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More than two-thirds of women who work in the home and have a third-level education do not want to return to a paid job, according to a survey.

Solas, the further education and training authority, surveyed 218,000 women, aged between 20 and 64, who were described as being on &#39;home duties&#39;, meaning they did not participate in the labour force.

It found that, regardless of their education level, the majority of women did not want to return to the labour force.

However, some 16,000 women said they could be encouraged to do so if they had the right supports - such as flexible working hours, childcare, apprenticeships and further education.

Launching the report, Solas director of communications Nikki Gallagher said childcare was not the sole reason why some women opted not to work.

&quot;There&#39;s a common perception that women opt out of the workforce primarily because of childcare duties while their children are young,&quot; she said.

&quot;However, the research we&#39;re publishing today shows only one-third of those not currently working have children under the age of five.

&quot;Low levels of educational attainment, and long periods out of work, can also impact on a woman&#39;s decision to remain at home.&quot;

Some 122,500 of the women surveyed had a Leaving Cert or less. Another 31,700 had further educational training, while 57,500 had a third-level education.

Almost half of the women with a third-level qualification had children aged five or younger - compared with a quarter of women with an upper secondary education or less.

Three-quarters of women with a third-level qualification had a partner in full-time employment. This fell to 48pc for women with an upper secondary education or less.

Some 38pc reported that they were either lone parents or had a partner who was not working.

Ultimately, there are over 16,000 women who are classified as &quot;untapped potential&quot;, according to Solas, and could be attracted to joining the workforce.

The right conditions such as childcare, flexible working hours, and taxation could help them to do so, said researcher Joan McNaboe.

Dress for Success founder Sonya Lennon, who helped to launch the research, said the findings were a &quot;punch in the gut&quot; but agreed with Ms McNaboe that the right conditions may attract women to work.

&quot;It&#39;s all the old chestnuts, remote working, better access to childcare, all the nuggets that we know are holding women back,&quot; she said.

&quot;They don&#39;t want to work because work doesn&#39;t work for them rather than they don&#39;t want to be economically independent.&quot;

She said there was no &quot;one-size-fits-all solution&quot; to getting women back into work.

&quot;When we look at the two big cohorts who could be in the workforce and are not, one of them is definitely the result of socio-economic issues and endemic unemployment. That is not going to need the same solution as the group of highly educated women who have fallen out of sustainable employment,&quot; she said.

Two-thirds of women doing 'home duties' do not want to return to a paid job

Director & Chief Biscuit Dunker

Sean Breen

<h1></h1>Retire At 55 And Live To 80; Work Till You’re 65 And Die At 67. Startling New Data Shows How Work Pounds Older Bodies.A study by Dr. Ephrem Cheng, a leading American scholar, on the relationship between life expectancy and retirement age ( Age at Retirement Vs Life Span) The investigation report.The report netted several pension plans for U.S. supermajority groups, including Boeing, AT&amp;T and Ford Motor Co., and found that the later the executive retires, the shorter his or her life!The statistics are as follows:Retirement Age / Age of Death:49.9 / 8651.2 / 85.353.8 / 83.955.1 / 83.256.4 / 82.557.2 / 81.158.2 / 8059.2 / 78.5 60.1 / 76.861 / 74.562.1 / 71.863.1 / 69.364.1 / 67.965.2 / 66.8 “Ten working years could cost you twenty years of your Retirement!”Almost all large organizations are in agreement, and full-time managers who retire at the age of sixty-five usually die within eighteen months! As a result, quite a number of pension reserves have not been claimed. Dr. Cheng then launched a comprehensive survey, and the above statistics concluded that the later you retire, the earlier you die.Full-time managers face enormous pressure every day, constantly living in the emotional tension, but also need to cling to, so it is easy to push themselves to the edge of collapse. This mental and mental state seriously damages the organs and cells of the body, forming a long-term high-pressure state. Before you know it, your health will be cut short. Thus, at the age of sixty-five, when he retires, he is relieved of all his latent diseases, and within eighteen months he is gone.The findings have shocked American executives, so they say life is good enough, and they retire at 50. These senior retirees are not totally out of work. They just re-plan their lives and lives, relax and only take part-time and interesting jobs and stop pursuing power and luxury.According to the survey, the healthy decline of these 50-year-olds after they started their second spring has greatly improved. Many of them did not go to heaven until they were 85 years old. According to the survey, this group of 50-year-old retirees had their health plummeted.Dr. Cheng pointed out that the sooner you leave the circle of power and money and get rid of the shackles of fame and luxury, the happier you will be and the longer you will be able to live a basic life. Working as a philanthropist, in particular, is more conscious of living meaningfully, and as a result, the immune system is strengthened and the lifeline is prolonged.So when are you retiring?

Startling New Data Shows How Work Pounds Older Bodies

First UK airport to get permanent team of therapy dogs to calm nervous fliers.A Scottish airport is getting UK’s first permanent therapy dog team to help calm nervous fliers. Therapets will lend a paw to those who are anxious getting on planes at Aberdeen International Airport from this weekend. The travel hub has drafted in a team of four-legged volunteers after a successful trial over the busy Christmas and New Year period. The airport will become the first in the UK to have its very own therapy dog team when the Canine Crew start regular working regularly on Saturday. The dogs are easily identified in their high-vis jackets and bandanas, and will mingle with passengers and staff throughout the terminal.
They are already regular visitors to nursing homes, schools, prisons and universities, but this is the first venture of this scale based in the UK bringing dogs into an airport environment.
The animals have already been helping to improve mental health and wellbeing, alleviate stress and calm nerves, and are now ready to work their magic in their new surroundings. A joint endeavour by Therapet and Canine Concern Scotland, the team of 14 dogs – of various sizes – will be deployed with their handlers on a rota basis. Included in the team are friendly golden retrievers, German shepherds, beagles and a pug, among others.

