Consumer, Finance & Technology

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Conor Pope, Consumer Journalist - More

Details of Consumer, Finance & Technology-related items

Saturday 5th December 2009
The floods in West and South have resulted in a big increase in community spirit. 3 guests this morning told us what they are doing to help flood victims:
*Gus Martyn from Co Meath arranged for fodder to be brought to stricken farmers. Contact via your local Teagasc/IFA office
*Geraldine White from Ballinasloe set up www.offersofhelp.com to co-ordinate offers help and support for flood victims
*Ted Laverty is MD of www.onlinetradesmen.com (a nationwide network of accredited trade professionals) and involved in 'Volunteer Westmeath' (www.volunteerwestmeath.ie)

Saturday 14th November 2009
Duncan Stewart and Ian MacPháidín with some tips and information about how to build and maintain an energy efficient home. For more details of grants available etc, check out:
www.esb.ie/energyservices / 1850 372 333 / (for Halo scheme)
www.sei.ie (for their Home Energy Saving, Greener Homes and Warmer Homes schemes)

Saturday 13th June 2009
The Irish Red Cross is celebrating 70 years this year. It relies on public donations to continue funding its work at home and abroad. If you're interested in finding out more about volunteering or making a donation you can call lo-call 021 452 1957. Donations can also be made online at www.redcross.ie

Saturday 16th May 2009
new developments in technology with Alex French of BitBuzz and Adrian Weckler, technology editor, The Sunday Business Post -

the first serious challenger to Google is a new search engine called Wolfram Alpha (www.wolframalpha.com) which gives you the answer to the question you ask in one place, rather than a list of pages that contain references to the question you've asked

Dell launch 'Della', a new shopping site aimed specifically at women (http://content.dell.com/us/en/home/della.aspx)

Amazon have launched 'Booksurge', a customized self-publishing service to help you create a high-quality, professional book and offer a wide scope of sales (http://www.booksurge.com/)

Saturday 2nd May 2009
Des King of DK Construction Ireland Ltd and Kevin Farrelly of www.diy.ie had some tips on DIY, whether you're thinking of doing it yourself or getting the experts in...

* when filling a skip have all your contents ready in the drive before the skip arrrives, then fill straight away with smaller items first and leave the large, heavy stuff to go on top
* jobs that can be done yourself, with the proper preparation and advice beforehand - attic flooring, power hosing, knocking a wall to enlarge a room, hedge trimming, shelving, interior painting, tiling and wallpapering
* jobs that you should leave to the professionals - garden decking, anything involving serious power tools (e.g. kango drills, chainsaws), heavy-duty floor sanding, removing wasp nests, cutting down trees

Saturday 25th January 2009
A safety device that can be installed on windows with blinds is called a Cord or a Loop Tensioner. They are available from Direct Blinds, Little Island, Cork (www.directblinds.ie)

The National Safety Authority of Ireland have produced an information leaflet about what people can do about retrofitting blinds, to reduce the risk of accidental strangulation. You can view the document on the NSAI website at www.nsai.ie or at http://www.nsai.ie/uploads/file/Safety%20Awareness%20Information.pdf

Saturday 24th January 2009
for anybody concerned about unemployment or the possibility of redundancy, the following organisations are some of those who can offer expert advice and help

- your local Social Welfare office www.welfare.ie
- your FAS Local Employment Services office www.fas.ie
- Citizens Information www.citizensinformation.ie
- the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed www.inou.ie

Saturday 10th January 2009
Colm Rapple, author of "Family Finance 2009" (published by Squirrel Press) - a guide to surviving the economic downturn, saving money, penny pinching for beginners and getting by on a little

Saturday 31st May 2008
Paul Maher of the Botanic Gardens was in studio offering some gardening tips. One of the products he mentioned was a mobile garden, which won a prize at this year's Bloom festival.
Mobile Garden Planters invented by Maximillian Kemper. For more details you can email him at Kemper_Maximilian@yahoo.de)

Saturday 24th May 2008
Financial gurus Alvin D Hall and Eddie Hobbs offered advice on how we can make our money stretch further. The tips were:

1.Budget - keep a cash diary, monitor weekly/monthly outgoings
2.Debt restructuring - talk to your lender & restructure your loans
3.Earn more money - give grinds, rent a room, negotiate pay rise
4. Encourage your children to leave home by the age of 24
5. Buy essentials in low-budget supermarkets and meat, fruit & veg from local shops
6. Club memberships - if you're not using the club then give it up
7. Home energy - could your house be more efficient? www.sei.ie
8. Lunches - stop buying lunch at work every day, take a lunchbox
9. Online shopping - big savings to be made & sell stuff too
10. Tax - are you getting tax credits? Check out www.revenue.ie

Saturday 26th April 2008
Fr Liam Hayes spoke about his work for the Divine Word Missionaries in Argentina. If you would like to donate to Saint Theresa Homes you can do so via St Theresa Obera Support Fund, AIB Bank, The Quay, Waterford / Account Number 05707052 / Sort code 93-42-75
Contact for the charity: Des Kelly, Chairman kelly012@eircom.net

Saturday 19th April 2008
Fergus Lowndes, Energy Consultant and Oisin Coughlan, Director of Friends of the Earth gave some tips on how to make your house more environmentally friendly.

