.  In order to keep NAMA debts off the government’s balance sheet a special type of private company had to be set up called the NAMA SPV or Special Purpose Vehicle.  That entity had a number of private investors and one of them was Irish Life – the insurance company. Recently the Government took Irish Life under state control after being unable to sell it on.

Eurostat has therefor raised a concern about the fact that one of the investors in what should be a private company is now state owned.  The government has confirmed today that a deal has been done to sell Irish Life’s stake in NAMA to private investors and that the transaction will be completed in the coming weeks.

Mark Feehily launches the ISPCC Irish anti-bullying week from 23rd to 30th April

   

Westlife’s Mark Feehily has launched the ISPCC’s anti-bullying week which is running from April 23rd-30th.

To mark anti-bullying week, the ISPCC are urging the people of Ireland to join the fight against bullying and child abuse by wearing the ISPCC shield.

A number of well-known celebrities including Olly Murs, Cher Lloyd, The Wanted, Colin Farrell, Westlife, Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip, Jedward, Louis Walsh, Laura Whitmore, Mrs Brown, Keith Barry and Saoirse Ronan, along with Mark, are supporting the campaign by being photographed with the ISPCC Blue Shield.

Speaking at the launch today Mark said: “Having experienced bullying at first hand I know how devastating it can be and how much it can affect not only your childhood but your adulthood too. I am still dealing with issues that occurred years ago on a school corridor in Sligo.”

The organisation will be running a 24-hour helpline contactable on 1800 66 66 77 throughout the week for anyone who needs advice on tackling bullying.

Shield badges will sell for €2 with all funds raised from the sale being used to fund our services to children and their families, Childline, ChildFocus, TeenFocus & Leanbh.

A welcome rethink on the Fair Deal nursing home scheme by Minister Kathleen Lynch

        

Age Action has welcomed the fact that Minister for Older People Kathleen Lynch has questioned the feasibility of continuing with a charge on an older person’s home as part of the Fair Deal Nursing home funding scheme.

Minister Lynch has the setting of a contribution of 15% of the value of a home towards the cost of elderly care six years ago was an entirely different scenario to the value of a home today.

The Minister questioned whether depending on the property market for funding for the Fair Deal scheme was viable.

Age Action said it also agreed with the Minister’s analysis that the review needed to look at other ways of keeping people in their communities and the options for other types of accommodation, apart from nursing homes.

It said the planned review of Fair Deal must also examining how effective the scheme has been in meeting the needs of nursing home residents.

“Despite the considerable financial commitment made by nursing home residents and their families as part of the Fair Deal, some have found that the scheme does not cover issues such as incontinence wear, specialised wheelchairs or physiotherapy,” Mr Timmins said.

“The review needs to address this so that the scheme at least meets the basic needs of residents.”

Big delay in Ireland’s diabetes eye screening programme plan for 2012

    

Fears are growing about a major delay in the launch of a new diabetes eye screening programme aimed at preventing blindness in those with the condition.

According to the campaign group Diabetes Action and Ireland’s national sight loss agency, the NCBI, 18 months after the HSE announced plans to develop a €4 million national eye screening programme to identify diabetic retinopathy, little progress has been made and patients are unlikely to be screened until mid-2013.

Over 18,000 people in Ireland are estimated to have diabetic retinopathy (DR) which causes on average one person with diabetes to go blind each year.

The two campaign groups say the screening programme is likely to be delayed from a projected start date of late 2012 until the middle of 2013.

They say the delay increases the chance of thousands more people developing sight-threatening retinopathy.

“Sight loss is a preventable complication of diabetes, and we need to get the screening process started as soon as possible in order to prevent more patients unnecessarily developing visual impairment,” said Dr Kevin Moore of the Irish Endocrine Society and Chair of Diabetes Action.

“Clinicians want people with diabetes to be offered eye-screening annually to detect DR and to ensure early diagnosis and treatment – it is one of the most important goals for diabetes care in Ireland and will impact on the quality of life for thousands of people living with diabetes”, Dr Moore added.

Progress on the screening programme has been stalled because key personnel are not in place, according to Diabetes Action and the NCBI.

Donie's news Ireland Blog Thursday

Donegal County Council votes not to use utilities database's for chasing the household levy defaulters

        

Seinn Fein councillor Jack Murray of  Donegal County council who proposed the move and the council voted to ban their civil servants from using utility bills to track down people who haven’t paid the Household Charge.

