Strategic Task Force on Alcohol - Interim Report

The Commission on Liquor Licensing was established by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in November 2000 to review the Liquor Licensing system in Ireland. The Commission published an Interim Report with a set of recommendations1, one of which was the establishment of a task force. A High Level Inter-DepartmentalWorking Group considered the report and certain actions were agreed by different Government Departments.The Department of Health and Children agreed to establish a Strategic Task Force on Alcohol. This is their interim report.    

Age differences in the EEG N2 and P3 components during an interference task

The age-related increase in interference susceptibility has been well documented and largely attributed to a deficit in inhibition. In the present study, event-related potentials were used to investigate EEG correlates of inhibitory processing in an interference "Arrow" task. A specific interest was addressed to theN2 and P3 components that respectively refers to conflict monitoring and to efficiency of inhibition processes (Anguera et al,. 2011). Younger (N=10, Mage=24.6) and older (N=10, Mage=65.5) participants were invited to perform a task consisting in deciding, as fast and accurately as possible, whether an arrow presented on a computer screen points to the left or the right, irrespective of its position on the screen (left, middle or right). Responses were provided by key-presses using the left and right indexes. Three conditions were considered: congruent (arrow pointing to the same direction as that of the side of the screen on which it appears), incongruent (arrow pointing to the opposite direction), and neutral (arrow presented at the center of the screen). A total of 56 trials per conditions were performed. Behaviorally, the results showed that in the incongruent condition the percent of correct responses significantly decreased in both groups. After adjustment with simple RT (additional control task), the increased RTs obtained in the old group were significantly more pronounced in the incongruent condition. With respect to electrophysiological data, results showed that frontal site (Fz), the N2 amplitude was significantly larger for the younger as compared to the older (- 2.55 μV vs. -0.62 μV respectively) whatever the condition. At central site (Cz), the P3 amplitude significantly decreased in the older compared to the younger in the incongruent condition only. Our findings suggest that the increased RTs observed in older participants during the incongruent condition is more specifically linked to late cognitive resources involved in inhibiting prepotent response tendencies rather than associated with earlier stages of treatment dedicated to conflict monitoring.

Flexible Training Strategy (National Task Force on Medical Staffing)

Flexible Training Strategy (National Task Force on Medical Staffing) The Flexible Training Strategy, while endorsing flexible/part-time options recognises that the preferred option for the majority of doctors-in-training and consultants is most likely to continue to be full-time training and work. Click here to download PDF

Report of the National Task Force on Medical Staffing (Hanly report)

Report of the National Task Force on Medical Staffing (Hanly report) Patients deserve the best possible care that the Irish health services can deliver. At present, most frontline medical care in hospitals is delivered by non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs), the majority of whom work excessively long hours. Patients have limited access to consultant care. NCHDs will soon be required by law to work fewer hours. This will have significant benefits for both doctors and patients. Click here to download PDF 1.7mb

Report of the National Task Force on Medical Staffing (Hanly report)

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Flexible Training Strategy (National Task Force on Medical Staffing)

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Strategic Task Force on Alcohol - Second Report

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Report of the National Task Force on Suicide

  The Interim Report of the National Task Force on suicide was published in September 1996.  The Report addressed the first two terms of reference, to define numerically and qualitatively, the nature of the suicide problem in Ireland and to define and quantify the problems of attempted suicide and parasuicide in Ireland including the associated costs involved.  The remaining terms of reference of the Task Force will now be addressed:- Download the Report here    

The Report of the Task Force on Assaults on Psychiatric Nurses

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Reducing the Risk: A Strategic Approach - The Report of the Task Force on Sudden Cardiac Death

The Minister for Health and Children established the Task Force on Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) in the Autumn of 2004, with the following terms of reference:1) Define SCD and describe its incidence and underlying causes in Ireland.2) Advise on the detection and assessment of those at high risk of SCD and their relatives.3) Advise on the systematic assessment of those engaged in sports and exercise for risk of SCD.4) Advise on maximizing access to basic life support (BLS) and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and on:- appropriate levels of training in BLS and use of AEDs, and on the maintenance of that training- priority individuals and priority groups for such training- geographic areas and functional locations of greatest need- best practice models of first responder scheme and public access defibrillation, and- integration of such training services.5) Advise on the establishment and maintenance of surveillance systems, including a registry of SCD and information systems to monitor risk assessment, and training and equipment programmes.6) Advise and make recommendations on other priority issues relevant to SCD in Ireland.7) Outline a plan for implementation and advise on monitoring the implementation of recommendations made in the Task Force’s report. In undertaking its work the Task Force was mindful of national health policy, relevant national strategies and of the recently reformed structures for health service delivery in Ireland. Read the Report (PDF, 1.66mb)

Report of Inter-sectoral Group on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the National Task Force on Obesity

Report of Inter-sectoral Group on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the National Task Force on Obesity Click here to download PDF 1.25mb

Task-dependent influence of genetic architecture and mating frequency on division of labour in social insect societies.

Division of labour is one of the most prominent features of social insects. The efficient allocation of individuals to different tasks requires dynamic adjustment in response to environmental perturbations. Theoretical models suggest that the colony-level flexibility in responding to external changes and internal perturbation may depend on the within-colony genetic diversity, which is affected by the number of breeding individuals. However, these models have not considered the genetic architecture underlying the propensity of workers to perform the various tasks. Here, we investigated how both within-colony genetic variability (stemming from variation in the number of matings by queens) and the number of genes influencing the stimulus (threshold) for a given task at which workers begin to perform that task jointly influence task allocation efficiency. We used a numerical agent-based model to investigate the situation where workers had to perform either a regulatory task or a foraging task. One hundred generations of artificial selection in populations consisting of 500 colonies revealed that an increased number of matings always improved colony performance, whatever the number of loci encoding the thresholds of the regulatory and foraging tasks. However, the beneficial effect of additional matings was particularly important when the genetic architecture of queens comprised one or a few genes for the foraging task's threshold. By contrast, a higher number of genes encoding the foraging task reduced colony performance with the detrimental effect being stronger when queens had mated with several males. Finally, the number of genes encoding the threshold for the regulatory task only had a minor effect on colony performance. Overall, our numerical experiments support the importance of mating frequency on efficiency of division of labour and also reveal complex interactions between the number of matings and genetic architecture.

Local and regional drugs task forces: handbook.

This handbook has been developed within the context of the institutional structures recommended under the National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016 and within the overall framework of the National Social Inclusion Plan 2007-2016. It sets out the role of the Drugs Task Forces within the national and local framework required to address the existing and emerging problems associated with drug use for individuals, families and communities in the context of the long term development of the work of the Drugs Task Forces.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Funding: North Dublin City & County Regional Drugs Task Force

The North Dublin City and County Regional Drugs Task Force invites applications for this once-off funding which will be provided through four pillars by way of a grant up to €3,000 for innovative initiatives: • Prevention, Education & Awareness – to develop programmes and supports in the community which offer information and education in order to generate awareness. • Treatment & Rehabilitation – to develop additional short-term supports for those undertaking treatment for drug misuse or innovative rehabilitative supports. • Research – to undertake local research into drug misuse in North Dublin within the RDTF area. • Supply Reduction – to reduce access to all drugs, in particular those that cause most harm, among young people in neighbourhoods where misuse is most prevalent. Terms and conditions apply. To request an application pack or for more information contact 01 813 1786 orThis resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.