From next year, any building constructed, sold or rented will have to have a building energy rating certificate. However, before you build or alter your house, it is so important stop and get advice on what is the best thing to do.

What is The Building Energy Rating?
As part of the EU Directive, this rating is coming in 2009. Sustainable Energy Ireland is currently training assessors. All houses will have to have them from next year.

The Directive requires that when buildings are constructed, sold or rented out, a Building Energy Rating [BER] is provided by the owner to the prospective buyer or tenant

You can find a local assessor in your directory to tell you how much energy you are using in a year. They may recommend what you should apply to a building.

You can then go to your energy consultant. They charge in the region of €350 - 500 a day. They tell you exactly what you should do

Government grants for making your home more energy efficient
The Greener Homes Scheme is now available and provides assistance to homeowners who intend to purchase a new renewable energy heating system for either new or existing homes. The scheme is administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland and aims to increase the use of sustainable energy technologies within Irish homes. (visit www.sei.ie)

Using Renewable Energy for Heating
The grants will be provided to homeowners who invest in new renewable energy based heating systems in the following categories:

Solar Heating, Heat Pumps, Wood Chip or Pellet Stoves - with or without integral boiler, Wood Chip or Pellet Boilers - with bulk storage installed

An application MUST INCLUDE the SEI Product ID found on the Registered Product List.

Maximum Grant
Biomass - Boiler €3,000
Biomass - Stove €1,100
Biomass - Stove w/ Integral Back Boiler €1,800
Heat Pump - Vertical Ground €3,500
Heat Pump - Horizontal Ground €2,500
Heat Pump - Water to water €2,500
Heat Pump - Air Source €2,000
Solar - Flat Plate €250/ m2 (to max. of 6m2)
Solar - Evacuated Tube €300/ m2 (to max. of 6m2)

Saturday 8th March 2008
James Hamilton, the Director of Public Prosecutions was a guest on today's programme. His office are inviting submissions from the public in relation to the prosecution policy on the giving of reasons for decisions the DPP's office make.

If you'd like to put your submissions in writing, you should post them to Reasons Project, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, 14-16 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2.

You can email reasons.project@dppireland.ie

http://www.dppireland.ie/publications/reasons_project/

Saturday 19th January 2008
TJ McIntyre, Digital Rights Ireland talked about how your digital footprints on computers & mobile phones can be tracked
www.digitalrights.ie

Saturday 5th January 2008
Damien Mulley, technical columnist had advice for those who got electrical goods this Christmas. His tips were -

Buy from reputable online sites - www.laptopshop.ie / www.dell.ie
Be cautious about 'too good to be true' prices on eBay
Anti-virus software is vital when connecting to the internet
iPhones bought in the USA need to be 'unlocked' to work here
iPods need a compatible media player to download music - try VLC

Damien can be contacted via his webpage www.iwillnothold.com

Saturday 24th November 2007
John Horgan, newly appointed as Ireland's first Press Ombudsman. Their role is to mediate for those members of the public who have grievances about press behaviour, instead of having to take cases to court.

The office will open officially on 1st January 2008.

Saturday 10th November 2007
In a discussion about whether depression can affect your career prospects, some agencies mentioned were -

AWARE 1890 303 302 / www.aware.ie
MIND, a leading mental health charity in England & Wales
www.mind.org.uk

Saturday 7th April 2007
Anne Fitzgerald of the National Consumer Agency warned about some of the current scams in circulation. Her advice was that if you get a phone call/letter/email about any of the following subjects, be aware that you are just one of many who are being targeted - make money by working from home, the Nigerian letter, holiday clubs, pressured sales deals with a time limit, premium rate phone numbers, misleading prizes and pyramid schemes. If you are in doubt about any approach made to you, contact the National Consumer Agency for further advice (www.consumerconnect.ie).

Saturday 4 November 2006
Alex French, Managing Director of BitBuzz
Tips for protecting your computer software from viruses - check out www.adaware.com
You can download a free package from free.grisoft.com

Saturday 21st October 2006
Rory Gillen, equity fund manager offered advice for buying shares and investing in the stock market. His website is www.iltb.ie