MWK Summer 2017 by publications

SUMMER

2017 PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS Steven Jacob

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK Dr. Constantin Gurdgiev

EU RULING ON THE WEARING OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS IN THE WORKPLACE Steven Jacob

SIMPLE TIPS TO BOOST YOUR ONLINE PRIVACY USEFUL APPS AT HOLIDAY TIME MEET THE TEAM

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IN BUSINESS

TABLE OF CONTENTS Personal Injury Claims - Steven Jacob

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Economic Outlook - Dr Constantin Gurdgiev

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EU Ruling On The Wearing of Religious Symbols In The Workplace - Steven Jacob

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Legal Briefs

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Simple Tips to Boost Your Online Privacy

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Business Briefs

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Useful Apps At Holiday Time

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Meet The Team

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Range of Services

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Welcome to the Summer 2017 edition of our newsletter. We hope you find the information contained in this issue of practical use. If you know someone for whom this publication could be of some use, just let us know and we all add them to the mailing list. Our firm was established in 1941 and is a firm that is both deep rooted in tradition and eagerly looking forward to the future. Our fundamental purpose to provide a competitive, efficient and personal service to each and every client. We are confident we have the necessary resources to provide you with astute legal advice and support no matter what your legal requirements are. We take the confusion out of your legal requirements with reliable and straightforward advice for every occasion. We would like to welcome Julie Bermingham to M.W. Keller. Julie will be specialising in family law, conveyancing, civil and commercial litigation, IP and all court matters. She also has extensive experience in the area of probate. Please feel free to contact any of our team to discuss any issues that matter to you.

PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS Steven Jacob – MW Keller & Son, Solicitors

SUFFERING FROM A PERSONAL INJURY CAN BE A VERY STRESSFUL EXPERIENCE. A lot of claimants reach a settlement with insurance companies before they seek legal advice, meaning they are not fully aware of what their entitlements are, and how much they may be entitled to. A claimant has 2 years, from the date of the injury, within which to initiate a claim for personal injury. Initially a claim must be filed with the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. The Personal Injuries Assessment Board provide independent assessment of personal injury compensation for victims of workplace, motor and public liability accidents. Medical Negligence claims are however outside of the scope of the Injuries Board. A Claimant must bring an application before the Injuries Board within two years of the date of the injury. An Application Form is available from the Injuries Board website. A report from the Claimant’s doctor should also be sought as soon as possible after an injury. The Claimant will then be issued with an application number specific to his/her claim. The Injuries Board will only assess a claim if the other party consents to have the case dealt with by the Injuries Board. If the person against whom the claim is being made does not reply to the Injuries Board- they are deemed to have consented, and the Board will make an assessment. The Board’s assessment can take anything from 9 months to 15 months, depending on the circumstances. Claimants are recommended to review the “Book of Quantum” which sets out the average compensation awards for different types of personal injury, and will give a claimant an idea as to what award to potentially expect. Any costs incurred such as doctors’ bills, travel etc. can be awarded in addition to the award set out in the Book of Quantum.

For more information on the above please contact:

Once the Board has made an award, the Claimant has 28 days to accept or reject the award. The person against whom the claim is made has 21 days to accept or reject the award, and again if they fail to respond they are deemed to have accepted it.

Margaret Fortune

If the Claimant or the person against whom the claim has been made rejects the award, they are entitled to issue legal proceedings.

051 877029 Margaret@mwkeller.ie

Dr. Constantin Gurdgiev At the end of the ‘‘Trump boom’’, investors should diversify equity exposures, reduce passive allocations, exit leveraged companies and stay alert. Much has been said and written about the rise, and the ongoing decline, of the so-called ‘Trump boom’. With the persistent, and rising, uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding geopolitical risks, and the growth in volatility and complexity of partisan politics in the U.S., the premise that the economic honeymoon for the new Administration has been short lived is well anchored in the reality. But the data behind the assertion that the end of the Trump boom spells the beginning of unwinding of the massive monetary and fiscal imbalances that propelled the U.S. and global economies over the last 6 years is still incomplete. Instead, key markets’ metrics suggest we are close to the peak bull run in equities and debt, but a timing of the downward correction to come remains uncertain. Most of the analysis one encounters today in the media is focused on macroeconomic fundamentals. These include declining rates of economic expansion (both in the U.S. and worldwide), stagnant productivity growth, cooling off in credit growth (including most recent cratering in new corporate lending in North America and the continued banking problems in Europe), and lagging domestic demand and inflation. In macroeconomic terms, the world economy is still a glass half-full. Take the U.S. Consumer demand. The first quarter of this year witnessed a marked decline in car sales, and fledging household spending, amidst slipping consumer sentiment readings. The latest indicators suggest that U.S. private consumption grew at an anaemic pace of just 1.1 percent (annualised) in January-March 2017, down from the 3.5 percent growth in the last quarter of 2016. This set the stage for the start of 2017 to be the worst first quarter reading since 2009 - the start of the current growth / recovery cycle. In line with the bad news, and pressured by massive migration of sales to online retail, the retail sector across the U.S. has been posting historically high rates of corporate insolvencies. 1Q 2017 numbers of bankruptcy filings in the retail sector are running close to double 2016 quarterly averages. Retail real estate indices in the U.S. have posted a 3 percent decline in prices, while retail chain closures have hit 14 as of April 6th. Another key sector for consumer demand, responsible for the largest share of new jobs created in the last 4 years, restaurants and bars, have reported weak figures, with data covering the period through February 2017. Things are slippery on the macroeconomic slope, but the story of the incoming markets’ storms is better viewed from the window into corporate finance, and especially companies’ capital spending (capex). This is the coalface of the long overdue markets’ re-valuation and the key signal when it comes to assessing the potential impact of the monetary policies normalisation awaiting the world’s largest central banks.

M&A

INVESTMENTS

Let us take Mergers and Acquisitions, or M&As - the main driver of corporate investment in recent years. As companies scaled back on organic investment in new capacities and technologies, American (and subsequently European) firms have unleashed a wave of debt-financed M&As in 2011-2016. Before the crisis, during 2006-2007, overall U.S. M&A volumes averaged US$1.65 trillion, annually. During the height of the financial crisis and the subsequent Great Recession, the average annual volume fell to just over US$0.8 trillion. 2011-2013 recovery brought M&As back, with the average annual deal volumes of about US$1.03 trillion. In the years after, 2014 and 2015, saw U.S. corporate M&As reaching US$1.6 trillion and US$2 trillion, respectively. Before finalisation of several mega-mergers announced in late 2016, the deals volume slipped to US$1.4-1.5 trillion in 2016. All in, since the onset of the monetary policy-driven recovery, U.S. companies spent some US$7.2 trillion dollars on buying up each others’ assets - money that represents questionable value-for-money given that the prevailing empirical consensus on M&As suggests that up to 70 percent of the announced investments fail to reach their financial goals and objectives set out at the start of the deal. Put differently, up to US$5 trillion (or nearly 27 percent of the 2016 GDP of the United States) of the publicly disclosed M&As volumes are unlikely to generate the return on investment factoid into justifying them.

Aggregate corporate, household and government investment is also weak. Based on the latest data compiled by the IMF, total investment as a share of GDP is expected to stay well below pre-crisis average in 2017 in six of the seven largest advanced economies. This is the worst investment performance since 2010. Cumulative underinvestment, since 2009 through 2016 will total 26.7 percent of GDP in the U.S., 23.7 percent in Italy, 19.6 percent in Japan, 14.0 percent in the UK and almost 8.7 percent in Germany (Chart 2 below). The latest forecasts show that this problem is expected to persist into 2022.

CHART 2: Total Investment as % of GDP: Cumulative 2009-2016 shortfall on precrisis average

Source: author’s own calculations based on data from IMF

CHART 1: U.S. Investment and M&A Volume Source: IMF, FactSet and author’s own calculations

Despite this dire lack of organic investment and the slowdown in the M&As, global debt levels are continuing to climb. In 1996, total debt to GDP ratio across the global economy stood at 249 percent. This rose to 325 percent in 2016 according to the data from Institute of International Finance (IIF) (Chart 3).

As the chart above shows, on-trend dynamics in M&A volumes imply a significant reduction in corporate activity in 2017. Using the IMF’s latest projection for U.S. GDP and aggregate investment, M&A share of total investment in 2017 is likely to fall to around 28.5 percent from 41.0 percent in 2016 and 54.5 percent in 2015. On average, between 2011 and 2016, M&A activity accounted for just under 40.3 percent of all aggregate public, private corporate and household investment in the world’s largest economy. That said, U.S. M&A deal activity increased in March, rising 24.7% with 909 announcements compared to 870 in February, based on data from FactSet. Aggregate M&A spending also increased. Still, the number of deals in 1Q 2017 is at 2,902, down 373 on the same period of 2016.

Corporate debt growth in the emerging markets and government debt explosion in the advanced economies are the two key drivers of global liabilities expansion in 2016-2017 worldwide. Government debt in the U.S. and UK has more than doubled over the last 10 years. For Japan and the Eurozone, Government debt rose more than 50 percent. With rising interest rates in the U.S. and the possibility of monetary policy normalisation by the ECB (brought closer by the seemingly abating political risks in post-election France and Holland), the IMF has recently warned that the ‘‘sheer size of debt’’ could set the stage for an unprecedented private deleveraging process that could derail “the fragile [global] economic recovery”. Even a simple maths calculation suggests that 1 percent increase in global policy rates will risk taking US$2.4 trillion out of the global economy through higher debt servicing costs. The IMF projects total economic growth in 2017 to be just US$2.71 trillion. While timing and severity of the policy rates cliff will differ across different states, these costs are hard to ignore.