Therapet’s north-east representative Diane Wood said: ‘We are delighted to take the lead in this project and have the opportunity to work with the Aberdeen airport. ‘All our dogs – and their owners – have undergone rigorous training and assessment to work in a variety of environments and the dogs are used to being stroked and petted and generally made a fuss of so they will lap up the attention and thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to interact with passengers and staff. ‘The mere action of stroking a dog slows down the heartbeat and reduces blood pressure so they will be a great help to anyone feeling nervous about their journey. ‘The dogs will work in pairs, for two hours at a time once a week and we plan to keep everybody updated about what dogs are visiting and when.’Aberdeen airport duty manager Fraser Bain added: ‘We’re excited to be the first airport in the UK to offer this service to passengers. ‘As well as benefiting our visitors, we also recognise the benefit to the mental health and wellbeing of our staff. ‘The Canine Crew is made up of a variety of dogs, with a mixture of brilliant traits and personalities and we cannot wait to see the reaction of our passengers.’

UK airport hires permanent team of therapy dogs to soothe nervous fliers

Self employed workers will be able to benefit from a welfare payment of €203 a week should they find themselves out of work from November. This will be the first time that the self-employed will be granted access to jobseeker’s benefit, and it will be paid at the same rate as those who are employed and lose their job. The move, which was first announced in last year’s Budget, will also benefit the many thousands of contractors who work for multinationals and smaller companies around the company on a self-employed basis.“This new benefit supports the Government’s aim of creating a supportive environment for entrepreneurship, including providing an income safety net to employees and self-employed alike,” Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty said. “The introduction of a new Jobseeker’s Benefit scheme for the self-employed represents the next step in the Government’s work to extend PRSI benefits and will provide an income safety net to thousands of small and medium businesses throughout the country.”Up until now, the only state benefit the self employed could access when their work dried up was jobseeker’s allowance. However, this was means tested and based on previous year’s income, which would have excluded many.Now however, it is expected that up to 6,500 individuals could benefit from the payment at any time in a year. The benefit will be paid at a maximum rate of €203.00 a week to the applicant, with payments also potentially available for dependents; a qualifying adult payment of €134.70 a week may apply for example, as well as an increase of up to €34 a week per each child under the age of 12, and €37 a week for each child aged 12 and over.Applicants will also have access to the full range of employment supports available to other jobseekers such as referral to group information sessions, one to one interviews and subsequent caseworker support.Applicants will have to satisfy a PRSI test to access the payment. As is the case with previously employed applicants, self-employed workers will need to have 260 or more self-employment PRSI contributions paid to get jobseeker’s benefit for the full nine months. Those with fewer than 260 contributions will get the paymnet for six months.Self employed workers have been able to access an enhanced range of welfare payments in recent years. For example, the self-employed now benefit from treatment benefits, which includes free eye tests, dental examinations and contributions towards the cost of hearing aids, and the invalidity pension, as well as having entitlement to a full state pension, and statutory maternity/paternity pay.However, when those who are self employed find themselves out of work on a short term basis due to ill-health, they still can’t access illness benefit.Drafting of the legislation needed has commenced, with the new scheme expected to be available from November 2019. Source: <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/business/personal-finance/self-employed-can-claim-the-dole-for-the-first-time-from-november-1.3874890?fbclid=IwAR0Prz4LX7cez26orm4syb7w1gmQYPSqI5QR5WsB3LQ_LC8KZ6h2Fkq-4ic">The Irish Times</a>

Self-employed can claim the dole for the first time from November

On Friday morning, homeless web developer David Casarez woke from his park bench in Mountain View, Calif., put on a nice shirt and tie, and carried his hand-written cardboard sign to a nearby highway median.

“HOMELESS,” the sign read.

“HUNGRY 4 SUCCESS. TAKE A RESUME.”

It turned out to be the perfect job search strategy.

A passerby’s photo of him standing on the median holding the sign soon went viral on Twitter, and by Saturday afternoon, he’d been flooded with more than 200 job offers.

“Google reached out to me,” the astounded 26-year-old told The Post.

“So many other companies. Pandora. A bunch of startups,” he said, speaking by phone at a Starbucks near where he’d first gone begging — literally — for work.

“A product manager from Bitcoin.com was wondering if I could work remotely or if I want to relocate to Tokyo,” he said, with wonder in his voice as he scrolled through the offers.

“But tonight, I’ll be back on my bench in Rengstorff Park.”

Casarez grew up in the border town of Laredo, Texas.

He earned a bachelor’s in management information systems from Texas A&amp;M University, landed a good web developer job at General Motors in Austin, but then cashed out his 401(k) and drove to Silicon Valley to pursue the dream of his own tech startup — only to run out of cash in June.

“I’d been living in my car for more than a year,” he said of his 2015 Ford Transit Connect utility van.

Enlarge ImageDavid Casarez&#39;s resume
David Casarez’s resumeJasmine Scofield
“No one was hiring. I had an interview with Apple in January, but the job was filled internally,” he said.

Casarez says he did some freelancing — a few web design and logo design jobs.

But a month ago, his van was repossessed, he said, and he’s been sleeping in the park since.

On Friday, he dressed as best he could — “to be presentable to my future employers,” he explained — and set out with his new sign and a stack of resumes in a FedEx envelope.

“It was basically a make-or-break moment,” he said of his job-search breakthrough.

“I wanted to keep my head up high, keep looking forward and see what opportunity would come next,” he added.

“I was thinking, you know, like this was like my last stop. If this didn’t work, I’d go back home and give up on my dream.”

He’d only been standing on the median at El Camino Real and San Antonio Road for a couple hours when a passing driver named Jasmine Scofield stopped and asked if she could take his picture and post it online.

Sure, Casarez told her.

“Today I saw this young homeless man asking for people to take a resume rather than asking for money,” she tweeted around 5 p.m. Friday.

“Please RT so we can help David out!”

By mid-afternoon Saturday California time, Scofield’s photos of Casarez and his resume had been retweeted more than 50,000 times and liked nearly 70,000 times.

“It’s been happening very quickly, and I’m in shock,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting that kind of response,” he added. “It kinda blew up.”

