Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Irish 10-year bond yields falls as Moody’s upgrade is anticipated

RATINGS AGENCY DUE TO RELEASE ITS LATEST DECISION ON STATE’S DEBT AFTER 9PM ON FRIDAY

   

MOODY’S HAS MAINTAINED A B RATING ON IRISH DEBT FOR MUCH LONGER THAN OTHER AGENCIES.

Irish 10-year borrowing costs dropped as investors as weighed the increasing probability of an upgrade tonight by Moody’s on the status of the State’s debt.

With a statement expected from Moody’s after 9pm on Friday, anticipation that the ratings agency would put an A-grade on Irish sovereign bonds for the first time since 2011 drove interest rates down.

Irish 10-year bonds changed hands at 0.8439 per cent as markets opened on Friday morning. By the close in Dublin the yield was at 0.8009 per cent, a mark of confidence in some quarters that an upgrade might be imminent.

Despite prolonged post-election uncertainty over the formation of a minority government and doubt over the Brexit referendum, Irish debt has continued to trade around historically low levels.

Interventions

While investors are encouraged by the pace of economic recovery, bond market interventions by the European Central Bank have also driven borrowing costs down. The 10-year yield fell to a record low of 0.707 per cent in April. At the height of crisis in mid-2011, it reached as high as 14.1 per cent

Moody’s has maintained a B-grade on Irish debt long after rival agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch upgraded to A status in light of the economic turnaround. However, a one-notch increase tonight by Moody’s would be sufficient to replace its Baa1 rating with an A.

Such a move would be seen as a boost for Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his new minority adminstration, which pledged to comply fully with stringent fiscal rules even as it adopted an ambitious 160-page political programme.

A Moody’s upgrade would also expand the range of potential buyers of Irish bonds as some conservative investors insist on an A-grade from all three major agencies as the minimum requirement to take a position in any sovereign debt.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald calls for accessible register of company owners

The Tánaiste will introduce new anti-corruption Bill in the Dáil during the current term of the Government

   

“IRELAND WILL WORK WITH ITS PARTNERS TO PROMOTE GOOD GOVERNANCE AND A CULTURE OF ZERO TOLERANCE FOR ALL CORRUPT PRACTICES”

A central register holding the names of those who own companies and properties should be publicly accessible in all bar a few cases, Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has said.

“There should be a good reason not to move in that direction,” said the Minister, who was speaking on the margins of a a global anti-corruption summit in London.

There, she committed to establishing a central register of beneficial ownership which could be accessed by law enforcement agencies – a proposal pushed by British prime minister David Cameron.

Hosting the summit, Mr Cameron has promised to make Britain’s register publicly accessible and a committee in the Department of Finance is considering if Ireland should follow suit.

Public registers.

France, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Afghanistan have also announced that their registers will be public. “I certainly think we need at this point to be exploring all the issues around it. There should be a good reason not to move in that direction, if you know what I mean,” said Ms Fitzgerald.

The Tánaiste will introduce a new anti-corruption Bill in the Dáil during the current term, aimed at consolidating anti-corruption legislation and strengthening laws banning the payment of bribes in foreign countries. She said Ireland was determined to play its part in the international effort to combat the corruption which is further impoverishing some of the poorest countries on earth.

Abuse of power

“A lack of good governance, the absence of efficient and accountable institutions, the lack of transparency – all these lead to economic under performance, expose states to corruption and abuses of power and generate security risks at national and regional level. Ireland will work with its partners to promote good governance and a culture of zero tolerance for all corrupt practices. Events like this are an important opportunity to take stock of the global efforts being made and to reaffirm and reinvigorate our response,” she said.

Representatives of some of Britain’s crown dependencies, which have come under the spotlight since the Panama Papers exposed the use of tax avoidance vehicles based in tax havens, complained of double standards at the summit.

The Cayman Islands president, Alden McClaughlin, said that, while small territories such as his were being told to introduce much tougher standards, nobody was taking steps against the US state of Delaware, which is home to tens of thousands of shell companies.

The Tánaiste said that Irish citizens identified in the Panama Papers as using tax havens should consider the good of the country as well as whether such tax avoidance stratagems are legal.

Two Irish landlords convicted who have to pay €3,500 for failing to register tenancies

RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES BOARD SECURES CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS AGAINST LETTORS IN DONEGAL AND TALLAGHT

   

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has secured criminal convictions against two landlords who failed to register their tenancies, despite receiving a number of statutory notices and warning letters instructing them to do so.

Two landlords have received criminal convictions for failing to register their tenancies.

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has secured criminal convictions against two landlords who failed to register their tenancies, despite receiving a number of statutory notices and warning letters instructing them to do so.