DEBT

CHART 3: Global Debt, USD billions Source: IIF and author’s own calculations based on data from IMF and IIF

A combination of uncertainties surrounding monetary policies’ impact on corporate and government debt markets, alongside continued weak performance in the corporate investment stand contrasted by the prolonged bull run in the equity markets. Meanwhile, aggregate bubbles created in recent years across virtually all asset classes continue to inflate on less-thanimpressive macroeconomic news and aggregate demand dynamics. Strategically, investors do not need to pivot from equities to cash. At least not yet. Instead, more careful screening of specific stocks (based on lower corporate debt exposures) and greater market diversification in favour of companies generating more than 50 percent share of earnings from the markets other than the U.S. can provide better risk hedging opportunities. Another defensive move would be to reduce allocations to passively managed funds, such as ETFs, and gear toward a higher portfolio allocation to more actively managed individual equities’ positions. Incidentally, these strategies have been gaining on market performance terms in recent months, with both international diversification in earnings and lower leverage ‘screens’ yielding rising returns relative to S&P 500 in 1Q 2017. As Herbert Stein’s Law postulates, ‘‘If something cannot go on forever, it will stop’’. We might not know exactly when or where that stop will be triggered, but we can foresee its extent. It is likely to be highly disruptive and broadly-based. Be forewarned, and take cover.

Dr Constantin Gurdgiev is the Adjunct Assistant Professor of Finance with Trinity College, Dublin and serves as a co-founder and a Director of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation Ltd and the Chairman of Ireland Russia Business Association. He holds a non-executive appointment on the Investment Committee of Heniz Global Asset Management, LLC (US). In the past, Dr Constantin Gurdgiev served as the Head of Research with St Columbanus AG (Switzerland), the Head of Macroeconomics with the Institute for Business Value, IBM, Director of Research with NCB Stockbrokers Ltd and Group Editor and Director of Business and Finance Publications. He also held a non-executive appointment on the Investment Committee of GoldCore Ltd (Ireland) and Sierra Nevada College (US). Born in Moscow, Russian, Dr. Gurdgiev was educated in the University of California, Los Angeles, University of Chicago, John Hopkins University and Trinity College, Dublin.

EU Ruling ON THE WEARING OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS IN THE WORKPLACE Steven Jacob – MW Keller & Son, Solicitors

IN THE TWO JOINT CASES OF G4S SECURE SOLUTIONS AND BOUGNAOUI AND ADDH, THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE (ECJ) (EUROPE’S TOP COURT), HAVE MADE A RULING ALLOWING EMPLOYERS TO BAN STAFF FROM WEARING RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS, SUCH AS HEADSCARVES, INSIDE THE WORKPLACE. The claimant in the first case was a receptionist in G4s, a private company which provided reception services for both the private sector and the public sector. She informed her employer that she was planning to wear an Islamic headscarf to work. This was refused by her employer and after a period of sick leave, she was subsequently dismissed. In the second case, the claimant was told, (prior to commencing her employment), that there might be an issue with her wearing an Islamic headscarf to work. During her internship, she had worn a bandana to work. Following successful completion of the internship, her employer offered a contract of indefinite duration. She began wearing a headscarf and a customer complained. She was asked to refrain from wearing the headscarf. She refused and was subsequently dismissed. The ECJ rulings essentially mean that an employer is not guilty of discrimination for banning religious and political symbols from the workplace. This is the first time that the ECJ have examined this issue.

For more information on the above please contact:

Thomas Norris

051 877029 tom@mwkeller.ie

Discrimination on the basis of religion is prohibited under the Employment Equality Acts. Other European countries have had much more cases on this issue than Ireland. There was a case in Ireland in 2007 where a member of the Sikh community declined to take up his post in the Garda Reserve, having been informed that he could not wear his turban on duty. The ruling from the ECJ does not signal a full discretion or power for an employer to ban the wearing of political or religious symbols in the workplace. The ECJ ruling simply allows an employer to implement a company dress code that forbids religious or political symbols. There have been a number of commentators who criticised the ruling, and its impact on the Freedom of Religion in the Constitution.

