10 minute read
Paul Hopkins
The Fact OfThe Matter
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PAUL HOPKINS PAUL HOPKINS
How our duty of care is to one another ...
THE scienti c consensus goes that the holy grail for containing Covid – herd immunity – is achievable. Achievable if enough people get the vaccine – at least 70%, if not 90%, of the world’s population (the gures vary). Also, there is the matter of an annual booster, Covid becoming endemic like your yearly u. It’ll live among us but not always popping over the fence, working up a fever.
With our adult population vaccinated at around 93%, this augurs well for us, but in many parts of the world, say, Africa, the gure is just 2%, a ordability and access being discriminating factors. en there are those who have not been vaccinated at all and refuse to do so for, they argue, personal reasons, whether medical, quasi-political or, for want of better term, just ‘cos.
Evidence suggests Covid-19 prevalence will slowly decline, despite the present surge, and most of us are already getting back into a somewhat new take on ‘normal’ life. For such to happen, ‘enough’ people must get vaccinated. And around the world. is has raised the question of whether we, here in Ireland and elsewhere, should give our surplus shots, not as our boosters but to those many fellow humans in that unenviable position of the a ordability factor. It’s a moral conundrum. e still greater moral conundrum is that, with the urgency to reach the aforementioned holy grail, do we all, every one of us, have a moral obligation to get vaccinated? e ethics of vaccine choice can be complex, even more so amid genuine ‘concerns’, and then the hostilities with antivaxxers and conspiracy theorists clambering for position; politicians and commenters, like Joe Du y, targeted for really inane reasons.
Admittedly, and this cannot be emphasised enough, there are those who cannot be vaccinated for serious medical reasons, and such individuals’ rights have to be given the full understanding of medical acumen and a decent society.
I have been prompted to comment on this issue because it has hit close to home for me and my, in e ect, immediate family. But I respect all parties privacy in the matter. e discussion of whether or not one should take the Covid19 vaccine is often framed in terms of individual self-interest; in other words, the bene ts outweigh the risk, so go for it. at is not a moral argument.
Most of us, if asked, believe that others have a wide berth in determining how they care for their own health, so it can be permissible to engage in risky activities – such as bungy jumping or whatever – even when it’s not necessarily in one’s ‘interest’. However, where whether one should get vaccinated IS a moral issue is when it a ects others. And here it does, in two ways.
First, vaccines have clearly brought down not only rates of infection but also rates of virus transmission. is means that you getting the vaccine can protect others from you personally and contribute to us all reaching the coveted herd immunity.
Second, according to most eminent scientists, high disease prevalence allows for more genetic mutation, which is exactly how new variants arise. If enough people aren’t vaccinated, and quickly, new variants will develop that are more infectious, more dangerous and also evade current vaccines.
My argument, therefore, says: Getting vaccinated isn’t just about you. Yes, you have the right to take risks with your own safety. But, there is – and here the philosopher John Stuart Mill comes to mind – the fundamental argument that our freedom is limited by the harm it could do to others. No one of us has any divine right to risk other people’s health, and so we are morally obligated to do our part to (in the instance of Covid) reduce that risk to others, in short, infection and transmission rates. ere is an overwhelming reason to get vaccinated. But that in itself does not constitute a moral duty as such, and it doesn’t make an action demandable, i.e. legally enforceable.
Acting as though the moral case is straightforward can be alienating to those who disagree. And minimising the potential risks when we ask others to have a substance injected into their body can be disrespectful.
Much better, I think, to engage others rather than demand from them – even if the force of reason ends up clearly in one corner. e philosopher Emmanuel Kant rightly argues we would be in breach of our nature as rational human beings if we claimed we had no duty of care for each other.
We do.
May Day opening for South East’s first university
IT Carlow and WIT will become a technological university (TU) on May 1, 2022, announced education minister, Simon Harris TD marking a positive milestone for the South East – the rst university for the region.
Congratulating both institutions Minister Simon Harris TD said students, sta and all connected to the new Technical University of the South East (TUSE) can “look forward to an exciting future” with a “multicampus university presence across the region.”
Presidents of IT Carlow and Waterford warmly welcomed the announcement. Dr Patricia Mulcahy IT Carlow commented, “With this exciting step forward, we will be better positioned to leverage these opportunities for the bene t of the people and regions we serve; to meet the challenges that we face as a region and country; to drive social and economic transformation; and ultimately to deliver on the ambitious expectations of our stakeholders.” President of WIT, Prof Willie Donnelly said, “We have long promised we would deliver a university of international standing for the region. anks to the hard work and ambition of our sta and students, we are on the crest of creating the rst university for the region … Our new status will help positively transform the south east, making it even more attractive to indigenous SMEs and foreign direct investment by linking knowledge, research, education, innovation and international collaboration.”
Local TD John Paul Phelan said the new university brings “massive potential for the entire region” adding he hopes to see a TUSE campus in Kilkenny in the future.