In the first case proceedings were taken against Eileen Maguire of Ballydevitt, Donegal Town, Donegal, for failing to register a tenancy at Ballydevitt, Donegal. The case was heard by Judge John O’Neill on April 4th, 2016.

Ms Maguire was sent two notices ordering her to comply with the legislation but failed to register the tenancy.

The RTB’s solicitors, sent two further warning letters prior to the initiation of proceedings, offering Ms Maguire further opportunities to register the tenancy, which was not availed of.

Mr O’Neill convicted Ms Maguire of an offence under Section 144(3) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and imposed a fine of €1,000. Mr O’Neill made an order for costs against Ms Maguire in favour of the RTB in the amount of €2,500. The tenancy was registered at the time of the court hearing.

THE SECOND CASE?

In the second case Andrew Oliver Fleming of Tymon Crescent, Old Bawn, Tallaght, Dublin 24, was convicted for failing to register a tenancy at the same address.

The judge imposed a fine of €1,000 and made an order for costs in favour of the RTB of €2,500. The tenancy was registered at the time of the court hearing.

The RTB has said further cases will be brought before the courts throughout 2016 and beyond against landlords for failing to register tenancies in breach of the Act.

A total of 22,854 letters were issued by the RTB in 2015 notifying landlords of their specific registration requirement.

Since January 2011, the fee is €90 per tenancy if registered within one month of the tenancy commencing and, a late fee of €180 applies if the tenancy is registered outside of that time period.

The registration fees also fund local authority inspections of rental accommodation to enforce minimum standards.

A landlord, if convicted under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 for failing to comply with a notice, faces a fine of up to €4,000 and/or six months’ imprisonment, along with a daily fine of €250 for a continuing offence where the tenancy continues to remain unregistered after the court hearing.

Lack of commitment to Ireland’s mental health funding problem

NEW PROGRAMME FOR GOVERNMENT IS LOW ON DETAILS

    

THE NEW PROGRAMME FOR GOVERNMENT DOES NOT CONTAIN A DETAILED COMMITMENT TO MENTAL HEALTH FUNDING, IT HAS BEEN CLAIMED.

According to Mental Health Reform, while the programme does state that the mental health budget ‘will be increased annually during the lifetime of this new Government’, there are no specific details on mental health funding.

Mental Health Reform is a national coalition of organisations which work towards promoting best practise and improving services for all people with mental health problems. It has 54 member organisations including Aware, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, the Children’s Rights Alliance and the Samaritans.

According to its director, Dr Shari McDaid, the coalition is disappointed that the Government ‘has not specified an amount of development funding for mental health per year over the lifetime of its term, as had been promised in both the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil manifestos’.

She acknowledged that a number of commitments have been made which are to be strongly welcomed, including an intention to extend counselling services to people on low incomes and an intention to establish a National Taskforce on Youth Mental Health.

“It is clear from the range of mental health commitments made, that the new Government is beginning to understand the wide impact that mental health difficulties have on Irish society. But Mental Health Reform is extremely concerned at the lack of any commitment to end the inappropriate admission of children to adult wards and the absence of an immediate commitment to 24/7 crisis supports,” Dr McDaid commented.

However, she welcomed the Government’s intention to use ‘proceeds from the sale of older assets used for mental health services for new developments in mental health’.

Previously, funds raised from the sale of lands were used solely to fund capital developments in mental health, however the Programme for Government suggests that these funds may now also be used for new developments and new services in mental health.

“We welcome the commitment to retaining money from the sale of mental health service lands within the services. The sale of the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum in Dublin, which is prime residential land, could potentially raise a significant amount of money for investment in mental health facilities and services,” Dr McDaid added.

Gluten-free products are not always a healthy choice for most children

A PAEDIATRICIAN NOW SAYS

    

DIET MAY BE NUTRITIONALLY DEFICIENT, HIGH IN FAT AND SUGAR, AS WELL AS COSTLY.

A paediatric gastroenterologist is warning parents about high fat and sugar in packaged products that are gluten-free.

There is more risk than benefit to a gluten-free diet for people and especially children who haven’t been diagnosed with celiac disease or wheat allergy, according to the Journal of Paediatrics.

In a commentary that aims to separate fact from fiction, Dr. Norelle R. Reilly, of New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, says a gluten-free diet is not a healthy lifestyle choice.

“Parents should be counselled as to the possible financial, social, and nutritional consequences of unnecessary implementation of a gluten-free diet,” said Reilly, who is a specialist in pediatric gastroenterology.