LEGAL BRIEFS IRELAND IS GOING TO BAN ZEROHOUR CONTRACTS ‘IN MOST CIRCUMSTANCES Zero hours contracts will be banned “in most circumstances” under new plans. In early May, the Government approved draft legislative proposals from Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Small Business Minister Pat Breen that will “address problems caused by the increased casualisation of work and to strengthen the regulation of precarious work”. The draft proposals are aimed at low-paid workers in particular. Proposals address the issue of employees on

COURT FINES WORTH ALMOST €50M REMAIN UNPAID A total of 196,909 court fines imposed since 2011, worth a total of €48.5 million, remain unpaid. The latest figures from the Courts Service of Ireland show that the rate of evasion is increasing, with €16.5 million overdue at

MINISTERS ASK BRUTON TO RECONSIDER ‘BAPTISM BARRIER’ PLANS Minister for Education Richard Bruton has been asked by Fine Gael TDs and Senators to re-examine his plans to deal with the “baptism barrier” in school admissions. Government Ministers Charlie Flanagan and Heather Humphreys backed calls for Mr Bruton to re-examine aspects of a Bill which could oblige religious schools to prioritise local children over pupils of their own religion living farther away. Mr Bruton earlier this year announced plans to remove the so-called baptism barrier from schools to ensure children from non-religious backgrounds are not discriminated against in school admissions policies. Fine Gael TDs Colm Brophy and Peter Burke and Senator Neale Richmond brought a motion to the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting seeking further discussion on the proposed legislation.

low hour contracts who consistently work more hours each week but whose contracts do not reflect the reality of their hours worked. A Government says the plans include an amendment to the Organisation of Working Time Act which will outlaw zero hour contracts “in most circumstances”. The draft legislation will now be referred to the Office of the Attorney General for priority drafting of a Bill and has been cautiously welcomed by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). General Secretary of ICTU, Patricia King, commented that the organisation has campaigned on this issue for some time and see the contents of the draft legislation as quite positive but that issues remain to be resolved regarding the appropriate rate of pay that will apply.

the end of 2017 compared to €7.5 million in 2011. The Justice spokesperson for Fianna Fáil, Jim O’Callaghan commented that serious questions needs to as asked as to why fines, worth a substantial amount of money, which could be invested in a number of areas, have not been collected. He believes the current situation undermines the criminal justice system.

Mr Brophy and Mr Richmond said the Bill could have unintended implications for minority religious groups, particularly Protestants. Mr Richmond asked Mr Bruton to meet the leaders of individual groups to ensure there was no perception of discrimination. His proposal was seconded by Ms Humphreys, who urged her Cabinet colleague to engage directly with minority religious groupings and warned of unintended consequences for certain schools. Mr Flanagan told the meeting the proposed legislative changes could be viewed as a threat to the Protestant identity. Publicly-funded schools which are oversubscribed may currently prioritise children of their own religion ahead of other children who live closer. Mr Brophy said he was not in favour of retaining the status quo but believed the current Bill could inadvertently do damage. Mr Bruton told the meeting he was in listening mode and had made no decision yet. He said he wanted all changes to be balanced, fair and protective of all traditions.

STATE’S SURVEILLANCE LAWS REQUIRE ‘THOROUGH MODERNISATION’ The State’s surveillance and communications interception laws require “a thorough modernisation” to ensure state-ofthe-art powers for intelligence agencies, but also to ensure the rights of individuals are adequately protected, the Data Protection Commissioner has said. Publishing her annual report for 2016 Helen Dixon said an update was required, in particular, to ensure independent oversight of how the far-reaching powers given to intelligence agencies were

MOTORISTS TO BE TESTED FOR DRUGS UNDER NEW LEGISLATION Motorists suspected of driving under the influence of drugs may be tested by Gardaí at the roadside under new legislation. Drug driving is a factor in one in ten fatal crashes in Ireland. Last December, the Oireachtas passed the Road Traffic Act 2016, which paved the way for the drug testing of drivers’ saliva both in Garda stations and by the roadside. Drivers can now be tested for four types of drugs cannabis, cocaine, opiates like morphine and heroin and benzodiazepines such as valium, sleeping tablets and certain anti-anxiety medication. Levels will be set for cannabis, cocaine and heroin, which will mean if drivers go over those limits Gardaí will not have to prove impairment. This is in line with how alcohol has been treated in Irish road traffic law. However, a different approach will be taken

HIQA DEMANDS NEW LAWS ON CARE CENTRES The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has called for legislation to improve the safeguarding of vulnerable people in care. The watchdog’s plea is made in a review of its regulation activities last year which says it is beginning to substantially improve services. However the statutory authority also warned that residential centres for people with disabilities and foster care services must take stronger measures to protect vulnerable people in their care against abuse, harm and exploitation. As well as residential centres for people with disabilities and foster care services, HIQA’s overview also covers inspections of nursing homes, residential services for children and targeted themed inspections of hospital practice. HIQA’s Director of Regulation, Mary Dunnion, said the organisation believes safeguarding needs to be further strengthened by introducing new legislation to better protect those who may be at risk. The watchdog also said those who fund services - in particular the State - need to

deployed. She noted that in the middle of 2016, Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald had signalled that the law on investigatory powers in relation to electronic communications would be reviewed. The 2006 EU data retention directive requiring phone and Internet communications records to be kept for up to two years by service providers was struck down by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2014. The case was taken by the privacy campaign group Digital Rights Ireland (DRI). Domestic legislation on the retention of phone and Internet data remains in place, however. DRI is taking a case in the Irish courts seeking to have the domestic laws struck down.