Homeless man hands out resumes, gets hundreds of job offers

According to Dr. Paul Kelley, a leading researcher at Oxford University, having to wake up and go to work before 10 o’clock in the morning is one of the most common forms of torture.The Circadian Rhythm, or the internal body clock, represents the biological timers that dictate the way our body functions, and this genetically pre-programmed cycle regulates our perception of time, brain function, energy levels, and hormone production.Therefore, waking up this early and working before 10 o’clock tortures our body and negatively affects the natural balance in the body.Kelley explains that people cannot change their 24-hour rhythms, and one cannot learn to get up at a certain time, since the liver and your heart have different patterns and they should actually shift two or three hours.In the early 20th century, when the 8-hour working day was introduced, along with the 24/7 factory productivity, no one considered the natural human body clock.As a result, Dr. Paul Kelley claims that it affects the physical, emotional and performance systems and thus damages the body. Staff should start at 10 am. He also adds that people are chronically sleep-deprived, and it is an international issue.Moreover, a week with less than six hours’ sleep each night leads to 711 changes in how genes function.He believes that the effects of work will be drastically improved if we made simple changes in the time we start and end work.Dr. Kelley and other neuroscientists point out the importance of understanding functionality of the body at different ages, especially when it comes to sleep cycles. Sleep deprivation starts in adolescence as teens are biologically predisposed to go to sleep around midnight.Therefore, they aren’t really awake until 10 am in the morning, and due to the strict early morning hour schedule of schools, they are losing an average of 10 hours of sleep a week. Moreover, they tend to stay awake longer into the night on weekends, so they face a difficulty to constantly readjust to the early-to-bed, early-to-rise sleep cycle that is structured for a 55-year-old.A British school tested Dr.Kelley’s theory that schools should start from 8.30 am to 10.00 am, and after some time, the grades of the students were significantly increased, and as well as their attendance and general productivity.Therefore, if we decide to incorporate such changes in all sectors of the modern society, people will undoubtedly become more productive, happier, healthier, full of energy and joy, instead of being fatigued, stressed, and addicted to coffee.

Scientists Say That Starting Work Before 10am Is Similar To Torture

Up to half of all jobs could be wiped out or changed almost beyond recognition as new technologies sweep through the global economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development has warned.

It estimates automation will eliminate almost one in six roles completely, while a further third will “change radically”, bringing the total to 46pc of all jobs.

New jobs will be created to replace the lost posts, but traditional full-time, permanent employment may become a thing of the past for most workers, and those with the fewest skills and least training are most vulnerable.

“Individuals will face deep and rapid changes: many will have to change not only their job but even their occupation, and most will have to modernise their skills and working practices. These transitions towards new jobs and occupations might be difficult and costly for a number of workers,” said the OECD in its annual Employment Outlook.Automation to date has not wiped out job opportunities. The employment rate is rising across much of the developed world, particularly among women and older workers.

But avoiding mass unemployment will require new skills and a new approach to work, the OECD said.

Just as the shift from manufacturing jobs into the services industry left some workers struggling, so this tech revolution risks locking millions out of employment in the years ahead.

“Doomsday scenarios are unlikely to materialise, but there are some real risks,” the think-tank warned.

“Many are worried that the world of work is heading for a dystopian future of massive technological unemployment, precarious work, workers with little or no bargaining power, and important skills gaps as populations age rapidly.”The solution is a complete overhaul of education and training to better serve workers and businesses in a world of rapidly changing technology and longer lives, the OECD believes.

“We should move away from a model of front-loaded education – whereby recognised skills are mainly developed in schools and universities and subsequently used at work – to a system in which skills are continuously updated during the working life to match changing skills needs,” its report said.Its surveys of 29 mostly rich countries indicate six in 10 workers lack basic IT skills or computer experience, indicating the scale of the challenge.

A key risk is that middle-wage jobs will be destroyed, leaving only low-paid and high-paid positions with little in between.

One consequence of new technology is a rise in &quot;gig&quot; working on a temporary or informal basis. The OECD fears this has undermined workers’ rights and protections in countries including the UK, potentially making those workers more vulnerable to losing their jobs and leaving them with fewer welfare protections should they fall on hard times.

Robots set to wipe out or radically alter millions of jobs, OECD warns

Staying At Home with Kids Is Harder Than Going to Work
We love our kids. No doubt about that. They are bundles of joy given to us by the universe to set our lives on a path of unbridled love, affection, and happiness. At least, that’s what many of us think.
However, this doesn’t change the fact that they drive us nuts sometimes. Staying at home to look after your kids can be more difficult than going to a hectic job [1]. Kids can drain our energy, especially newborns. Feeding, soothing, singing to sleep, bathing, changing, powdering, playing, cooing, gagging – the unconditional love we have for them doesn’t always relieve the stress. Stay-at-home parents can relate better to this, especially those with many kids.
They don’t usually like to complain about their ordeals. Most people would wonder, “What’s so hard about staying at home all day with your little one(s)?” People judge them without thinking about what they go through every day. It’s true that constantly complaining can do more harm than good, but everyone deserves to once in a while and they need to be taken seriously.
When most working parents spend a day at home with their kids, even on paid leave, many can’t wait to get back to work.
AVEENO Baby U.K. survey
A nationwide survey conducted in the U.K. has shown that many parents get more stressed while staying at home with their kids than going to work [2]. The survey, conducted by AVEENO® Baby, had a sample size of the of 1,500 mothers and fathers from around the country. These parents either worked various types of jobs or were stay-at-home parents. 
The results of the survey were as follows:
31% agreed that staying at home with kids is more stressful than going to work.
40% agreed that after having their own first child, they stopped judging new parents for complaining too much.
55% believed that having a baby is hard work even with a strong support system.
25% voted that having a baby is easy.
Despite NCT (National Childbirth Trust) classes and self-help books, 45 percent of the women said they wouldn’t have coped without their own mother’s advice.
39% of the parents said they are constantly exhausted.
71% of the moms and dads believed that social media made parenting more competitive, with everyone trying to level up to someone else.
27% felt they are under pressure to be perfect parents.
22% are worried about their newborns’ eating habits.
9% are worried about their kids’ sleep patterns.
Despite all these, 42% agreed that they experienced true, unconditional love for the first time when they had their first baby.
“Becoming a parent is an amazing experience, but we understand that entering this new chapter of life can also bring with it a great deal of stress and worry, so we wanted to discover more about what new parents experience in the first few years, what they wish they had known and how best we can support them,” Aveeno Baby Skin expert, Rebecca Bennett, told The Sun.
The verdict is, taking care of kids is not an easy feat. Nevertheless, their heart-warming smiles, tiny feet, soft bums, and cloud-like hair will do a lot to override any exhaustion we feel. One moment, we want to grab our bags and run for the door. The next, you are on your back balancing your toddler on your belly.
It’s an on and off thing.