In 2015, 25% of U.S. consumers reported consuming gluten-free foods, according to market research by the Mintel Group. The gluten-free industry more than doubled in size from 2013 to 2015.

Most people self-diagnose

Most of those consumers are eating gluten-free without checking with a dietitian or health professional, making it a fad that could be affecting thousands of children, Reilly said.

Gluten-free products are more costly than wheat-based products and lack the nutritional fortification of traditional flours, according a commentary in the Journal of Pediatrics. (John Bazemore/Associated Press)

Books like David Perlmutter’s Grain Brain and William Davis’ Wheat Belly, have helped make the gluten-free food market a multi-billion-dollar industry, but dietitians are skeptical.

Reilly expressed concern about high levels of fat and sugar in gluten-free packaged foods, saying this could lead to increased caloric intake at a time when a high proportion of the population are struggling with obesity.

She also said a gluten-free diet may be lower in nutrients than one that includes wheat products, as ingredients are not fortified, leading to deficiencies in B vitamins, folate, and iron.

Rice and rice flours often substitute for wheat in gluten-free products, increasing the risk that people are consuming serum mercury and arsenic, which rice takes up naturally from the soil.

She also points to the higher cost of food and quality of life issues for children limited to a gluten-free diet, who would not be able to eat at a friend’s home or to exchange  treats with school friends.

Nothing toxic about gluten

Reilly said there is a misconception that gluten itself is toxic, which may be leading many people to adopt a gluten-free diet when they don’t need to.

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“Gluten, comprising gliadins and glutenins, is one of the many protein components of wheat and for the majority of people, gluten proteins pass through the gastrointestinal tract without leading to disease,” she said.

Reilly said parents should be discouraged from putting their children on a gluten-free diet even where one member of the family has been diagnosed with celiac disease or a wheat allergy.  Often the family will all eat gluten-free foods as a matter of convenience.

She acknowledges that celiac disease, which would warrant a gluten-free diet, is underdiagnosed in the U.S. and wheat allergy is rare. But she said there is little data about non-celiac gluten sensitivity in children.

However, putting a child on a wheat-free diet before celiac disease is diagnosed can obscure evidence of the disease, she said.

Gluten and children

Parents may resist reintroducing foods with gluten which may be necessary to get a diagnosis, she added.

“Other conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, small bowel bacterial overgrowth, and fructose and lactose intolerance may be responsible for symptoms in those self-diagnosed with gluten sensitivity,” Reilly said in her commentary.

There is no evidence that delaying the introduction of gluten to infants has any impact on later development of celiac disease, she said. Most literature recommends introducing wheat-based products between six months and one year.

She urged people who adopt a gluten-free diet to seek the advice of a health professional.

“Health care providers may not be able to end the gluten-free diet fad, but can certainly begin to play a larger role in educating patients, excluding celiac disease, and preventing nutritional deficiencies in those choosing to stay gluten-free,” she said.

Genes can contribute slightly, to a person’s education level

A STUDY SAYS?

   

A STUDY SAID LAST WEDNESDAY THEY HAD IDENTIFIED 74 GENES THAT PARTIALLY DETERMINE HOW FAR SOMEONE GETS IN SCHOOL, DEPENDING ON WHICH VARIANT OF THOSE GENES A PERSON POSSESSES.

Compared to environmental factors such as diet, family circumstances and opportunity, this hard-wiring has only a meager influence, accounting for less than half of one percent of the outcome.

Even when combined with all known genetic variants across the human genome, that share only rises to about three percent.

But the findings, published in Nature, are robust enough to help researchers match genetically-linked personality traits — such as grit and contentiousness — with education attainment, at least at the level of society, if not the individual.

Even a single gene, they found, could have a measurable impact.

“For the variant with the largest effect, the difference between people with zero copies and those who have two copies predicts, on average, about nine more weeks of schooling,” said Daniel Benjamin, a professor at University of Southern California and corresponding author for the consortium that completed the study.

The most common type of genetic variants — known as SNPs (or “snips”) — can show up as deletions or duplications of DNA fragments.

Earlier research by the same team of 250 scientists worldwide canvassed the genomes of 100,000 people, and only turned up three relevant genes.   

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

The reform of public contract rules to boost opportunities for small Irish firms

 

Irish business chiefs have broadly welcomed new government guidelines designed to make it easier for smaller firms to bid for public contracts.

SME representatives have been complaining that the Government is sidelining small firms from public procurement.

Under the new guidelines, buyers must consider breaking contracts into separate lots, to allow smaller companies to compete for those elements.

They’re also urged to encourage businesses to form consortia if they are not of a sufficient size to tender in their own right.

Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin said the measures will improve small firms’ access to the public sector market.