Covid-19 impact on HE students far-reaching - StudentSurvey.ie
COVID-19 has substantially a ected the lives of students in higher education. at’s according to the results of this year’s Irish Survey of Student Engagement and Irish Survey of Student Engagement for Postgraduate Research Students PGR StudentSurvey.ie.
Almost 44,000 rst and nal year undergraduate students and students on taught postgraduate programmes, across 25 higher education institutions, took part in the StudentSurvey.ie between February and March 2021, representing 28.4% of the total survey population. e results highlighted that the undergraduate experience of rst year and nal year students was negatively a ected by the impact of Covid-19. Students in the 2020-2021 academic year returned scores signi cantly lower than previous years for almost all areas of the survey. e second survey was directed at 3,541 postgraduate research students. 52% of males indicated they had submitted a paper for publication in an academic journal or book, compared to 46.7% of females. 17.5% of females had considered withdrawing from their programme of study due to personal or family reasons compared to 13.8% of male respondents. e results point to the possibility of a gendered aspect to the impact of the Covid19 pandemic, which could disproportionately a ect the career progression of female postgraduate research students.
WIT Registrar and Vice President for Academic A airs, Dr Derek O’Byrne described this year’s StudentSurvey.ie data as unique. “It captures the experiences of learners within an exceptional societal event and provides a stark contrast given di erent environments between the comparative years. It is not surprising that the rst year experience appears less connected and less engaged and it is somewhat energising to see the technological sector’s scores on collaborative working and accessibility to sta tend to remain above the average.”
Commenting on the results of the two student surveys, IT Carlow Vice-President for Academic A airs and Registrar David Denie e said, “ e ndings re ect the stresses and challenges borne out of the pandemic and how Covid-19 has impacted on the lives of students across higher education, and the onus is on institutions to utilise the results for the bene t of students in the months ahead”. “Both surveys will be of great value and use to IT Carlow and the new technological university as we continue our ongoing work in enhancing the student experience. e responses and feedback, individually and collectively, will inform the student-centred work we do across our campuses”, commented Denie e. e ndings are available on the StudentSurvey.ie website.
Better look that gift horse in the mouth - Ifac
IFAC professional services specialist for the farming, food and agribusiness sectors, is warning beneficiaries of gifts and inheritances of new tax implications.
Up to now, for Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) purposes, the value of gifts or inheritances of free money has been calculated based on the interest rate the money involved would have earned if it had been on deposit. However, in the future, under changes introduced in the Finance Bill 2021, the calculation will be based on the cost of borrowing an equivalent amount on the open market.
Ifac Head of Tax, Declan McEvoy said, “The new valuation method is likely to result in an increase of around 3% in the calculated value of gifts or inheritances of free money. This is because while deposit interest rates have been very low in recent times, the average mortgage interest rate is close to 3%.”
The effect of the Finance Bill can be illustrated where say the cheapest loan interest rate available on the open market is 3%. • A child gets a loan of €100,000 from a parent and the interest is foregone. The gift element is €3,000 and this is covered by the small gift exemption • A loan of €200,000 from
both parents will also be covered. • If over a 10-year period a child has a €350,000 interest-free loan from a parent, then the annual interest gift is €10,500 at 3% interest. The annual small gift tax allowance is €3,000. Therefore, over a 10-year period, a child has eaten into the tax-free threshold by €75,000.
If a child had used up the allowance before the gift was received, then they would have an annual tax bill on the €7,500 of €2,475 and a return would need to be completed annually for this.
L-R: Conrad Ekisa, Master of Engineering by Research in Industrial Cybersecurity at IT Carlow, Laura Hayes, BA (Hons) Early Childhood Education and Care at IT Carlow, Leah Dowling and BA (Hons) in Social Science student at WIT and Conor Fahy Davies, WIT graduate ambassador and BA Arts (Hons) graduate in psychology and sociology. Photo: Patrick Browne.
Farming families fear CAP fallout on livelihood
FARMING families will travel to Dublin on Sunday, November 21 to highlight the importance of their industry to the Irish economy, and to send a strong message to Government that they need to sit down with elected farm leaders to make an agreed plan for the sector.
IFA President Tim Cullinan said, “Farm families are genuinely fearful about what the future holds. We hear all of these high-level targets being announced, but we have no clarity about what this will mean at farm level. I’m inviting all farm families to attend the event,” he said.
“Farmers have families too, and they are very conscious of the climate challenge and the need for farmers to play their part. But it can’t decimate our incomes. It must provide a future that is economically and socially sustainable, as well as being environmentally sustainable,” he said.
“Recent Government policy proposals, including those on the CAP, are all about reducing production and adding cost. e CAP is there to support farmers to produce food. It cannot be expected to fund climate action as well. e Government needs to come forward with a proper plan, with proper funding behind it,” he said.