for prescribed or over the counter drugs. It will only be an offence if there is a confirmed presence of these drugs with impairment. Drivers who, for example, are prescribed to take medical cannabinoids will be able to carry notes of exemption. A drivers’ saliva will be tested with a single-use swab. The sample will then be tested to determine if drugs are present. The result will be produced within around eight minutes. If a person is found to have drugs present, they will be arrested and brought back to a Garda station where a blood sample will be taken. Drivers found abusing drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, or heroin face a minimum disqualification of one year, a fine of up to €5,000 and up to six months in prison. The disqualification rises to four years if a driver is found to have drugs in their body and their driving is impaired. There will be 86 drug screening devices located in garda stations nationally, 50 more will be available for use at the roadside.

take a greater role in holding them to account. It notes that, despite distributing large sums to organisations to provide services on its behalf, the State often exercises insufficient oversight of how its money is spent or of the outcomes it achieves for service users. HIQA acknowledged the preliminary work done by the Health Service Executive on developing a framework for improving accountability. Ms Dunnion urged that the concept of ‘‘commissioning’’ should be further considered. Ms Dunnion said the overview report shows there is a requirement for clear national policy direction, policy implementation and timely decision-making in terms of health and social care services. She underlined that this was a key finding in both reviews conducted by the healthcare team last year of the State’s ambulance services and the services at Midlands Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. Separately, the Joint Committee on Health met in early May to discuss concerns that some residential centres for people with disabilities are not in compliance with regulations laid down in the Health Acts.

USEFUL APPS AT HOLIDAY TIME During the annual summer holidays (at home or abroad) your phone or tablet can be extremely helpful. From providing information on where to go for dinner and which tourist spots are the ‘must-see’ attraction to keeping children occupied (and parents sane) during long journeys. Here are some apps that will help you.

Google Translate Feeling lost in a foreign country? It can be daunting trying to find your way around on holidays. This app will translate words and phrases by either pointing your phone at what you want to translate, or it supports live conversation translation in over 30 languages.

Homestay We have all heard of Airbnb. Well, Homestay, another Irish creation, but you get to stay in the home of a local person who will be your host for the trip. This allows you get an in depth local knowledge and insight you may not otherwise experience. Currently there are over 16,000 host homes spanning 120 locations worldwide.

Tides Near Me For those who enjoy the outdoors or just enjoy relaxing on the beach, this app allows you to check local tides in most holiday destinations in almost 4,500 locations worldwide. It also gives the times of sunrise and sunset.

Yelp Yelp is excellent when you are looking for a place to eat or a certain type of shop. The map it provides is superior to Google and it is fantastic in the United States but also good in most European countries.

CleverCards Many see sending postcards as a dying tradition which is a shame. However, this Irish made app has brought postcards into the 21st century. You can create your own postcards - of the virtual kind using your own photos from your phone or tablet. You can write a few words and send to your friends and family anywhere in the world, via email for just over €3.

Uber When on a transatlantic holiday, Uber is a must have. It is cheaper and quicker than local companies. All bookings and payments are done online. Security and tracking is built in as well as a mutual driver/passenger rating system.

Kindle Tired of books weighing down your luggage? The Kindle app is a great alternative. Much of the same content that is available with a Kindle e-reader is available on the app. It is also a great way to keep children occupied on long journeys.

Google Photos This app allows you to access your photos from multiple devices and frees up storage on your phone or iPad which limits you to a set amount of free memory. With Google Photos, upload is free with an unlimited number of pictures.

Snapseed Snapseed, a free photo editor allows your to brighten pictures you take on your phone. You can also select bits of a photograph to edit instead of needing to edit the whole image.

Foursquare Foursquare is an excellent guide to what is good and bad in the area. It uses the GPS system on your phone to locate exactly where you are and offer recommendations on local eateries or amenities.

Nest If you are worried about your home when you are holidays, Nest is a great app to relieve your fears. If you have a security camera installed then you just download the app to your device and once set-up, you can check what is going on at home. It also instantly saves movement online, so burglars can’t out-smart it by cutting the camera system off.

Minecraft Pocket Edition If you have children in the 6 to 12 age bracket, then chances are they’ll be fans of Minecraft. At just under €7, this is a worthwhile investment to keep your little ones happy for long periods and to make your journey less stressful.