“The public sector has massive purchasing power, spending in the region of €8.5bn each year on goods and services, in addition to expenditure on public works,” Mr Howlin said.

“Taxpayers demand that Government secures value for money in all of its spend but in a way that also recognises the importance of SMEs to our economy.”

Junior Finance Minister Brian Hayes said the reform of public procurement was a key element of the public sector reform programme.

“Our goal is to ensure that it gets easier for businesses to engage with public procurement while at the same time driving improved value for money for the taxpayer.”

Under the guidelines, public sector buyers are instructed to undertake market analysis prior to tendering in order to better understand the range of goods and services on offer and the specific capabilities of SMEs.

And buyers should not, for routine goods and services competitions, set turnover requirements at more than twice the estimated contract value.

Chambers Ireland welcomed the announcement but said the proof will be in the take up.

“Real success will be evident through an increase in the number of local businesses being awarded contracts,” Chambers Ireland deputy chief executive Sean Murphy said.

EXCLUDED

“We cannot afford to have another four years of too many SMEs being effectively excluded from public procurement.”

IBEC hailed the announcement as a step towards eliminating barriers for small and medium-sized businesses, but said the rules were just a start.

“There is scope to make significant improvements to the public procurement process, which will benefit all parties and ultimately the tax-paying public,” said Ibec’s Enterprise Executive Aidan Sweeney.

“To achieve the priority of better government, it is vital that these new changes are adopted by buyers right across the public sector.”

Adult Human cells cloned for first time

  

“Certainly this kind of technology could be abused by some kind of rogue scientist,” Paul Knoepfler of the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine,

Ever since Dolly the Sheep was cloned in 1996, scientists have been trying to do the same thing with human cells. Using the same technique, scientists say they’ve finally accomplished the feat with adult cells.

“What we show for the first time is that you can actually take skin cells, from a middle-aged 35-year-old male, but also from an elderly, 75-year-old male” and use the DNA to create tissue with cells of an exact match, said co-author of the study Robert Lanza.

   Last year, the technique was successfully used with infant cells, but in order to create tissue in a lab that could treat adult diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, scientists needed to know if the technique would work with adult cells.

“I’m happy to hear that our experiment was verified and shown to be genuine,” said Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a development biologist at Oregon Health and Science University, who led the 2013 study.

The work confirmed that starting with a quality human egg is key to the process. The researchers replaced the original DNA in an unfertilized egg with the donor DNA, and then cultured the cells in a lab dish. The stem cells, which were an exact match to the donor’s DNA, can then be turned into various tissue types.

Even though full human cloning is a long way off, the report may raise an equal amount of concern and excitement.

Shortage of top doctors in Ireland forces a rethink on consultant pay scales

 

A medical brain drain and problem recruiting to key posts has triggered a review of policy

The announcement by Minister for Health James Reillyyesterday of fresh talks after Easter on pay for hospital consultants is the first indication that the Government will probably have to revisit the significant cuts it imposed nearly two years ago.

The Coalition came into office hospital-consultant pay firmly in its sights. In autumn 2012, the Cabinet acted on the programme for government commitment and unilaterally introduced a 30 per cent pay cut for senior doctors taking up such posts from that point.

Following that cut the salary for new entrants ranged from €95,000 to €116,000 depending on the type of contract.

However, for the Government the unintended consequence was that it made these positions much less attractive at a time when Irish-trained medical graduates were in high demand abroad.

Over the past year or so, medical representative bodies such as the Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association (IHCA) argued that a brain drain was effectively under way. They maintained that Irish-based consultants and senior non-consultant doctors were opting to leave while those abroad were choosing to remain overseas.

It emerged in January that the Public Appointment Service had received no applications in relation to four recruitment campaigns last year in the areas of paediatric intensive-care medicine, geriatric medicine and radiology.

In January The Irish Times reported health management had received a report that recognised problems were emerging concerning retention of senior doctors and that that the HSE had suggested to Dr Reilly that the pay issue be reconsidered.

The HSE proposed a revised scale for newly appointed consultants with greater experience or who had additional training.

Yesterday a strategic review group came to the same conclusion – that the lower pay rates in place for new consultants appointed after 2012 were acting as barrier to recruitment.

The Haddington Road caveat

A process on pay for new-entrant consultants is expected to be in train within weeks, with an aim of completion by July. However, one potential sticking point is that the proposed talks will take place within the context of the Haddington Road agreement to which the IHCA has to date declined to sign. If a change of heart is not forthcoming it may not be invited to attend.

Hospital consultants are some of the highest-paid staff in the public service. But it is not only those appointed after autumn 2012 who have seen their salaries reduced. Pay cuts were imposed on other consultants under the Haddington Road pact last year.