Study Finds Staying At Home with Kids Is Harder Than Going to Work

The National Youth Council of Ireland, together with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, are calling for applications for the United Nations Youth Delegate Programme for Ireland 2019 - 2020.Are you aged 18 - 25, a self-started, interested in policy making and writing, capable of digesting lots of information and quickly turning around policy papers/speeches? Available to travel to Brussels in June, Geneva in July and New York for up to a month in Sept/Oct 2019, January/March 2020 (TBC) and July 2020 (TBC)?Read on....UN Youth Delegate Programme for Ireland 2019 - 2020Information for Applicants&amp;Application FormUN Youth Delegate Programme for Ireland 2019 - 2020 Application Process &amp; RulesThe National Youth Council of Ireland, together with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, are delighted to announce the call for applications for the United Nations Youth Delegate Programme for Ireland 2019 – 2020 which will support two young people aged between 18-25 years to join Ireland’s delegation to the United Nations. Since 2015, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) have partnered to provide the opportunity for young people in Ireland to participate in the UN Youth Delegate Programme.  The aims of United Nations Youth Delegate Programme Ireland are:·       To provide a platform for young people from Ireland to be represented at the United Nations;·       To directly involve young people from Ireland in the international diplomacy and foreign policy and decision-making agenda;·       To hear and include the voice of young people on development, human rights, and global citizenship issues at local, national, and international levels;·       To promote development and youth policies among young people in Ireland;·       To familiarise young people in Ireland with global development issues, the Sustainable Development Goals, and opportunities for action;·       To support global citizenship activities and development initiatives in Ireland. This Programme will support young people to be agents of change, and to foster active global citizenship through engagement with the UN, contributing to building a world of justice, equity, peace, and dignity.  Call for ApplicationsApplicants should be:·       Between the ages of 18 – 25 years (on May 19th 2019)·       A self-starter·       Committed to giving significant time to this Programme·       Experienced in organising events and committed to organising consultations and events with young people/others in Ireland (and possibly other locations) and sharing their experiences with others, through written reports and social media, including videos·       Interested in policy making and writing, capable of digesting lots of information and quickly turning around policy papers/speeches·       Committed to regularly using blog/video/social media posts·       Experienced public speakers·       Available for interview week of June 10th 2019·       Able to travel to Brussels June/July 2019 (TBC)·       Able to travel to Geneva July 3rd – 5th 2019·       Able to travel to New York for up to a month September/October 2019, January/March 2020 (TBC) and July 2020 (TBC)·       Curious about the world. Interested in diplomacy, disarmament, public engagement, development education and global citizenship education, and youth issues ·       Passionate about solving today’s most pressing problems and working to engage young people in this important agenda·       Resident of Ireland Skills and qualifications ·       Policy making experience·       Event organising experience·       Media/Social Media/Communications experience·       Knowledge of international current affairs·       Knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals·       Knowledge of the UN Youth Strategy·       Knowledge of Development Policies in Ireland and at UN level·       Knowledge of Development Education·       Experience in negotiating and in leading out on workshops and training·       Excellent report writing, communication, organisational, and interpersonal skills·       Culturally competent·       Ability to work collaboratively with others – senior NGO reps, young people, youth organisations, DFAT, NYCI, etc. What you must commit to if you are chosen as a UN Youth Delegate:·       Attend intergovernmental conferences: United Nations General Assembly (September/October 2018 TBC), the ECOSOC meeting (January/February 2020 TBC), Human Rights Meetings (June/July 2020 TBC), and the HLPF July 2020 (TBC)·       Participate in training at EU level in June/July 2019·       Regular reporting to/meeting with NYCI and DFAT on activities, actions, and consultations<ul><li>Consultation/visits/participation in events with young people, youth organisations, educational institutions and NGOs in Ireland to increase awareness among young people in Ireland on global issues and promote UN values</li></ul>·       Regular participation in UN Youth Delegate support meetings (NYCI/European Youth Forum/DFAT)·       Meet with DFAT/NYCI/Irish Mission in New York and Geneva ·       Organise side events in New York and Ireland (TBC)·       Work with Irish Missions on UN policy issues, planning meetings, networking and supporting the team (as appropriate)·       Work with UN Youth Delegates from other countries on policy issues, planning meetings, events, social media, and networking ·       Complete a report when term of office is complete·       Workshops/Consultations/Meetings with young people and organisations around Ireland on development/Sustainable Development Goals issues in Ireland and the world with a special emphasis on Youth, Peace and Security and Youth Rights<ul><li>Publication of blogs/videos/articles on specific topics regarding youth issues at a local and global level</li></ul>·       Hand over meeting with future delegates·       PR and social media (as negotiated with DFAT/NYCI) throughout your term of office, particularly using social media/blogs/photos/video when travelling in Youth Delegate capacity

18 - 25 Year Olds Wanted to Travel to Brussels, Geneva & New York!