Sky Go Over 75% of houses have a Sky box. However, many customers are unaware that you can access Sky via your device. Download the Sky Go app onto your phone and login with your account information and you will have instant access to your Sky package from any location in Ireland.

iMovie/Video Editor iMovie, available only on Apple devices is extremely user friendly and probably the best app available to bring together all your clips. It also allows you to add captions and make excellent minimovies that you can share on video sharing websites such as You Tube. All this for just under €5. If you have an Android phone, then Video Editor is probably the best app for you. It guides you through putting together your own video records and lets you pick themes, background music and voiceovers.

Yahoo Weather Weather is such an important factor when planning a holiday, or indeed when you are on holiday. Yahoo Weather is the best for providing detailed forecasts. It not only provides hour-by-hour and longer range forecasts, it also provides information on levels of humidity, UV rays and the all important probability of rain. So you are covered for every eventuality. More detailed information, such as wind indicators and local maps can also be obtained.

Netflix Particularly handy if you are on holiday in Ireland, where you are guaranteed to get a few days rain. This app can be your life line. The basic subscription which can be cancelled at any time costs just €10. This allows you to use two devices, be they tablets, phones or laptops. It is great for children too as there is a huge catalogue of children’s programmes.

Google Maps Gone are the days where you need to buy guidebooks/maps before you go on holidays. The only map you need is right there on your phone. This app provides detailed street, park and coastal maps and gives you point to point directions. Another great feature is that it tells you what traffic is like on most urban roads, so you know where to avoid and when.

IRISH SERVICES SECTOR GROWTH REBOUNDS TO 10-MONTH HIGH Ireland’s services sector rebounded to post its strongest growth in 10 months in April on strong new orders and higher prices. The Investec Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbed to 61.1 in April from 59.1 in March, its highest level since last June. The manufacturing PMI for March, rose to a three-month high of 55.0 as new export orders came in at the fastest pace in almost two years. Growth in Ireland’s services and manufacturing sectors slowed after the shock Brexit vote, and readings have been volatile since. But Ireland last year remained the best performing economy in the EU for the

IRISH COMPANIES RISK LOSING OUT ON DIGITAL ECONOMY BOOM The digital economy is expected to be worth more than $100 trillion by 2025 but Irish companies risk missing out on opportunities because they are failing to fully embrace technology, according to new research from Microsoft. The tech giant warns that organisations here need to transform their business model within the next two years if they are to make themselves future proof. However, it warns that many companies are confused about what to do in terms of adopting technologies such as data analytics and cloud computing that can make them more agile. According to the research, carried out by Amárach, as

HIGH BUSINESS COSTS HURTING JOB CREATION The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) have warned of the damage high business costs are having on the SME sector. The Association says that if the Government is to reduce unemployment to below 6% by 2020, it needs to tackle excessive business costs for SMEs. These high cost charges are impacting potential

third year in a row. Services have not fallen below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction since June 2012, when Ireland was halfway through a three-year international bailout. New orders in the services sector increased in April, but new export orders were the lowest since December, the survey showed. New export orders in the period were driven by Europe and North America, the authors said. Irish services companies remain strongly optimistic, with more than 10 times as many firms expecting to record growth in activity over the coming 12 months as opposed to those who anticipate a decline, according to Philip O’Sullivan, Chief Economist with Investec.

many as half of all Irish businesses face digital disruption from competitors but many do not understand how to go about changing strategy to deal with this. Despite this, the study, which was conducted into 300 Irish organisations, reveals that 80 per cent of companies overestimate their digital readiness, with 60 per cent also seeing themselves as “disrupters”. While over half of all organisations surveyed have digital transformation strategies in place, a quarter are unsure as to what steps to take, with obstacles cited ranging from slow decision-making to a lack of skills. Alison Curtis of Microsoft said that few organisations understand that digital transformation has to happen across customers, employees and operations.

employment growth says ISME. The Association has called on the Government to reduce government-influenced business costs to below the EU average and to target capital investment in job-rich infrastructure. They also believe that more state sector services should be outsourced to SMEs and that there should be a reform in the social welfare system to make it more profitable to work and avoid poverty traps.

TEAGASC: IRISH MILK COSTS AMONG LOWEST IN WORLD A detailed study of competitiveness in the main sectors of Irish agriculture has found that the country is still one of the lowest cash cost producers of milk globally. Profitability, costs of production, value of output and some partial productivity indicators such as milk yield, stocking density, cereal yield, and labour productivity were examined in the Teagasc research. Data used in the Department of Agriculture-funded study was from the Farm Accountancy Data Network published by the European Commission. The analysis again reaffirmed the competitive advantage associated with the Irish dairy farm system. It revealed that dairy farms continue to

