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LABOUR NEWS DUN LAOGHAIRE EAMON GILMORE TD JOB CREATION OUR TOP PRIORITY Unemployment is falling. The unemployment rate currently stands at 12.3% having fallen from its peak of 15.1% in February 2012. We are creating 5,000 jobs per month – with the most recent CSO figures showing that an extra 58,000 people were in work at the end of September 2013 than had been at the end of September 2012. Locally, the numbers of people signing on in the Dun Laoghaire area has fallen from 7,597 in September 2012 to 6,040 in November 2013 – a drop of over 20%. But there is still a lot of work to be done to get even more people back to work. We will not lose our focus. Through the Action Plan for Jobs, we will continue the necessary cross government co-operation to produce the best possible environment for job creation. And through the Pathways to Work programme, and the continued hard work of Labour Ministers Joan Burton and Ruairi Quinn, we will continue to tackle to problem of long-term unemployment.
DELL CREATE 200 NEW JOBS AT CHERRYWOOD In September, Dell announced that they would be launching a new commercial banking wing for the European market at their headquarters at Cherrywood Business Park, creating 200 new jobs. The company will provide financing to business customers throughout Europe, as well as commercial loans to small, medium and large enterprises in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. It is expected that a further 100 jobs will be created at Cherrywood as the business expands.
INNOVATIVE NEW JOBS AT KITMAN LABS October saw the announcement of 24 new jobs by Kitman Labs at their base in Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology. Kitman Labs have created groundbreaking software which predicts, manages and reduces the risk of injury in professional sport. With the assistance of the Enterprise Ireland Competitive Start-Up Fund, Kitman Labs are now expanding into new markets such as the UK.
www.labour.ie
OFFICIAL OPENING OF A. MENARINI’S EXPANDED OFFICES IN MONKSTOWN The expanded offices of pharmaceutical company, A. Menarini, were officially opened in September. A. Menarini, Italy’s leading pharmaceutical company, first opened offices at York Road in Dun Laoghaire in 1999, with just nine employees. The company has now expanded to two sites, in Monkstown and Shannon, employing a total of eighty people.
Spring 2014
An Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore T.D., with Francis Lynch, General Manager A. Menarini and the Italian Ambassador, Maurizio Zanini at the official opening of A. Menarini’s expanded offices in Monkstown
www.gilmore.ie
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SCHOOLS UPDATE In November, Minister Ruairi Quinn T.D announced a €470m school building programme that will see 70 school building projects throughout the country proceed to construction in 2014. This announcement included good news for four schools in the Dun Laoghaire area – Clonkeen College, Scoil Lorcáin, Ballyowen Meadows Special School and Gaelscoil Phádraig. Since taking office in 2011, this Government has built 2,700 classrooms for over 66,000 pupils, at a cost of €600m, while also managing to protect class sizes. This latest announcement is a continuation of this important work.
CLONKEEN COLLEGE Construction on an extension for Clonkeen College is expected to commence in 2014. The extension will include a new gymnasium, the upgrading of sports grounds and the refurbishment of the existing building. The project will also incorporate plans for a Special Needs Unit.
SCOIL LORCÁIN Plans for a 12 room extension and refurbishment of the current school building at Scoil Lorcáin are currently out to tender. Upon completion of the tender process, the project will proceed to construction. This is expected to take place in 2014.
BALLYOWEN MEADOWS AND GAELSCOIL PHÁDRAIG Ballyowen Meadows will be accommodated in a new purpose-built school building in Stillorgan. This project is expected to begin construction in 2014. Upon completion of this project, Gaelscoil Phádraig will be moved into the school building in Loughlinstown which is currently occupied by Ballyowen Meadows.
An Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore T.D. with Colm O’Neill, CEO BT Ireland, and students from Clonkeen College, Diarmaid Malone and Earl Echivarre at the BT Young Scientists Exhibition
ST. BRENDAN’S COLLEGE Plans for a new school building for St. Brendan’s College in Woodbrook are currently out to tender. Construction is expected to commence shortly.
NEWPARK COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL Construction of a new school building has been ongoing at Newpark since last summer. It is due to be completed in July 2015.