Director & Ideation Manager

Pamela Doyle

Additional Parental Leave announced! The Government has announced that parents are to have access to two weeks&#39; paid leave each from November. There are also future plans for this to rise to seven weeks each over the next three years.The Department of Social Protection will pay the parental benefit at the same rate as maternity and paternity benefit, which is €245 per week. Individual employers can then decide if they want to provide a “top up” payment to bring the benefit up to an employee’s salary level.The news will be welcomed by parents who would like to spend more quality time with their children. Under the scheme it will also enable male same sex couples to receive adoptive leave and benefit. Up to 60,000 parents a year are to gain new paid parental leave and benefit from November.<blockquote>Regina Doherty said &quot;This, I hope, will help to incentivise fathers to take more time off work to care for their children than has been the case up to now&quot;, “In that formative first year of life, children now have the opportunity to spend more time with both parents.&quot;</blockquote>All new parents in employment or self-employment will be able to avail of the new scheme.Read the full Press Release here;Up to 60,000 Parents a Year to Gain as New Paid Parental Leave and Benefit available from this NovemberParents will have access to two weeks leave each – expected to rise to seven weeks each over the next three years Legislation will also enable male same-sex couples to receive adoptive leave and benefitTuesday, 23 April, 2019The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty TD, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD and the Minister of State with responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration, David Stanton TD, today announced that from this November all new parents in employment or self-employment will be able to avail of a new Parental Leave scheme offering two weeks leave and benefit to spend with their new babies during their first year. Ultimately, parents will be able to benefit from seven weeks leave each under the scheme as it develops incrementally over the next three years.The Minister for Justice and Equality has secured the approval of Government for the priority drafting of the necessary legislation to introduce the leave entitlement. A General Scheme of the Bill is being published today. Arrangements are currently underway in the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to ensure the necessary legislation is in place for the benefit and that the administrative and technical solutions are in place in advance of November for the operation of this scheme. It is estimated that up to 60,000 parents could benefit from the scheme in a full year.Speaking on the importance of the scheme, Minister Doherty said:“Parents, children and society in general will all benefit from the introduction of this scheme. Firstly, in that formative first year of life, children now have the opportunity to spend more time with both parents. Secondly, on top of the recently introduced Paternity Benefit, this extends the leave benefits available to fathers.“Crucially this new benefit is non-transferable and is available on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis. This, I hope, will help to incentivise fathers to take more time off work to care for their children than has been the case up to now. The evidence shows that when fathers take a more significant and meaningful share in the parenting of their children the individual family benefits - and so does wider society, as by encouraging more fathers to take time off, we are in a position to challenge the existing culture regarding work and gender.”Welcoming the scheme as a practical support for working parents, Minister Flanagan said: “This is an important support for working parents in Ireland. The General Scheme of the Bill, which I am publishing today, provides for paid parental leave for each parent of a child under one, whether employed or self-employed. The leave will initially be set at two weeks, increasing on a phased basis over the next three years. This is in addition to existing maternity, paternity and adoptive leave entitlements. It will provide working parents with further opportunity to spend more time with their baby in its crucial first year of development. With the introduction of this Bill, we are delivering on our commitment to increase paid parental leave in the first year of a child’s life. This is a practical measure to benefit parents and children. Helping working parents to have more flexibility and greater choice in how they balance their professional and family lives has positive benefits for families and for society as a whole.”Under the scheme, both parents will have access to two weeks each (non-transferrable) benefit for babies born from this November, which will be paid at the same rate as Maternity Benefit and Paternity Benefit - €245 per week. It is intended to incrementally increase this to up to seven weeks parental leave over the next three years in line with Government announcement for Budget 2019. Minister Stanton highlighted another important feature of the Bill:“The Bill also proposes to take the final steps needed to enable male same-sex couples to receive adoptive leave and benefit. This is further progress towards ensuring equality for all families.I look forward to introducing the legislation into the Houses of the Oireachtas, once drafted, and hope that colleagues on all sides of the Houses will work with me in ensuring that we can implement this important legislation at the earliest possible time.”ENDSNote for EditorsParental Leave and Benefit Bill 2019:<ul><li>The Bill is part of the Government commitment to increase paid parental leave in the first year of a child’s life</li><li>A draft General Scheme of the Bill was presented to Government on 16 April and approval was granted for the priority drafting of the Bill</li><li>It is intended that the leave will be set initially at two weeks per parent. The leave can be taken within 52 weeks of the birth of the child or in the case of an adoption, from the date of placement of the child</li><li>The Bill also proposes to address a lacuna in the law, which prevents a male same-sex couple from receiving adoptive leave and benefit. It provides for the repeal of Section 177 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015. It further provides for the modification and reintroduction of Section 177 of that Act or an amendment of Section 2 of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995</li><li>The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection will make the payment of the benefit. It will be up to individual employers to decide if they will provide a ‘top-up’ payment to the salary level of employees earning more than this</li><li>The Government commitment is to increase the leave by 2021 to 7 weeks paid parental leave per parent.</li></ul>

Great News For Working Parents!

A woman who quit her job as a beautician to work as a naked cleaner now has her very own cleaning empire, employing a staff of 15 full-time workers. 

Victoria Murphy, 25, launched her firm after graduating with a degree in events management.

The 25-year-old from Edinburgh is able to charge anything from £55 to £75 per hour for her cleaners&#39; services, depending on their level of nudity.

Before singleton Victoria started recruiting her company, which is called Glimmer, she first tested the water by cleaning homes in Edinburgh in the nude.

&quot;I didn&#39;t want to put my staff into any situation I had not experienced myself,&quot; she said.Victoria was keen to start a business in the adult service sector with a unique selling point.

While working as a beautician, she first toyed with the idea of starting a webcam work business - though she had decided she wouldn&#39;t feature on camera herself.

She then stumbled across an American company offering a naked cleaning service and, feeling inspired, she soon launched Glimmer.

&quot;I knew I wanted something which would be fun and risqué but not extreme,&quot; Victoria, who lives in Edinburgh with her pet Daschund Louis.

&quot;We are not an escort service. What we offer is fun and flirty.

&quot;When I did it for a while, I had a laugh and nothing untoward happened.&quot;Glimmer customers can opt for one of three tiers of adult cleaning.

A service in lingerie or underwear starts at £55 per hour, while topless cleaning will set you back £65 an hour.

The most expensive package, which includes the services of a completely naked cleaner, costs £75 for the hour.

&quot;None of my staff ever have to do anything they don&#39;t feel comfortable with,&quot; Victoria added.

&quot;The client will choose the option they prefer and I will match the cleaner to that choice.&quot;

Prospective employees haven&#39;t been put off by the dress code - or lack thereof - with Victoria receiving 100 applications the last time she advertised for recruits.

&quot;The most important thing is that someone has professional cleaning experience.

&quot;Then they need to have a good personality, because engaging with the client, chatting to them and feeling comfortable being naked is all part of what makes someone right for this role.&quot;

Victoria, who has 15 members of staff including three men, said Glimmer has 20 regular clients and a further 15 who book an occasional clean.

She admitted they have shattered her preconceptions about the type of client she imagined would use the service.

&quot;I thought we&#39;d get mostly professional working men in their forties but actually, the clients are much more diverse,&quot; she said.

&quot;We&#39;ve had some as young as 30 and others in their 80s. Many of them live alone and a lot of the older gentleman are quite lonely, so it&#39;s important the experience is fun and that the cleaners like chatting.

&quot;We have male cleaners available but women asking for men isn&#39;t something that comes up a lot. We&#39;re definitely trying to work on that side of things and build it up.