10% OF IRISH WORKERS ARE EARNING THE MINIMUM WAGE OR LESS Over 10% of Irish workers are being paid the equivalent of, or less than, the national minimum wage of €9.25 per hour. The statistic is contained in the latest release from the Quarterly National Household Survey, published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). For the nine months between April and December 2016, one in ten employees earned less than or the equivalent of the statutory minimum wage of €9.25. The minimum wage was increased per the last Budget in January 2017 from €9.15. The figure of 10.1% translates to 22,500 employees who self-reported earnings as being less than the minimum wage and 132,600 who said they were paid the exact figure. Of that 22,500, 5,700 reported that the reason they earned less than the minimum wage was the fact they were on a special training rate, while a further 5,800 said they were on an age-related rate. Women, meanwhile, are

40% OF IRISH ADULTS EXPECT STANDARD OF LIVING TO BE THE SAME OR HIGHER IN RETIREMENT Irish people’s retirement standard of living expectations are out of line with the average income of €4k per annum according to a recent Standard Life survey of 1,005 adults. When respondents were asked whether they expected their retirement standard of living to be the same, higher or lower, 42% said they expected it to be the same or higher. Almost a third expected it to be lower and over a quarter or 26% didn’t know or hadn’t thought about it. The research indicates that the most popular amount saved into a pension is less than €50 per month. Assuming at best €49 per month is saved over thirty years, it will yield an income of approximately €1,800 per annum. If an individual saves an average of €164 per month over 30

exhibit relatively low cash costs of production compared to key EU and international competitors. Fiona Thorne, Teagasc economist and a co-author of the report, said cash cost in Ireland in recent years, at €2.7 per kg of milk solids, was one of the lowest amongst the key EU dairy producing regions. She commented that the latest research shows that based on a total cost competitiveness index, we are beginning to see our total economic costs reduce in an international context, due to increases in scale. Anne Kinsella, also of Teagasc, said one of the implications of the study is the potential impact Brexit could have for Irish beef farms. It shows high cash and total economic costs of production are evident for Irish beef, with costs much lower in regions such as Brazil and Argentina.

more likely to earn the minimum wage or less. 84,400, or 54.4% of the 155,100 people earning that wage were women. This compares to the overall split of employees in the State – 49.4% male versus 50.6% female. The minimum wage is predominant in Ireland’s services industry, with four in five (81.7%) of the employees being paid the wage or less coming from that sector. The majority of those being paid at or less than the minimum wage from this sector come from two specific industries – the repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles (accounting for 25.9% of all employees earning €9.25 or less), and the accommodation and food services sector (24.7%). The lion’s share, 37.9%, of all those earning the minimum wage or less came from the 18-24 age group. Almost three in five of those on the lower wage or less were employed part-time. Non-Irish nationals are more likely to Irish natives to earn the minimum wage or less. 28.2% of all employees on the minimum wage or less were non-Irish, which equates to nearly one fifth of all non-Irish employees across the board.

years it will yield an income of approximately €6,000 per annum. Standard Life’s research consistently shows the average person wants to retire on approximately €30k per annum. If the average saver subtracts their combined state and private pension (e.g. €6,000 + €12,400 or €18,400) their shortfall is €11,600 per annum or a pension pot of €270,000. Using the same assumptions as above that equates to an extra saving of €312 per month to reach the desired retirement income goal. Commenting on the research, Standard Life’s pensions technical spokeswoman, Sinead McEvoy said that Irish people’s standard of living has rocketed in the past two decades and if you assume the average person is entitled to a full state pension of almost €12,400, per annum. an income of c. €16,400 p.a.is not going to keep most Irish people in the style to which they have become accustomed.

SIMPLE TIPS to Boost Your Online Privacy

These days, it’s hard to go online and not read about hacking or online activity tracking. While Internet users’ privacy protections were rolled back, it may not directly affect Irish Internet users. Therefore, it’s a good idea to consider your own privacy options. This article should give you some great tips on how you can beef up your online privacy. TRY THE ONION ROUTER The Onion Router (or Tor, for short) covers your tracks online by bouncing your connection through various different locations around the world, making your path more difficult to follow. While it doesn’t guarantee online anonymity, it does make it harder to build up a user portfolio of your Internet usage. You can use Tor hardware or the Tor browser to hide your online activity. Find out more here: Tor Project

USE A VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK (VPN) Virtual Private Networks offer many advantages. In addition to providing some anonymity, it also allows you to change your virtual geographical location. It helps you hide from advertisers and other privacy concerns, and it provides a gateway through those nasty geographic locks that prevent you from accessing content that is blocked for your location. Unfortunately, Netflix and BBC iPlayer are cracking down on VPNs accessing their service, but many other services can still be accessed with VPN. Some free VPNs are ad-supported, while others provide a certain amount of use for free. High-volume users, such as those who stream content, will benefit from signing up for paid services. Before you pay for a VPN, be sure to read online reviews. Some VPNs do sell information on users’ Internet activity to third parties.

USE PRIVACY PROTECTION Block your Internet activity from trackers by using a browser extension that blocks ads and cookies from sites that don’t use Do Not Track requests. Privacy Badger is one such tool. It uses a colour-coded aid to show what it is doing. The downside is that some sites will require that you switch off such extensions before allowing you access free content on the site.