Councillor’s in Donegal voted by 11 to three to prevent the use of the optional power given to staff under the legislation set up to collect the €100 fee.

Labour councillors supported the motion, which was brought by Seinn Fein councillor Jack Murray. The council also agreed to send their decision to other local authorities, asking each of them to follow suit.

FINE GAEL COUNCILLORS OPPOSED THE MOTION.

“The vast majority of people in Donegal have not paid the Household Charge. They have not done so because it is unjust,” said Mr Murray. “This. . . was about protecting their privacy.”

It is understood that the motion has no legal effect, as local politicians have no role in revenue collection.

Meanwhile, independent TD Thomas Pringle has launched a High Court action against the Government, claiming the fiscal compact treaty breaches the Irish Constitution and EU laws.

Mr Pringle said he had ‘no choice’ after the Taoiseach had failed to respond to issues he raised. The Donegal South-West TD believes the treaties “raise serious legal difficulties both at the level of EU treaty law and Irish constitutional law”.

Irish Charities say Social Welfare Bill will push one-parent families into poverty hole

   

Joan Burton argues that encouraging parents to enter the workforce is the best way of helping them to gain economically.

CHARITIES REPRESENTING the rights of women, children and single parents have criticised government legislation being presented to the Dáil this evening which proposes to change the conditions under which parents qualify for the One-Parent Family Allowance.

The Social Welfare and Pensions Bill, which forms one of the last parts of the legislation giving effect to last December’s Budget, would see a gradual change in the age a parent’s eldest child must be under if the parent is to qualify for the allowance.

Single parents are currently eligible to receive the allowance when their youngest child is under the age of 14. The legislation proposes that this be lowered to 7 on a phased basis up to 2015 for new applicants, with single parents then being forced onto jobseekers’ allowance.

Barnardos, the National Women’s Council of Ireland and OPEN, the One Parent Exchange Network, say the legislation will worsen the levels of poverty that already exist in one-parent homes.

OPEN director Frances Byrne said there was a “huge fear” among lone parents that the plans would “make it increasingly difficult for parents to meet the costs of raising a family alone”.

“The majority of lone parents are already in work, or want to work,” she said, “but the ongoing lack of supports such as reliable and affordable childcare and afterschool care present impossible challenges that the Government cannot address by 2015.”

Introducing the legislation in the Dáil this evening, social protection minister Joan Burton conceded that a large proportion of lone parents were “still experiencing poverty, and were at much higher risk of poverty than other working-age adults.

“We believe that supporting parents in participating in the labour market, once their children have reached an appropriate age, will improve their own economic stituations and their social well-being as well as those of their families,” the minister said.

Burton said she recognised that many lone parents wished to enter the workforce, and said this would be addressed by plans to extend the JobBridge programme to lone parents.

We’ll have the same again waiter:

Ireland’s TDs and Senators rack up a refreshment bill worth €73,000

  

So it turns out that being a TD or a Senator is very hard work. In fact so hard that the majority of them are so overworked with representing us in Government that they need refreshments. How about €73,000 worth of refreshments.

Reports that documents released by the Oireachtas show that the current outstanding amount owed to the restaurant at the Dáil is a massive €65,000. But that’s not all. There’s also a further €8,000 owed to the bar by TDs and Senators who have been whetting their whistle in between important Dáil business gatherings.

While the majority of the bills are short-term, at least €30,000 has been owed for four months or more. If we were that publican, we’d be getting seriously p***ed off about having to wait so long for our money.

Sources from the Oireachtas said yesterday that a new reminder system had prompted Senators and TDs to cough up the dough that they owed more quickly, however, the sources added that there were still a few members, or former members, of the Oireachtas who still had outstanding debts for the past year or so.

This information came to light after the Irish Times made a freedom of information request regarding the issue.

The information that the paper received included various amounts for individual TDs and Senators, but the Oireachtas refused to identify the people who still had outstanding bills.

Of the 170 people who have bills on tab in the Dáil restaurant, 12 owe €1,000 or more and one unlucky individual owes a massive €3,572. Seriously…what are these people eating/drinking?

Another member owes €938 to the Dáil bar and hasn’t paid up for the past four months or more.