&quot;When I&#39;m recruiting, I&#39;m not worried about what people look like - as everyone has a different idea of what&#39;s attractive - but they do need to be presentable and body confident.&quot;

Despite the unorthodox, saucy concept, Victoria said her friends and family have been very supportive about the business she has set up.

&quot;They understand this is my baby&quot; she said. &quot;I do spend a lot of time explaining to people that this is a serious cleaning business, too. We clean to a very high standard.

&quot;Most people ask what the client does while the cleaner is working.

&quot;They imagine they just sit there while the cleaner puts on a show, but that&#39;s not what we do.

&quot;A lot of clients have never done anything like this before and are often quite shy.

&quot;So the cleaner will chat and engage with them, but, most importantly, they&#39;ll get on with the job of cleaning the house.&quot;Rather than putting leaflets through people&#39;s doors - which might come as a bit of a surprise for any families - Victoria uses social media and advertises in free listings.

Running her business single-handedly, Victoria has big ambitions for the future of Glimmer.

She&#39;s now even recruiting naked cleaners in Glasgow and Aberdeen, and has hopes to not only conquer Scotland, but also the rest of the UK.

&quot;I do want to expand across the whole country but for now, we&#39;re expanding by offering Naked Party Hosting,&quot; she said.

Victoria also wants to branch out to offer Naked Handymen, which she believes will appeal more to women, as her current client list is mostly male.

&quot;I am still working part-time as a beautician doing nails mostly, but I am determined to make a success of this business, so I do work really hard,&quot; she said.

&quot;I do socialise with my friends and go out and I love taking Louis for a long walk, but I run every aspect of the business and so, truthfully, I have very little free time outside work.&quot;

​Woman Who Quit Job As Beautician Now Has Naked Cleaning Empire

Are you a PAYE worker and working full or part-time from home? You could be in for a tax rebate!If you’re working part of the time at home and the remainder at a ‘normal place of work’, working full time from home or working on the move with visits to your ‘normal place of work’, you could be in for a Tax Rebate, and going forward a substantial tax relief that you might not be aware of.Are you an e-Worker? According to Revenue.ie an e-Worker is a person who is;<ul><li>working for substantial periods outside the normal place of work</li><li>logging onto a work computer remotely</li><li>sending and receiving email, data or files remotely</li><li>developing ideas, products and services remotely.</li></ul>So if the above applies to you your employer can make a payment of €3.20 per workday to you without deducting Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) or Universal Social Charge (USC). It may not be a fortune but it’s your entitlement and every little helps! This payment is to cover the additional expenditure that you will incur for heating and electricity costs.Your employer can also provide the following items to you for business use to without you incurring any benefit-in-kind:<ul><li>computer or laptop</li><li>printer</li><li>scanner</li><li>software to allow you to work from home</li><li>telephone, mobile and broadband</li><li>office furniture.
</li></ul>Recent statistics from the CSO show that the number of people working from home is growing by 2,000 people per year with estimations suggesting that over 100,000 people are now &quot;mainly working at or from home&quot;.<a href="https://www.joe.ie/news/taxback-work-from-home-ireland-665916"></a> More Information;https://www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/employee-expenses/e-working-and-home-workers/index.aspx

Working full or part-time from home? You could be in for a tax rebate! 

ODD JOBS The weirdest jobs in the world from working as a professional armpit smeller to tasting dog food for €50k or testing water slides.
Some people are paid to be full time armpit sniffers. Sound odd? Amazingly, it&#39;s not the weirdest job out there.
MOST of us would do everything in our power to avoid smelling another person&#39;s BO.
But for some people, smelling armpits is all in a day&#39;s work.
Working as a professional armpit smeller isn&#39;t everyone&#39;s cup of tea.More and more people are signing up to be professional armpit smellers - employed by fragrance and cosmetics companies to test the effectiveness of perfumes and deodorants.
But, unbelievably, it&#39;s not the the most bizarre job on the planet.
Last year a university in California put a call out for anyone who wanted to earn money by eating avocados for three months to see if it aided weight loss.
They were inundated with applications and 250 people managed to snag a place on the three-month trial.
It&#39;s far from the only odd job out there though.
From cuddling people for money to mourning the deaths of strangers on a day-to-day basis, there&#39;s a whole glut of unusual and downright wacky jobs if you&#39;re looking for a career change.
Even better, most of them don&#39;t even require prior training or experience.
So if you&#39;re desperate to get out of the office for good, here&#39;s a look at some of the strangest jobs that you could be doing - and how to apply for them.
Job: Professional armpit smeller
Employer: The International Fragrance Association
Salary: €45,000
How to apply: <a href="https://www.ifrauk.org/careers-jobs/">Apply via their website
</a>We&#39;ve all had days where we&#39;ve got to work and been forced to spend the day sat next to a colleague who&#39;s got a particularly pungent odour emanating from their pits.
But you could put an end to that by making sure lacklustre deodorants don&#39;t make it to the market.
Could you work as a professional armpit smeller?Armpit smellers are employed by companies to help test out the latest products that combat sweat and body odour - and all you have to do is give a big whiff to someone who&#39;s just been working out on a treadmill for an hour.
The average income tallies up to €45,000 a year, so it&#39;s not so bad.
Businesses may call on nose judges to determine the effectiveness of cat litter or shoe insoles at controlling unpleasant smells too.
There&#39;s a job out there for anyone with a well-trained nose.
Job: Professional sleeper
Employer: NASA
Salary: €15,000 for 70 days
Most of us can&#39;t get enough of it no matter how hard we try - but NASA hires professional sleepers who are, you guessed it, given the arduous task of having to sleep for days on end.
Why? It&#39;s all in the name of science.
Volunteers get paid up to €15,000 to sleep for a whopping 70 days in a row so scientists can study the effect of different air pressures on the human body.
Bed rest studies offer scientists ways to see how the body adapts to weightlessness. Participants must live, eat, and even shower in the same position.
This causes their bodies - and cardiovascular systems - to adapt as if they were in space and they are continuously monitored to understand how their bodies change.
Results allow countermeasures to be devised that will help astronauts on space missions, as well as bed-ridden people on Earth.
So you get to sleep through seven Mondays and you get to help the future of the human race in the process - could there be a better job?
If space isn&#39;t your thing, then you can try the same thing a little closer to home in Finland.
Helsinki&#39;s Hotel Finn hires full-time sleepers to test the comfort of their beds in order to help them improve their guest experience. 
Job: Professional dog food taster
Salary: €20K- €50
How to apply: Contact your pooch’s favourite pet food brand with a CV, or check their website for vacancies.
We&#39;d always thought that it was humans that tested on animals - not the other way around.
A pet food taster has the rather disgusting job of being sent the latest pet food flavours and giving them a try.

