Inside Track - latest update from our President 22 Jan 2021
Welcome to 2021! Welcome to the latest edition of Inside Track , providing regular updates on the Institution s Trustee Board activities.
Welcome to this New Year edition of Inside Track. It is largely a repeat of the one that went out a day or two before Christmas but many people said they did not see that one. It is quite long due to the high volume of Trustee Board activity which we would like to share with you, but we hope that you find it useful. Please ‘click’ at the end if you would like to receive future editions directly by email.
From Birdcage Walk Dear Member,
And so, as our Institution turns 174 years old this month, it’s time to report on the latest changes and modernisation we have underway to ensure we are ‘fit for purpose’ as a learned society intended to bring “an impulse to inventions likely to be useful to the world”.
For those of you who have been following our recent history, you will know that Dr Kerry Mashford has been leading our Implementation Group putting the final touches to the 96 improvements highlighted in the Reviews of 2018 and 2019. They will all be in place, or at least plans for what to do in each case, by the time of our Presidential handover in May. You may well already have seen some of the changes with a new Finance Board, with a new and more open Nominations Committee and with a completely new Governance Department keeping an eye on how we operate. There are two areas in particular however where we want you to think about now regarding what is ch
January 19, 2021 12:45 pm
Some key messages have been outlined for Irish farmers on the issue of bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) for 2021 by Animal Health Ireland (AHI).
Issued earlier this month, AHI highlighted that a new Animal Health Law (AHL) will come into force in April; this sets out the requirements for recognition of BVD eradication programmes at EU level, the organisation says.
AHI notes that substantial progress has been made since the start of the national eradication programme.
This, it says, has reached the point where the BVD Implementation Group (BVDIG) plans to apply for recognition of the Irish programme in 2021 and to meet the conditions for freedom by 2023.
Tánaiste Publishes Remote Working Strategy
15th January 2021 - Leo Varadkar, TD
Plan to make remote working permanent option for life after Covid
New Rules will allow employees the right to disconnect and to request remote working
Acceleration of National Broadband Plan being explored
The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar, TD, today (Friday the 15th of January) published Ireland’s first National Remote Work Strategy to make remote working a permanent option for life after the pandemic.
The Strategy sets out plans to strengthen the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, to provide the infrastructure to work remotely, and sets out clear guidance on how people can be empowered to work remotely from the office.
Minister Confirms Continuation of Supports to Eradicate BVD
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T. D., today outlined his support for a pathway to Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) freedom by 2023 and the continued supports from his Department for the BVD Eradication Programme.
The Minister expressed his satisfaction with the ongoing progress being made in the eradication of BVD. The Minister noted that substantial savings are being achieved by farmers, with the incidence of BVD positive animals decreasing this year to just 0.03 % from 0.66 % in 2013 – the first year of the compulsory phase of the Eradication Programme.
The Minister said: