NEWS Ireland as a nanotechnology centre


Forfás has released a report presenting a national framework to position Ireland as a knowledge and innovation centre for certain niche areas ofnanotechnology.Following its release theGovernment is to set up a nanotechnology co-ordinating group to manage and oversee the policy recommended in the report, entitled Ireland’s NanotechnologyCommercialisationFramework 2010–2014. “Facilities of research excellencewere established and upgraded in


CRANN in Trinity College Dublin and Tyndall in University CollegeCork.These facilitieswere complemented by the INSPIRE programme, a national initiative to promote collaboration and partnership between Irish nanotechnology researchers,” saidConor LenihanTD,Minister for Science,Technology&Innovation. “The establishment of the Competence Centre for Applied


Nanotechnology, an industry-led research initiative involving some of the world’s leading companies such as multinationals Intel, Seagate, Medtronic and Analogy Devices and Irish companies Aerogun,AuditDiagnostics,Regina andProxyBiomedical,will also reap rewards.”


WATCHOUTFOR


COPPERTHIEVES Business owners and property-management companies should be aware of the visibility of copper and other commodities on their premises as black-market demand for thesematerials is leading to increased criminal activity, a security firm has warned. Netwatch chief executive David Walsh says that criminals are


taking advantage of increasing commodity prices to line their pockets. Walsh says that his company has seen over 200 incidents in the


past sixmonths, with commodities such as copper, diesel and lead being the primary targets of the criminals. This compares to 120 incidents in the full 12 months previous. “We recently had an incident where criminals arrived outside a


Netwatch-protected site with a stripping machine on the back of their vehicle.Their intentionwas clearly to remove thewiring from the unoccupied buildings and strip the copper out to sell it,” he says. “In addition to stripping out electrical wiring, we have seen


criminals target lead on roofs, copper piping and even immersion tanks.”


CEBsurvey shows low business confidence


Over half of businesses surveyed in the latest City and County Enterprise Boards Business Confidence Survey say the current business environment is poor, with a further 27pc saying it is ‘average’. Just 19pc of survey respondents said the current business envi- ronmentwas good overall,with themajority of these answering ‘good’ rather than ‘very good’. Availability of credit also continues to be an issue amongst respondents to the survey,with 61pc saying


credit availability was about the same as sixmonths ago, 36pc saying it had got worse and 3pc saying it had improved. This is against 46pc who felt it was worse in the survey taken in January 2010. Meanwhile a slight improvement was identified


regarding the impact of banking restrictions, with 56pc saying their business is not being curtailed at present by banking restrictions (compared to 44pc sixmonths ago and 56pc in June 2009).


Michael Tunney, City and County Enterprise Boards


Martin Shanahan, chief executive, Forfás,withMinister Conor Lenihan TD


IBA calls for change


Accountants should be regulated by the FinancialRegulator and theOmbudsman’s remit extended to fully protect con- sumers, according to the IrishBrokersAssociation (IBA). Following the recent publication of the Financial Om-


budsman’s annual report the IBAcalled for theGovernment toextendtheFinancialRegulator’s responsibility toaccount- ancy and other financial advice-giving professions, which should also be included in the remit of theOmbudsman. “The successof theFinancialOmbudsmaninthehandling


of claimsmadeby individuals isunquestionable anditsbene- fit to consumers is significant,” saidCiaran Phelan,CEOof the IBA. “Our concern, however, is that its remit is too narrow and


that thisultimately limitsprotectionfor theconsumer.Weare advocatingthat advisers inthepracticeof accountancyand in some cases law should be subject to the same regulation as financial advisers when providing investment or other per- sonal finance advice to clients.”


VOL 3 ISSUE 4 2010 OWNER MANAGER 9


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