It remains to be seen whether any revision of pay rates and the introduction of other proposed reforms proposes by the working group will be sufficient to make Irish hospital positions more attractive for young doctors.

An Easter apparition? This is for real the face of Jesus in a field in Drogheda is art

 

The portrait covers two acres and was created using fertiliser to help bring out the image from the surrounding grass.

Did you see it? It’s only Jesus Christ’s face in a field in Drogheda.

Okay, before the pilgrims set off, this is not an apparition. An Irish artist created this artwork in Drogheda in a unique way to celebrate Easter.

The gigantic portrait of Jesus was inspired by a line in the Psalms – ‘I will remove sin as far as the East is from the West,’ said Richard Moore, the artist.

He said the eyes of the image are on a line in that is on an east west line that extends all the way from Drogheda to Croagh Patrick, an alignment which also marks the Spring and Autumn Equinox sunrise and sunset.

Two acres

The portrait, which covers approximately two acres was created using fertiliser to help bring out the image from the surrounding grass.

Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Moore said that he wanted to have something ready by Easter.

“I had the permission of the local parish priest, who was very enthusiastic about the project,” he said.

The image can’t be seen from the ground, said Moore, who said he was unsure if he had scaled the image correctly. A friend who had a quadcopter took an image from the air, and to Moore’s relief he said it looked fine.

“The fertilizer still has to begin its work, it should take 10-15 days to see the proper results,” he said, adding that currently the portrait is made by brushing away the early morning dew on the grass.

Watch the mischievous honey badgers taunt BBC filmmakers

 

Could these cute black and white critters be the most fearless animals in the world? How many other animals do you know that bite lions’ balls, fight with venomous snakes and raid bees’ nests? Series editor Roger Webb and director Steve Gooder reveal more about these incredible creatures.

Honey Badgers: Masters of Mayhem takes a look at these naughty, tenacious mammals from South Africa, described as the most fearless animal on the planet.

We’ll take a look at different people’s encounters with honey badgers in Limpopo and Kruger National Park. One is a scientist named Brian Jones, who is trying to get a better grasp of what these animals are capable of. “At one point, he was trying to look after a honey badger in his house,” explains series editor Roger Webb. “It gets up to all sorts of mayhem, raiding his fridge, nicking his bacon. Eventually he tries to put it in an enclosure but it keeps escaping.”

For its size, the honey badger has a huge brain. These very intelligent creatures can undo locks, use tools and climb out of enclosures. “They are smarter than they should be,” explains show director Steve Gooder, who spent four weeks in one location, desperately trying to get some footage of the cheeky creatures. “They gave us the slip every time,” says Gooder, who wasn’t going to give up. “They’re relatively mysterious, they’re not thought to be rare but they keep a low profile and are quite sneaky.”

However, honey badgers are not afraid of being found; this is, after all, the same creature that would happily pick a fight with a lion. “They come with a massive reputation,” says Gooder, whose team gets attacked by a honey badger while filming (see clip below). “There are all these stories about them biting people’s balls.

They have a reputation for attacking private parts. Everyone we spoke to had a story about them. One guy we talked to said that a honey badger had broken into a lion enclosure deliberately so he could fight lions. Apparently, he went for their private parts and the lions were completely freaked out. Another guy we met said that they bite hyenas’ private parts when they have fights with them. They are super smart.”

These marvelous creatures also have a penchant for venomous snakes. “They eat all the different kinds of snakes from cobras to black adders and black mambas, and all these snakes have different kinds of venom,” explains Gooder. “What they will do is fight the snake, get bitten by it and that will knock them out a bit so they will go to sleep as they process the venom. Meanwhile, they’ve mortally injured the snake and they wake up and just scoff the snake. They’re quite cool little critters.”

Beekeepers in Africa often run into honey badgers, which try to break open their hives. One man in the show tries to create a badger proof hive. Gooder says it was no use; “he built this great big cage with beehives in it, but the badgers managed to climb up these poles, even though there’s no grip. He tried to grease the poles but even that didn’t keep them off.” Somehow the badgers always outsmart the humans.

Coming up on Natural World next – David Attenborough’s Fabulous Frogs. “David adores frogs,” says Webb, “they’re creatures that are very easy to overlook and underestimate. They’re quite remarkable, they live in every environment on earth, from the frozen north to the desert, which is extraordinary for an animal like a frog. I think we just think of them as jumping around in ponds. It makes you realise what remarkable animals they are.

“What we love about Natural World, and we hope the audience does as well, is that we always look for the remarkable in nature, the stories that stand out.”