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Vote No 1 for the Dail
Paychecks savaged by the Budget Fianna Fail and Bankers pile on the misery 132,000 extra people now pay income tax on low wages. An extra 84,000 people are now paying tax at the higher 41%. A single person in private sector on €45,000 per year and paying €3,300 in pensions have seen take-home fall by €1,101 – down by 3.4%. This is due to a 10% reduction in tax credits and a widening of the tax base. Dr. Bill Tormey, Fine Gael City Councillor, Dublin North-West.
Please continue your voting preferences for my colleague Gerry Breen
A single person in public sector will be even worse off losing ¤1.053 – down 3.4%. A married couple with three children and one income of ¤75,000 in the private sector paying ¤1,815 into a pension will see their income drop by ¤1,815 or 3.6%, They will lose an extra ¤40 per month from reduced children’s allowances – a drop of ¤2,295 in total.
The same family in the public sector will see a reduction of ¤1,705 plus the children allowance totalling - ¤2,125 Pension contributions are not deductible for PRSI purposes. The universal social charge top rate of 7% is likely to apply to money used for pension contributions.
What’s inside . . . • Struggle in our time • Shanliss Way • Scout Hall at Larkhill • Emigration once again • Rocketing Fuel Prices • Dublin Airport Stakeholders update
Santry Community Facility – www.santrycommunity.info This is a hive of activity and it is co-ordinated by Caroline Molloy at 8422319. New activities include Cois Cein in the Bealtaine festival. This is a drama and dance class for over 55s starting on Monday 7th February for 8 weeks from 2 to 3.30 pm costing €3 per session. There is an exercise class on Tuesday evenings for ¤10 and exercise for the active retired on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Bowls are at 3 pm on Wednesdays. Line dancing at 8pm on Mondays, Irish dancing on Monday,
Contact me at: 167, Glasnevin Avenue, Glasnevin Dublin 11. T: 8092676 (Mornings) Mobile 087 2544646
Tuesday and Wednesdays, salsa on Thursdays at 8pm, and ballet on Thursdays and Saturdays. There is a theatre group for kids on Fridays. Kickboxing is on Thursdays at 8 pm. Art classes are held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday both morning and evening.
Email: billtormey@gmail.com
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Big stories of struggle in our time Mick from Shanliss tells us . . .
“I earn €34,500 a year and am hit for €36 per week.”
Jacinta from Hampton Wood says . . .
month “I am down a total of €288 this , between wages and child benefit absolutely ridiculous”
A woman working in a Dublin university was angry to see that she will be worse off to the tune of just under €200 a month this year. Her partner, who has yet to be paid, is likely to be similarly hit. This means the couple, who have two young children – a further deduction of €240 a year – will be down almost €5,000 this year, a large financial hole to fill, by any measure. Fiona from Dublin is a public servant. She gets paid every two weeks and was shocked when she got her first pay cheque this year. The changes have hit her very, very hard. She is worse off to the tune of just under ¤190 a month. “I’m a full-time working single mum and was struggling before. I’ll probably go under now,” she says. In the short term, things could scarcely look much bleaker for her. As a medical card holder, she was exempt from the health levy and had a single-parent tax credit and an incapacitated-child tax credit – her eight-year-old son has autism. She is now being hit with the full universal service charge of 7 per cent and has seen the tax credits cut.
Mary from Whitehall says . . .
ck to June “My take home pay is nowrba nt since 2006 levels, down 17 pe ce November 2008”
John in D11 wrote on e-mail . . .
orning €82.42 “January payslip arrived this m monthly reduction. Ouch”
“As a public servant, I’ve been hit doubly hard. I lost around ¤250 a month in the cuts two years ago and now I’m down ¤180 a month plus a further ¤10 in child benefit.”
In total, her net salary has fallen by ¤440 a month over the past two years. That would be financially painful for most people with a very good income to cope with; it’s even harder for this woman who earns ¤39,000 a year. “I was really struggling before this and, some months last year, I couldn’t afford to pay my mortgage. Other months, other bills went unpaid and all of this debt is mounting up.”
