CÚRAM, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre, based at NUI Galway, will partner with five other European institutions to develop new therapies and technologies for the treatment of burns and wounds.

The €4 million NanoGrowSkin project will involve a multidisciplinary healthcare approach to develop better chronic wound therapies.

The goal of the project is to develop a bio-engineered human skin substitute, improving the manufacturing process, shortening the production time, and making it more effective.

CÚRAM Directoor, Professor Abhay Pandit, said: “The skin is the main protective barrier the body has against any external attack. Any skin disease or injury needs to be treated immediately.

“The most common conditions are wounds, pressure ulcers and burns, and current treatments based on the use of skin grafts, or even on implanting skin originating from a donor, are associated with several problems.

“In this project we will be investigating the development of a bioengineered human skin substitute that would be a suitable option for treating patients.”

Until now, different types of artificial skin covers have been designed, although none of them has successfully reproduced the accurate structure and functions of the native human skin.

“We aim to overcome the two major drawbacks of severe skin wounds, the urgent need of an effective skin implant in life-threatening situations and to avoid/counteract usual bacterial infections”, added Professor Pandit.

The international research team will take advantage of their combined expertise on tissue engineering, to manufacture an autologous (from the patient’s own body) skin substitute comprised of materials whose safety and efficacy have already been proven in humans.

The project team, led by Professor Miguel Alaminos, Health Research Institute in Granada and Universidad de Granada, Andalucía, with partners from the Italian Biochemical Institute, Université de Bordeaux and the University of Technology of Compiègne in France, CÚRAM at NUI Galway and the company OSI Health XXI in Spain.

The Seanad has heard of a 22-year-old NUI Galway student that was denied a primary medical certificate despite having congenital spinal stenosis, a degenerative spinal condition.

Fine Gael Senator Paudie Coffey spoke about the young woman yesterday, raising concerns about the way that the primary medical certificate is issued.

The certificate provides relief from vehicle registration tax, VRT, VAT and motor tax to people with disabilities in the provision of transport to improve their mobility.

The former Fine Gael TD for Waterford said: “It started when she was 17 years old. Already in her young life she has had three failed surgeries, two lumbar disectomies and instrumented spinal fusion on two levels. She has been left with intractable pain in both of her legs and back, resulting in significant mobility issues.

“She has been prescribed an horrendous amount of opioid medication that leaves her bedridden for most of the day and which is taking a toll on her internal organs. She was attending a degree course at the National University of Ireland, Galway, but she has been unable to return because of her spinal condition, as it brings chronic pain, there are serious mobility problems and she is on medication,” he added.

Despite this, an application was made for a primary medical certificate and she was devastated to discover that it had been refused.

The Senator said that it was her one hope she would receive some support to improve her mobility, well-being and independence by being able to drive an adapted car.

“She uses two crutches to get around the house and a wheelchair outside it.

“It is really frustrating for her and her family. I undertook to try to assist her and have written to the Minister of State with responsibility for people with disabilities, Deputy Finian McGrath. who, in fairness, has offered support, but he has also said he is restricted by the scheme in place.

“Therefore, I ask for the review of the scheme for genuine cases involving a serious disability. A review is long overdue, as the scheme was introduced in the 1980s. I am interested in hearing the Minister of State’s comments,” added Senator Coffey.

Parts of Moycullen are without water today due to a burst mains yesterday.

Galway County Council confirmed that there was a burst mains feeding the Tonabrocky Reservoir yesterday evening and as a result the pumps were switched off to repair the burst.

The Reservoir levels were left very low and water was diverted from Spiddal to the city area.

The Corcullen area of Moycullen is affected by the water outage.

Spiddal and Barna may also be affected by the interruptions overnight.

Concerns have been raised about the cost of insurance for businesses across the country, with Noel Grealish TD saying that it is the number one issue that is likely to force the closure of many business in the next two years.

The Galway West TD was speaking in the Dáil yesterday during Leader’s Questions when insisted that many businesses will close before there is a real reduction in insurance premiums, “unless the Government takes decisive action now.”

“Last week I listened to Michael Magner, owner of the Vienna Woods Hotel in Cork, who is also chairman of the insurance committee of the Irish Hotels Federation,” said Deputy Grealish.

“While being interviewed on the “Today with Sean O’Rourke” show, he stated his own insurance costs had risen from €10,000 in 2006 to €86,000 in 2016 and to a staggering €156,000 last year.