USE A THIRD PARTY DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM (DNS) SERVICE Most people simply use the default domain name servers set up by their Internet service providers. The DNS system matches the web address typed in the browser’s address bar with the unique IP address used to identify a website. By using the default DNS servers, your traffic uses those servers, which can be tracked by your Internet service provider. You can make the system more private and more secure by using a different DNS server, and it can speed up your Internet. Open DNS is a great option to consider, as is Google’s Public DNS service.

GO INCOGNITO Popular browsers have been providing private browsing options for a few years already. Chrome offers Incognito mode, and Safari has Private mode. These private browsing options don’t store cookies or a browsing history. It will only stop other people from spying on your online activity if they look through your device. If does not hide your IP or identity from website servers or advertisers. However, private browsing is still a good step and easy to use. The Do Not Track option in your browser settings may be the most effective, as it sends websites a request not to track your browsing data. Unfortunately, not all websites abide by the requests, so it’s important to continue taking the required steps to be careful what you do online.

Thomas Norris

Michael O’Grady

managing Partner

Partner

Mr. Thomas M. Norris BCL qualified in 2002, and lives in County Waterford with his wife and two children. Thomas specialises in commercial property transactions and has extensive knowledge and experience in employment law matters, probate and administration of estates, landlord and tenant issues, banking matters and all aspects of commercial law including insolvency.

Mr. Michael O’Grady BCL qualified in 1993. Michael lives in Waterford with his wife and four children. He specialises in residential and commercial property matters, landlord and tenant issues, building law, banking, insolvency and commercial law.

Contact Thomas

Contact Michael

Direct Line: 051-840003 Email: tom@mwkeller.ie

Direct Line: 051-840002 Email: michael@mwkeller.ie

Margaret Fortune

Mark Keller

Partner

Consultant

Ms. Margaret Fortune BCL qualified in 1998, and lives in County Waterford with her husband and two children. Margaret specialises in family law, personal injury (to include dealing with all aspects of the PIAB), medical negligence, debt collection and all court matters and has built up a considerable reputation in Waterford in her areas of expertise.

Mr. Mark Keller is a Consultant in the firm and has now taken on a new role as Consultant Solicitor. Mark qualified as a Solicitor in 1978 and lives in Waterford with his wife and three children. He specialises in Licensing Applications, Landlord and Tenant, Insolvency and Commercial Law and Residential and Commercial Property Transactions. Mark is an Accredited Mediator.

Contact Margaret

Contact Mark

Direct Line: 051-840001 Email: margaret@mwkeller.ie

Direct Line: 051-840004 Email: mark@mwkeller.ie

Ian Cunningham

Julie Bermingham

Solicitor

Mr. Ian Cunningham BCL qualified as a solicitor in 2003. Ian recently joined the Firm having previously been with a large commercial law firm in Dublin and with one of Ireland’s largest Banks. Ian specialises in banking, insolvency, commercial law, commercial and residential property matters.

Ms. Julie Bermingham BCL, LL.M qualified as a solicitor in 2006. Julie has a first class Masters degree in European and Comparative law and a post graduate diploma in Technology Commercialisation. Julie specialises in family law, conveyancing, civil and commercial litigation, IP and all court matters. She also has extensive experience in the area of Probate.

Contact Ian

Contact Julie

Direct Line: 051 840006 Email: ian@mwkeller.ie

Direct Line: 051 840005 Email: julie@mwkeller.ie

Thomas Carroll

Steven Jacob

Trainee Solicitor

Thomas Carroll is a Trainee Solicitor with the firm. He is from Paulstown Co. Kilkenny and completed his LL.B. in Waterford Institute of Technology and then an LL.M. in University College Cork.

Steven Jacob began working with the Firm in February 2016 and is a Trainee Solicitor. He is from Tramore, Co. Waterford and completed his degree in Waterford Institute of Technology.

Thomas will be training with Michael O’Grady and will specialise in the areas of commercial conveyancing, residential conveyancing and commercial law.

Steven will be training with Thomas Norris and will specialise in the areas of conveyancing, employment law and all aspects of commercial law.

RANGE OF SERVICES • ACCIDENTS AND PERSONAL INJURY

• EMPLOYMENT LAW

• MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE

• FAMILY LAW

• MEDIATION AND ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

• PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS/ CONVEYANCING/ LANDLORD AND TENANT

• AGRICULTURE AND FARMING • COMMERCIAL AND CORPORATE

75 CELEBRATING OVER

8 Gladstone Street, Waterford, Co Waterford

www.mwkeller.ie

051 877029

info@mwkeller.ie

YEARS

IN BUSINESS

• WILLS, PROBATE AND TRUSTS