While dogs and cats have different tastes to us, it&#39;s a tasters job to make sure each ingredient is &quot;balanced in the right way&quot;.
Some people make a living as professional animal food tasters
Phillip Wells, a former taster for Lily&#39;s Kitchen pet food, told Sun Online that the job has even helped him improve his own cooking skills.
“Trying the food is also a good way to pick up on the nuances of the cooking; this works especially well on the dry kibbles,” he says.
Impressively, the salary can range from anywhere between €20,000 and €50,000 depending on how long you&#39;ve been doing the job and just how refined your tastebuds are.
Job: Professional cuddler
Employer: Cuddle Party
Salary: €70 an hour
How to apply: <a href="http://www.cuddleparty.com/facilitator/">sign up for a 10-week virtual training course</a>
In a world where we meet everyone through apps, sometimes the intimacy of face-to-face contact is missing from people&#39;s lives.
That&#39;s where professional cuddlers are here to help.
They&#39;re cashing in up to €70p/h for non-sexual hugging, and experts claim that the rise in their popularity is down to an unlikely factor - Donald Trump.
Marcia Baczynski, co-founder of Cuddle Party, said that the state of the world is driving people to look for comfort in the unlikeliest of places.
Professional cuddlers can earn £60-an-hour at cuddle parties
Professional cuddler Ian Carmen, who&#39;s been doing the job for a couple of years now, insisted that it&#39;s not as sexual as people may think.
He told Sun Online: &quot;When I&#39;m with someone there&#39;s sometimes a sexual moment but you learn to deal with and acknowledge it but you don&#39;t encourage it and it eventually passes&quot;.
Job: Professional Queuer
Employer: Same Ole Lines Dudes
Salary: €20 an hour
How to apply: <a href="http://www.sameolelinedudes.com/home/">Find positions through their website
</a>Whether it’s a sample sale or the latest iPhone model, people are now paying money for professional queuers to wait around in line for them and call when they’re near the front. So instead of sitting around for six hours, you can enjoy your day while someone does it for you.
Could you be a professional queuer?
One man based in NYC, Robert Samuel, got so much business that he’s since started up his own company in the US.
Surprisingly, not all of his clients are just super rich: “It’s all everyday people too.
“Sometimes I get a customer who can’t get out of work on time to wait for a movie premiere, or somebody on the Upper East Side who really wants a new Xbox but doesn’t want to stand in the cold for seven hours before it goes on sale. It’s a whole medley.”
It’s not just people that will employ you to queue. Sometimes brands will pay money for you to stand outside their stores in a bid to make them look more popular, and therefore attract more potential customers.
It’s win win. You can usually earn around 20p/h on the job, which requires absolutely no skill apart from an ability to stand around doing nothing.
Job: Professional water slide tester
Employer: First Choice
Salary: €30,000
How to apply: Contact First Choice directly
If you loved water parks as a kid then this may just be the perfect job for you - but there&#39;s a catch - only one person gets to do it so competition is seriously tough.
Water slide maker First Choice selected Seb Smith to be their water slide tester in 2013.
He beat out over 2000 other applicants for the role, and since then has got to travel around the world for six months every year testing out the latest rides and rating their fun-factor.
“It can be tough when it’s chilly and you have to strip off, but otherwise it’s great,” say previous employee Tommy Lynch.
“Getting to check out the flumes is by far the best bit. But there is a serious side and it carries a lot of responsibility.”
The job pays £26,000 over the six month period every year, so you&#39;re basically free to just chill for the other six months.
First Choice only hire one expert, so you’ll have to wait until Seb’s ready to quit unfortunately!
Job: Professional pusher
Employer: Tokyo travel authority
Salary: DOE
How to apply: At the local station
If you think your commute is bad, then spare a thought for those in Japan who literally find themselves being shoved onto a train so the doors can stay shut.
Tokyo is home to one of the busiest and most efficient rail services in the world, but it doesn&#39;t happen without help during peak hours.During rush hour, the trains become so overcrowded that subway pushers - or Oshiya - are hired to cram as many people inside as possible.<a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7219602/weirdest-jobs-armpit-smeller-dog-food-taster-water-slides/">Original source.</a>

Weirdest jobs in the world - from Pro Armpit Smeller to Dog Food Taster

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, defended the company&#39;s &#39;996&#39; work schedule - which expects employees to submit to 12-hour shifts between 9am and 9pm during a six-day week. 168 hours in a week, Alibaba employees are expected to spend at least 72 of them while in work and they should be grateful.

I personally think that being able to work 996 is a huge blessing.

Many companies and many people don&#39;t have the opportunity to work 996. If you don&#39;t work 996 when you are young, when can you ever work 996?

In this world, everyone wants success, wants a nice life, wants to be respected. Let me ask everyone, if you don&#39;t put out more time and energy than others, how can you achieve the success you want?

Compared to them, up to this day, I still feel lucky, I don&#39;t regret (working 12 hour days), I would never change this part of me.

After getting backlash online and being called an evil capitalist, he addressed it&#39;s not about money but self improvement:

He said 996 is not exploitation.

Artists, scientists, athletes, politicians are all 996 because it&#39;s their passion.
People who committed to 996 must have found their passion, and their happiness and not for the sake of money.

People said this only applies to Chinese staff:

I dare you to ask your American staff to work 996, you&#39;d get sued.

You glorified overworking in China because government won&#39;t enforce labour law and corporates can do whatever they please.

Only talk of working hard, but silent on wages – this is typical language used by people who exploit others.

996 practice is definitely illegal, even in China&#39;s standard.

4 years ago, Jack Ma said that his biggest regret is spending too much time on work and cannot be with his family.

If I still can have a next life, I will never do a business like this. I will be my own self; I want to enjoy my life

China has overtaken Japan in terms of the number of people who die from overwork every year. The figure hit 600,000 in 2014. That works out to about 1,600 deaths every day.

