Archive for 2007
Youth Services (Dail Debate 21-11-07)
Posted on December 19, 2007
A Ceann Comhairle,
In speaking to this motion, one wonders what the Government's primary
motivation is, in putting this motion before the House.
It is not a legislative proposal. It contains no concrete provisions. It is
short on detail.
It is long on aspiration.
And therein lies the rub.
We have a government that is high on Aspiration but low on delivery.
The motion is so broad that one feels that there is a clear agenda by the
Government to pay lip-service to the idea of addressing the issues of
young people throughout this island.
What young people want to see are concrete legislative proposals that
will speak directly to their concerns.
These concerns are well documented and have been brought to
Permanent link | Categories: Arts Sport & Tourism • Children • Health
Buttevant Needs a New Secondary School
Posted on December 19, 2007
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me this opportunity
to raise this matter on the adjournment.
I wish to speak about the urgent need for the Minister for
Education and Science to address the serious delay in granting
St. Mary's Community School, Buttevant, County Cork,
permission to build a new school to provide for an increase in
student population.
This issue was raised in April of this year by my predecessor.
The staff and pupils and people of Buttevant have been waiting
over 10 years for this project to be expedited.
I now call on the Minister to tell the people of Buttevant when
she intends to notify the County Cork Vocational Education
Committee of her approval for the new school.
The people have been waiting since 1997.
Permanent link | Categories: Education
Competitiveness in the economy- Budget 2007
Posted on December 05, 2007
A Ceann Comhairle
In recent years November has been one of the best months of the year for the Minister for Finance.
Today, of all days, will tell a different story.
The serious decline in the housing construction market clearly confirms
the continuing fall in exchequer receipts from taxes such as stamp duty.
The Exchequer figures for November show that total tax receipts are
almost €2 billion behind the target set out in last year's Budget.
And The Department of Finance had signalled last Friday that taxes
collected this year would be around €1.75 billion below target.
So what will today's Budget bring and what will the Minister's priorities
for the economy be for the year ahead?
Permanent link | Categories: Enterprise Trade & Employment • Finance
No Confidence Motion in Mary Harney November 2007
Posted on November 28, 2007
Why is it that in this country of ours, that people must endure a gargantuan
struggle to attain the most basic access to Health Services?
Why is it that in my own constituency of Cork East no less than 100 General
Practitioners deem it necessary to write to the Minister for Health and Professor
Drumm to express concern about inadequate services?
Why is it that those same GPs despair when the Minister speaks of creating Centres of
Excellance around tertiary hospitals that result in a diminution of services in
secondary care facilities?
And why is it that, when GP's at Primary care level deal with up to 20 million
consultations per annum, requiring only 5% referral, the vast majority of which are
Permanent link | Categories: Health
climate change, energy and food production- Dail Debate November 2007
Posted on November 21, 2007
A Ceann Comhairle
I wish to address my contribution to the correlation between climate change, energy
production and the demand for food.
There is a danger that the technological advances in agriculture that have
dramatically increased crop yields over the past 50 years could be eroded due to the
real and present danger attributable to climate change.
Agriculture is still highly dependent on climate.
Solar radiation, temperature, and precipitation are the main drivers of crop growth.
Energy production too is a function of crop growth.
It is therefore obvious that any significant change in climate on a global scale will
impact on local agriculture and thereby affect the world's food supply and energy
supply.
I think it is important for this house to discuss the correlation between climate
Permanent link | Comments (0) | Categories: Agriculture • Environment
biog
Posted on August 24, 2007
Sean Sherlock, the newly elected TD for Cork East, is the youngest member of the Parliamentary Labour Party having retained the seat held by his father in Cork East.
While other young people might rebel against their parents, Sean found himself heavily influenced by the politics that surrounded him growing up.
“In the normal run of things a teenager would rebel against their parents and buck the trend but I have always been political. My political consciousness was awoken by the Anti-Apartheid Movement and Amnesty International as well as through the music of Billy Bragg, Woody Guthrie, Christy Moore, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.”
The fact that one of Sean’s earliest memories involves his father’s clinics being held in the family home also cements Sean’s love of politics.
Radical Thinking needed on delivering homes for all
Posted on April 18, 2007
It's hard to argue against a housing sector that is characterised as a tradable commodity by everybody from the ordinary worker, he who takes a punt on a second home to pay the pension, or the institutional investor who seeks a return on a managed fund.
However, it is not hard to argue against the fact that there are literally thousands of people throughout this island who will never own their own home because the housing market has become too restrictive.
The article proposes a solution to the housing crisis for those people within our society that have not managed to get a foothold in the market.
Permanent link | Comments (0) | Categories: Environment • Social & Family Affairs
Illegal Dumping- Ways to tackle the problem!
Posted on April 18, 2007
Has anybody noticed a steep increase in illegal roadside dumping? This problem is becoming more prevalent and increasingly more difficult to tackle. We can't legislate for human behaviour but we can try and stem the tide.
The government needs to increase the tax credit to domestic refuse billpayers as a means of discouraging illegal dumping. Why not increase the current Tax Relief for Service Charges from 20% to 40% up to a maximum of €400. The current rate is allowable up to a limit of €400. If for example, someone pays €240 per annum in the current scheme they are entitled to a tax relief of €48. If the rate was doubled to 40% it would result in a rebate of €98."
Permanent link | Comments (0) | Categories: Environment
Lack of Broadband in Rural North Cork
Posted on April 13, 2007
We live in a time when technology has become such a dominant feature in everyday life. However, in most parts of rural North Cork, no broadband infrastructure exisits. Villages such as Ballyclough, Ballyhooly and Glanworth have not benefitted from this technological boom and are still dependent on dial-up.
When one considers that most rural villages have seen a two-fold increase in their population base, there sill exisits a lag in broadband infrastructure.
Permanent link | Comments (0) | Categories: Communications