SENIOR COLLEGE DUN LAOGHAIRE The new campus for Senior College Dun Laoghaire in Blackrock is in the final stages of construction. The project, which will also incorporate the new Blackrock Library, is expected to be completed shortly.
An Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Peter Power, Executive Director UNICEF, with students from Newpark Comprehensive School
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LOCAL NEWS URBAN BEACH PROPOSAL An application for planning permission (Ref: D13A/0682) was submitted by the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company for the proposed ‘urban beach and floating beach facility’ at the East Pier in December. On 17th February, the Council requested further information on the proposal from the applicant. The application includes plans for an urban beach with cafe and outdoor seating area, as well as a floating, heated, treated, outdoor, saltwater swimming pool, and facilities such as changing rooms, toilets and showers. The plans can be viewed in Dun Laoghaire Town Hall between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Friday. They can also be viewed on the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council website Artist’s impression of the proposed Urban Beach at the East Pier at www.dlrcoco.ie.
OLIVER PLUNKETT ROAD
PARKING CHARGES As part of the recently adopted 2014 Budget for Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, on street pay and display parking charges throughout the county will be reduced from €2 per hour to €1.50 per hour. This change was made in response to the successful county wide car parking promotion, which was introduced in the run up to Christmas to encourage residents to shop locally.
John Kane inspecting ramps on Oliver Plunkett Avenue
The speed ramps and footpaths at Oliver Plunkett Road in Monkstown Farm have fallen into a state of disrepair. A county wide survey of traffic calming ramps has been completed by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council with a view to carrying out the necessary maintenance. The Council will now proceed to establishing the cost of performing the repairs. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council expects to partly self-fund these repairs, but they will also be seeking funding from other governmental organisations such as the National Transport Authority. It is expected that work will commence on the repairs in the next few months.
LIBRARY AND CULTURAL CENTRE Construction of the new Library and Cultural Centre at Moran Park is currently on time and within budget. It is expected that the centre will open to the public in September 2014, at a cost of €36.6 million.
The footpaths were temporarily excavated by the Council to carry out recent repairs to the water supply network. The repairs performed on these excavations immediately following the works are on a temporary basis. It is expected that more permanent repairs on these excavations will be performed in the coming weeks.
The centre will be a fantastic amenity for the local community in Dun Laoghaire and for the wider county of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. It will be a state of the art public library, and it will also contain an exhibition and gallery space, as well as an auditorium with space for 100 seats. The outside area in Moran Park is also being re-developed to allow for outdoor events.
The area engineer will also be inspecting the footpaths in Monkstown Farm to assess whether they should be included in a forthcoming Footpath Programme.
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council estimate that the new library will attract over 500,000 visitors to Dun Laoghaire every year.
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HOME RENOVATION INITIATIVE Budget 2014 introduced a new tax relief for spending on renovations and refurbishments of family homes. The relief of up to 13.5 % will be available as a tax credit over two years on spending of €5,000 up to a maximum of €30,000. Spending of €5,000 (including VAT) will attract a relief of €595. Spending in excess of €30,000 will attract a maximum relief of €4,050. The credit is payable over the two years following the year in which the work is carried out and paid for. The works must be carried out on or after 25 October 2013 and up to 31 December 2015. Homeowners must be Local Property Tax compliant in order to qualify under the Incentive while Contractors must be VAT registered and tax compliant in order to qualify to carry out the works. Works covered by the scheme include painting and decorating, rewiring, plumbing, plastering and extensions. The scheme will be administered through Revenue’s online systems.
Phone: 01 408 2018 Email: eamon.gilmore@oir.ie
EAMON GILMORE TD
ADVICE CENTRE INFORMATION Every Monday 9.30 am - 11am (Except Bank Holidays) Every Wednesday – 7pm – 8pm 47A Patrick Street, Dun Laoghaire (beside Homevalue Hardware)
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WORKING WITH YOUR LOCAL LABOUR TEAM IN DUN LAOGHAIRE
Cllr. Jane Dillon Byrne 086 6078150 jdbyrnecllr@gmail.com labour.ie/janedillonbyrne
Cllr. Donna Pierce 086 1710007 donna.pierce@cllr.dlrcoco.ie labour.ie/donnapierce
John Kane 086 1746414 johnkanedunlaoghaire@gmail.com labour.ie/johnkane 0612