IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 12 August
12-08-2008
by Sylvia Leatham
Ireland exceeds EU recycling target | Gov staff escape punishment over stolen laptops
The Irish Times reports that electronic goods are being recycled in Ireland at a rate of more than twice the target set by the EU when new laws were introduced three years ago. According to new figures published by WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Ireland, on average, each of us recycled 9kg of used electronics goods last year, more than double the 4kg target set when retailers were first required to take back old items in 2005. Some 21 million electronic goods have now been recycled in Ireland in the past three years, and as a result about 100,000 tonnes of electronic waste have been diverted from landfill.
The same paper reports that Prof Tom Garvin of UCD's politics department told the Parnell Summer School on Monday that there was still resistance to engineering and science training in schools and colleges. Prof Garvin attributed the reluctance to "the general shying away from 'hard' subjects by the children of rich societies", as well as "the rather esoteric and advanced teaching of mathematics and its detachment from concrete scientific and social issues".
The paper also notes that Babcock & Brown, the Australian investment group that ultimately controls Eircom, has warned that first-half profits could drop by as much as 40 percent. The firm's full year is also likely to be weaker due to large provisions on the value of its real estate and structured finance assets, it said. The news pushed Babcock & Brown's shares down 11.8 percent on Monday.
The same paper says the Digital Hub, a technology enterprise centre in Dublin's Liberties area, now has over 100 companies located at its premises. Read more on this story on ENN.
The paper also reports that most Irish executives spend up to five hours of holiday time answering work-related e-mail, according to a survey by employment rights adviser Peninsula Ireland. The study also found that 71 percent of managers or executives ensure they will have internet availability when booking a holiday, and of the 87 percent who admitted to checking work e-mails, 77 percent said they did so on a daily basis.
The paper also says that the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) is contacting 380,000 social welfare recipients after it emerged that their personal details were stored on a laptop that was stolen more than a year ago. The information on the laptop was password-protected, but the data was not encrypted. Information relating to these welfare recipients was stored on a computer used by the Comptroller and Auditor General at a DSFA office on Pearse Street, Dublin in April 2007. Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin said she was "very concerned" that her department was not made aware by the comptroller of the extent of the loss at the time the theft was reported to Gardai last year.
Reporting on the same story, the Irish Independent says that staff at the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) will not face any disciplinary action for failing to inform authorities that stolen laptops contained sensitive citizen information. An OCAG spokesman described the massive oversight as "a procedural flaw" and said no disciplinary action would be taken as there had been no procedures in place at the time for the reporting of the theft of sensitive information.
The paper also notes that musicians made 15 percent less money from CD sales in the first six months of the year, with consumers increasingly turning to downloading music from the internet. Half-year results from the UK's MCPS-PRS Alliance, which collects royalties, showed STG74.7 million was made from sales of physical formats, such as CDs and DVDs, down from STG82.3 million in the same period last year. Online royalties rose by more than 40 percent year-on-year to STG7 million, however.
The Irish Examiner reports that Leaving Cert students will be able access their exam results online from Wednesday. The State Examinations Commission (SEC) will make the results available from its website, www.examinations.ie, from midday. The service was used by more than 20,000 candidates last year from 40 countries. Students need their exam number and a personal identification number to access the results, which are also being made available by phone.
The paper also says that moves to block mobile phone use by prisoners is being undermined by senior jail staff who insist on bringing their handsets to work, Fine Gael has warned. The party's justice spokesman, Charlie Flanagan, demanded a total ban on all devices in prison and insisted Government officials and jail management were playing into the hands of criminals by keeping their own phones. Flanagan said he believed blocking measures would have more impact on the illegal use of phones by prisoners if senior staff were also unable to access the networks. The Prison Officers Association said officers did not take their phones into work and condemned a loophole that allowed outside workers such as builders to bring their phones into prisons.
Separately, the paper says that criminal Liam Keane may face a fine of EUR10,000 and five extra years in prison after pictures showing him in his cell were taken on a mobile phone and used to update his Bebo page. The photos are understood to have been taken on a mobile phone which was confiscated during a routine search of Keane's cell in July. The Limerick criminal was using the phone to send photos to his girlfriend, who was maintaining his Bebo page on his behalf.
The paper also reports that a new service called Legal Line is offering a 10-minute talk with a solicitor for EUR29, a fraction of the normal face-to-face fee. The service was set up by solicitor Rachel McDaid. Her company provides an automated phone system that allows a caller to select from one of 10 legal specialities and then puts them directly through to the nearest solicitor available to talk to them. Solicitors who sign up to participate will get EUR1 for every minute of their time.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Georgian officials and international security experts say the Georgian government was hit by repeated cyberattacks just as Russia launched military action against the country. The leading suspect behind the attacks, which disabled key government websites, is a cybercriminal organisation known as the Russian Business Network, according to one person briefed on the subject. Lauri Almann, the deputy minister of defense of Estonia, which is helping Georgia formulate its response to the cyberattacks, said it appears likely that the Georgian government and local media outlets were hit by denial of service attacks, which shut down their websites.
According to the Financial Times, South Korean mobile phone maker LG Electronics has overtaken rival Samsung to take second place in the US handset market, behind Motorola, in the latest quarter. The figures from Strategy Analytics show the popularity of several touchscreen handsets made by LG, including the Vu and Voyager. Both are sold by Verizon Wireless in competition with Apple's iPhone in the US. Overall, the US market grew by 5.3 percent to 41.9 million phones from the year-earlier quarter, Strategy Analytics said.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 