“In my own constituency, McCambridge’s of Galway, which is one of the longest-established businesses in Galway city, has seen its total insurance bill rocket from €20,000 in 2015 to €50,000 in 2016 and then to €102,000 in 2017.

“These are just two examples, I could list hundreds of horror stories. No business can sustain this,” added the Independent TD.

The Taoiseach acknowledged the issue, saying that he is ‘very conscious of the impact of the rising cost of insurance and its enormous cost burden on individuals and in particular on businesses’ across the State.

“In recognition of the increased cost of insurance for motorists and businesses in recent years, a cost of insurance working group was established under the chairmanship of the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy D’Arcy,” said the Taoiseach.

“We must remember, however, that neither the Minister for Finance nor the Central Bank can interfere in the pricing of insurance products. This is a private market and as these matters are of a commercial nature and are determined by insurance companies, they must be based on an assessment of the risks they are willing to accept,” he added.

Galway East TD Anne Rabbitte has brought forward a new Fagin’s Law Bill to create a new offence of grooming or inciting a child to commit a crime.

The Criminal Law (Recruitment of Children to Engage in Criminal Activity) Bill 2018, also known as “Fagin’s Law” was introduced in the Dáil and is expected to be supported by all parties.

Deputy Rabbitte explained: “This Bill follows on from a recommendation contained in the tenth report by the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Geoffrey Shannon, who identified a major gap in Irish law, in this area.

“The prevalence of crimes being committed by children is on the rise – with statistics revealing that almost 1 in 10 crimes in Ireland in 2014 were committed by children.”

A similar “Fagin’s Law” was introduced in the Australian state of Victoria and has proved very successful.

“There is no doubt that some of these children were groomed or pressured into carrying out these crimes, in some cases by parents, older siblings or other young adults in their communities.

“As it stands, while incitement to commit criminal offences is an offence, it can often prove difficult to secure a prosecution in cases involving minors.  While children must accept personal responsibility, we have to acknowledge that there are unscrupulous individuals who target vulnerable children and coerce them into carrying out crimes.  This needs to be tackled,” added Deputy Rabbitte.

There is already all-party agreement on the principle of this Bill and the it is expected that Minister Zappone facilitates its passage in the coming weeks.

Deputy O’Callaghan said that “too many Bills are getting lost in the bureaucracy of the system, and an issue of this magnitude cannot be allowed to slip off the agenda.”

The Agriculture Minister is being insensitive to people in rural Ireland who don’t have a computer or access to broadband, according to Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív.

The Fianna Fáil TD highlighted the fact that Basic Payment Scheme and the ANC Schemes have an online only application system this year, forcing people who have no computer in their home, or who do not have access to adequate broadband to employ an agricultural planer to apply for these programmes for them.

Ó Cuív argued that that there are small farmers across the country,who do not have broadband because of the “failure of the government to roll it out”.

“These farmers have been used to submitting their Basic Payment Scheme applications in written form and I cannot understand why the Department could not continue to process these applications for the small number of farmers who do not have the technology to allow them use the online system, said Deputy Ó Cuív.

“The drive by the government to move everything on-line ignores the fact that its failure to provide broadband to rural Ireland puts the system out of reach for farmers who have no broadband access.

“The Minister has said that officials from his Department will implement a range of supports to farmers over coming weeks, including a series of clinics in locations around the country. That is a good idea for those who wish to transfer to on-line payments, but is useless to those who don’t have access to broadband or a computer, as they will be unable to check their applications on-line themselves.

“The government is totally detached from the reality of many small farmers, many of whom are elderly and wish to continue farming.  I have asked the Minister to introduce an exemption for online applications for farmers who don’t own a computer or have access to quality broadband and whose agricultural grants do not exceed €3,000 a year.  Minister Creed must wake up to the realities of rural living and stop putting Departmental convenience ahead of farmer’s basic rights.”

Two students at NUI Galway were hospitalised yesterday evening following an incident involving a substance.

The two men were taken to University Hospital Galway from Corrib Village. One man remains in hospital but his condition is not life-threatening.

In a Tweet posted yesterday, NUI Galway said: “There was an incident on campus today involving two students who were hospitalised.

“The University activated its emergency response protocol and emergency services came to the support of the students, who are now under medical care.”

The details of the incident have not been disclosed.

The University reminded its students to stay safe and mind each other and to call 112 if anyone is aware of someone who may have taken a substance and had a bad reaction.

The number for campus security is 091493333.