Speaking last night, a spokesman for the Oireachtas said that a credit facility for the bar and restaurant was offered to TDs and Senators solely because of convenience. Former members of the Oireachtas can also avail of this offer.

The spokesman said that the Oireachtas wrote to members with outstanding bills on a monthly basis, with further letters sent to the individual if they still had not paid up.

“The majority of outstanding bills are settled in full at the end of each calendar month,” he said.

Even still though, a €73,000 tab on refreshments? Has no one told them we’re in the middle of an economic crisis?

Cregg House Sligo Nuns fear for the (Daughters of Wisdom) future and support services

‘While Fine Gael TD John Perry states it should be kept’ & MEP Marian Harkin called on the HSE to meet the service providers half way.

      

The future of more than 200 people with intellectual disabilities, who are cared for by nuns and live in accommodation provided by the Daughters of Wisdom in Sligo, was uncertain last night after the nuns said they could no longer stand over the service because of budget cuts.

The provincial, Sr Jean Quinn, has written to families warning that alternative trustee arrangements may now have to be made for the care and support of users of Wisdom Services, also known as Cregg House. The order opened Cregg House as a residential facility for people with intellectual disabilities in 1955.

Describing it as “the blackest day” in the order’s history in Ireland, the provincial said the sisters were pulling out because despite a series of meetings with the Health Service Executive (HSE), no agreement had been reached on funding, and a €900,000 cut in this year’s budget would have implications for the safety of both service users and staff.

“We could not stand over that,” she pointed out. The provincial insisted the threat to withdraw was “not brinkmanship”.

Management at Cregg House said the budget, which is understood to be €15.5 million, had been cut by €2.5 million over the past four years, while the number of whole-time equivalent staff had been cut by 40 to 296 since 2008.

The facilities include residential accommodation, including 21 houses in and around Sligo town, outreach services, day services, respite care and a special school.

The provincial said the withdrawal of the psychology service last year “beggared belief” as it left more than 200 people, many with serious challenges such as dementia and autism, with no psychologist.

Describing the cuts as “draconian”, Sr Quinn urged local people to lobby the Minister for Health, saying the cuts would have an impact on the most vulnerable people in society, many with severe intellectual disabilities who regarded Cregg House as home.

In the letter to families last Monday, the nuns promised to work with the HSE to ensure service users would continue to receive the care and support they require. The letter warned some of the residential accommodation at Cregg House was “not fit for purpose”.

Expressing frustration at the lack of progress after a series of meetings with the HSE, Sr Quinn added: “Look at how the banks could be bailed out. Here you have the most vulnerable people in society and we cannot provide €1 million.”

In a statement, the HSE said the budget reduction for 2012 was “consistent with other disability service providers in the region”.

Local Fine Gael TD and Minister of State John Perry said it was “critically important” the services remained.

MEP Marian Harkin called on the HSE to meet the service providers half way.

Online advertising is up 20.5% in 2011 – A new study shows

         

Online advertising grew by nearly 20.5% last year reaching an estimated spend of €132 million, according to a new study by IAB Ireland and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The 2011 IAB PwC Online Adspend study says that the growth in this sector bucks the trend in the Irish media market as the amount spend on advertising in other media areas last year dropped by 4 per cent over the year to €897 million.

The study says that increased broadband provision and the increased average time spent online by people in Ireland each week are the main factors behind the online advertising growth. The average Irish internet user spends 10 hours online a week, according to ComReg.

Seven out of ten of the study’s participants anticipate further growth in the sector in the coming six months, while the study says that smartphone penetration is expected to increase to over half of internet users in Ireland this year (55 per cent).

Meanwhile, social media sites accounted for over one-third of the online display market in 2011.

Advertising on social media sites in Ireland reached an estimated €5.8 million last year, according to the study.

Commenting on the results of the study, chairman of IAB Ireland Eamonn Fallon described the “strong performance of online advertising” recorded as “good news for the Irish advertising industry”.

“IAB predicts that the growth of online adspend in 2012 is set to break the €150 million barrier and see online account for 20 per cent of total adspend,” he added.

PwC’s Bartley O’Connor said that the online advertising growth highlighting in the study “demonstrates the continued level of activity and vibrancy of the online industry in Ireland”.

“All businesses need to consider their digital strategy and how they will capture the opportunities associated with the migration to digital platforms.”

Advertising online ranks third after television and newspaper advertising, and ahead of radio, cinema and magazine advertising.