In 2014, a pregnant worker died from large blood loss after working overtime until midnight. She showed warning signs of an ectopic pregnancy, yet she didn&#39;t go to her regular check up because a day-off would affect her performance evaluation.

In 2015, a 14 year-old boy worked himself to death on one of the factories on Alibaba. The company has only been fined 10,000 Yuan (US$1,491).
Last month, a group of tech workers made 996.ICU [By following 996, you are risking yourself getting into the ICU], attaching a full copy of China’s labour law, which prohibits more than 36 hours of overtime per month. The creator called on tech workers to come forward with examples of companies abusing staff by demanding uncompensated overtime. Alibaba and JD are named.

Alibaba Founder Expects Staff To Work 12-Hour Shift On 6-Day Week

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Employees who force themselves to smile and be happy in front of customers -- or who try to hide feelings of annoyance -- may be at risk for heavier drinking after work, according to researchers.A team of researchers at Penn State and the University at Buffalo studied the drinking habits of people who routinely work with the public, for example people in food service who work with customers, nurses who work with patients or teachers who work with students.They found a link between those who regularly faked or amplified positive emotions, like smiling, or suppressed negative emotions -- resisting the urge to roll one&#39;s eyes, for example -- and heavier drinking after work.Alicia Grandey, professor of psychology at Penn State, said the results suggest that employers may want to reconsider &quot;service with a smile&quot; policies.&quot;Faking and suppressing emotions with customers was related to drinking beyond the stress of the job or feeling negatively,&quot; Grandey said. &quot;It wasn&#39;t just feeling badly that makes them reach for a drink. Instead, the more they have to control negative emotions at work, the less they are able to control their alcohol intake after work.&quot;While previous research has shown a connection between service workers and problems with drinking, Grandey said the reasons why were not known. She hypothesized that by faking or suppressing emotions in front of customers, employees may be using a lot of self-control. Later, those employees may not have a lot of self-control left to regulate how much alcohol they drink.&quot;Smiling as part of your job sounds like a really positive thing, but doing it all day can be draining,&quot; Grandey said. &quot;In these jobs, there&#39;s also often money tied to showing positive emotions and holding back negative feelings. Money gives you a motivation to override your natural tendencies, but doing it all day can be wearing.&quot;For the study, the researchers used data from phone interviews with 1,592 U.S. workers. The data came from a larger survey funded by the National Institutes of Health, called the National Survey of Work Stress and Health, which included almost 3,000 participants who were representative of the U.S. working population.Data included information about how often the participants faked or suppressed emotions, also called &quot;surface acting,&quot; as well as how often and how much the participants drank after work. The researchers also measured how impulsive the participants are and how much autonomy they feel they have at work.The researchers found that overall, employees who interacted with the public drank more after work than those who did not. Additionally, surface acting was also linked with drinking after work, and that connection was stronger or weaker depending on the person&#39;s trait-like self-control and the job&#39;s extent of self-control.&quot;The relationship between surface acting and drinking after work was stronger for people who are impulsive or who lack personal control over behavior at work,&quot; Grandey said. &quot;If you&#39;re impulsive or constantly told how to do your job, it may be harder to rein in your emotions all day, and when you get home, you don&#39;t have that self-control to stop after one drink.&quot;In particular, the researchers found a stronger association between surface acting and drinking when employees who are highly impulsive also worked in jobs where employees have one-time service encounters with customers, like a call center or coffee shop, rather than relationships, like health care or education.Grandey said people in these jobs tend to be younger and in entry-level positions, and may lack the self-control tendencies and the financial and social rewards that can buffer the costs of surface acting.According to Grandey, the results -- recently published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology -- suggest that surface acting is less likely to create problems when the work is personally rewarding to the employee.&quot;Nurses, for example, may amplify or fake their emotions for clear reasons,&quot; Grandey said. &quot;They&#39;re trying to comfort a patient or build a strong relationship. But someone who is faking emotions for a customer they may never see again, that may not be as rewarding, and may ultimately be more draining or demanding.&quot;Grandey added that employers may be able to use these insights to create healthier workplace environments.&quot;Employers may want to consider allowing employees to have a little more autonomy at work, like they have some kind of choice on the job,&quot; Grandey said. &quot;And when the emotional effort is clearly linked to financial or relational rewards, the effects aren&#39;t so bad.&quot;###Data collection was supported by a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grant awarded to Michael R. Frone, University at Buffalo, the second author on this paper. Penn State graduate students Gordon M. Sayre and Robert C. Melloy also participated in this work.

Forcing a smile for customers linked with more drinking after work

Nudist family seeking tutor for teenage son because last one felt ‘uncomfortable’ in their home
‘We find it liberating and freeing, and aside from that we’re a completely normal family’Exam season is never easy but this year is proving particularly tough for a Coventry-based nudist couple.

The pair are struggling to find a tutor to coach their teenage son through his A-level revision, after the previous one quit because they felt “uncomfortable” in the home.

The couple, who asked only to be identified as by their first names, Martin and Ada, lead a nudist lifestyle within their house but not outside it.“Like most nudists, we find it liberating and freeing, and aside from that we’re a completely normal family,” the couple said, in an email to Tutor House, a tuition agency.

The pair said their 18-year-old son was not a nudist but that he accepted his parents’ lifestyle choice. “This is why our last tutor quit, they said that they felt uncomfortable at our house, which is fair enough we know that nudism isn’t for everyone” Martin and Ada said.The family is now seeking a tutor who is “accepting” of their nudism.

Martin and Ada told Tutor House, the agency they turned to for help, that the right candidate would not have to be nude while in their house.

Due to the slightly unusual request and with A-level season looming, the pair told the agency they were willing to pay £50 an hour for a tutor to work with their son, for up to 10 hours a week.

Their 18-year-old son needs help with Maths, Physics and French revision.The agency referred to the email in their blog, and said they were “determined to help” despite the family’s slightly unconventional needs.

It is unclear how many applications the request has attracted and despite the high rate, Martin and Ada are yet to appoint a tutor.

“The majority of requests which come through the site tend to be pretty standard, we’ve certainly never received one like this before,” Alex Dyer, Tutor House’s founder, said.

“Even though this request is a lot more out there than most, we’re sure we’ll be able to help this family find the right professional for them.”