“It really is impossible and I don’t know how I am going to make it. We are living hand-to-mouth and don’t have anything close to an extravagant lifestyle. “The thing that really bugs me is that I would actually be better off on the dole but I really want to work.” When she read about the Budget in December, she says she was shocked but thought she would be down about ¤10 or ¤20 a week. “I think they have hit the vulnerable very hard – and to cut back on the incapacitated-child tax credit is the lowest of the low.”
She missed her mortgage payments for five months last year. She can’t even borrow money from her credit union as she has a loan outstanding. There are very few areas in which she can cut back. She knows that, this year, there will be no holidays, very few nights out and no new clothes for her or toys for her son.
Wo rk ing in yo ur com mu nit y .
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Shanliss
Scout Hall at Larkhill is the hub of the community Activities for Older People in Larkhill
There is a need for ramps on Shanliss Way to reduce car speeds because of avoidance of ramps on Shanliss Avenue. Residents in Shanliss want the left turn from Santry Avenue, from the Santry Village direction to Shanliss limited to off-peak hours to discourage rat running through the estate.
Larkhill Active Retirement Association has been going from strength to strength. This year they participated in Positive Ageing Week organised by Ballymun Whitehall Area Partnership. The group meets three days a week:
Magenta The plan to clear and improve the open space and replace the trees at Magenta and install a footpath on the Swords Road which was to be funded to the tune of 造200,000 by the Quality Bus Network and the City Council has been iced by the cut in funding.
T U E S D AY S Arts & Crafts (2.30pm - 4.30pm) W E D N E S D AY Keep Fit Movement to Music (11.00am - 12.30pm) T H U R S D AY Flower Arranging (2.00pm - 4.00pm) Thanks to the 44th Whitehall Scout Group and Colm Tumbleton for allowing the community use their hall.
Industrial Estate The intention of allowing some housing in the industrial estate in Santry Village is not going to happen now. Housing in industrial estates is not a good idea anyway.
A Stroke Victims Group meets on Thursday mornings - about 30 people at present. For four hours on Monday, E-Cert course for Fast Track to IT has
Swiss Cottage Application for a high development on the site would be inappropriate and will not happen. We will oppose it.
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been taking place. 32 people have completed the course. Six desk top computers were supplied by funding from the Ballymun Whitehall Partnership and Dublin City Council through the Digital Inclusion Programme. In the evenings, the scouts operate and also youth groups. Other activities include Karate, Gardening and Arts.
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Emigration once again ESRI’s new emigration forecasts are sobering. For the year to April 2011, net emigration is forecast to be 60,000, falling to 40,000 for the year to April 2012. The gross emigration forecasts are 75,000 for 2011 and 60,000 for 2012. The numbers are consistent with anecdotal evidence of a resurgence of interest in the emigration option. The numbers are a reflection of how limited opportunities are at home for young people, though it would be even worse
for those who leave if outside opportunities were not available. The unemployment rate for those aged 20-24 is 25.5 percent. And this is despite a fall in the participation rate from roughly twothirds in 2008, Q3 to half in 2010, Q3. We must also worry about the implications of large-scale emigration for economic recovery. Jobs must be the priority for the new FG government.
Rocketing Price of Fuel Oil prices have risen from ¤60 a barrel to ¤70 a barrel over the past two months. When oil was a record ¤110 per barrel in summer 2008, the price of petrol was ¤1.34 per litre whereas it is now heading for 1.48 per litre with oil at ¤70 per barrel. Since 2008, the government has increased duties by 16c per litre and when vat is added, it is 19c. So it is pain all the way on transport costs. The weakening of the euro against the US dollar also adds to the costs at the pump.
Dublin Airport Stakeholders This group is chaired by former president of DCU Dr Danny O'Hare and includes Aer Rianta, Fingal County Council, DCU, Dublin Airport Authority, Aer Rianta, and residents from Malahide and Swords involved in noise campaigns. Mary Taylor who is the Assistant Area Manager, Ballymun is involved in our interest. Recently students from St Kevins in Finglas visited the Fire Station as part of their transition year. The airport plays a pivotal role in our community as a major employer and we must ensure its economic prosperity irrespective of the games played by airline bosses.
Ellenfield Park
Contact me at: 167, Glasnevin Avenue, Glasnevin Dublin 11 T: 8092676 (Mornings) Mobile 087 2544646 Email: billtormey@gmail.com
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Printed in Ireland. Tel: 01 834 1146 Published by Dr. Bill Tormey.