Minister Ged Nash KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH DUNDALK Summer 2015 Dear Resident, After seven difficult years we can now look forward with confidence to a brighter future.
PROMETRIC EXPANSION CREATES 40 NEW JOBS
As a people we have made history with the passing of the marriage equality referendum. And Louth played its part recording a 63.5% yes vote. With unemployment now at 9.9% nationally we have also reached a significant milestone on the road to economic recovery, breaching the psychologically important 10% barrier for the first time since the height of the crisis. Budget 2015 saw the first income tax cuts for working people in many years As the economy continues to expand I will make sure that working people and small business owners get to take home more of their hard earned income. I am working hard as Minister for Business and Employment to deliver a recovery that is fair, that supports enterprise and that rewards work.
€57 MILLION PLAN WILL BRING 800 NEW SOCIAL HOMES Almost 800 new social homes will be provided in Dundalk and the rest of Louth in the next two years. I have helped secure a €57 million fund for social housing in our towns that will make a dramatic impact on the council housing list. First up for completion will be Coxes Demesne with 35 mixed housing units. Father Finn Park in Louth Village will also receive 20 houses. This is the first major social housing programme the county has seen in many years and it is being kick-started with a €13.7 million programme to buy and build homes for people on council house waiting lists.
The recent announcement by US company Prometric of 40 new jobs in Dundalk has brought more good news to Louth. Prometric employs over 100 people at its Dundalk base which has sole responsibility for delivering the company’s services to its European customers. The US testing company is investing €550,000 in capital expenditure at its Dundalk centre plus an additional €2 million in its local workforce. I recently joined IDA Chief Executive Martin Shanahan and others for the launch of a new €1 million research partnership between Prometric and Dublin City University.
Labour has helped turn the economy around.
It is good to see the US firm’s Irish operation investing in a programme with DCU (which has very strong links with DkIT), and the educational tests that will be developed there have the potential to create even more jobs in Louth.
Now we are tackling the problems caused by those years of neglect with an unprecedented €4 billon social housing programme up to 2020.
Prometric’s expansion is a tangible demonstration of the company’s commitment to Louth and the calibre of the workforce available to it here.
In the Fianna Fáil years the state was not in the business of building social housing.
CONTACT GED NASH TD
Connolly Hall, Palace Street, Drogheda Office: 041 9810811 Follow me on Facebook
Email: gerald.nash@oir.ie Web: www.geraldnash.com @geraldnash
NASH’S NEW LAW WILL ADVANCE WORKERS’ UNION RIGHTS
SALESSENSE 100 NEW JOBS BOOST FOR LOUTH SalesSense has brought a fantastic jobs boost to Dundalk with 100 new
As Minister for Employment I have published a new law which provides workers with statutory rights to collective bargaining in the workplace.
jobs coming on stream in 2015.
Since 2007 we have not had an effective collective bargaining system. The Dunnes Stores dispute has highlighted a need for strong legislation in this area. My legislation is due to become law in July.
Their new customer engagement centre is the first fully cloud-based centre in Europe catering for customer needs across all communication channels. The company, founded in 2006 by Ger Teahon with one employee, already employs 150 people. The decision to expand, adding an additional 100 new jobs, is heartening to see and a sure sign of confidence in our hard-won economic recovery.
It provides strong and effective solutions in situations where employers refuse to engage with trade unions on issues such as worker’s pay and conditions of employment. It also allows for registered employment agreements, which covered 70,000 to 80,000 people in areas such as the construction industry, to be re-established and for sectoral wage rates and conditions to be reintroduced. Nash's new law will bring real change for working people. Staff working in companies that do not engage with unions can have their terms and conditions assessed by the Labour Court in comparison with those in similar firms.
FREE GP CARE FOR UNDER 6s AND OVER 70s
If the employer chooses to ignore the Labour Court’s recommendation, the finding can be enforced in the Circuit Court. My legislation protects workers seeking to have pay and conditions improved, from victimisation by their employers.
Free GP care is on the way this summer for almost 9,000 children in Louth as well as for thousands of older people over 70 who currently pay to visit their doctor. July will see access to free GP care being extended to all children aged five and under as well as to people over 70.
I entered public life to improve people’s living and working conditions and I am proud as a Labour Minister to deliver on this commitment to working people.
This is an important first step in providing free GP care for everyone. Making healthcare more affordable has long been a Labour Party objective and this new agreement between doctors, the health service and the Government will bring huge savings to local families.
BIG FALLS IN LOCAL UNEMPLOYMENT The economic recovery is working and more and more people are getting back to work in the Dundalk area.
Dundalk Area Live Register Numbers 7023
Locally, we have seen a huge 16% drop in unemployment in the past three years and the latest figures show the numbers of people signing on in Dundalk has fallen by 9.9% in the last year alone.
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6303
Nationally the numbers out of work are now down to 10%. Since Labour entered Government we have seen almost 100,0000 people across the country get back to work.
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With a clear focus on job creation, Labour is going to keep up the momentum and copper-fasten this recovery. The signals for the country’s future are very positive and I believe unemployment will fall to 9% before the end of the year. The number of people without jobs is still too high but there is no doubt that this Government, with Labour at its heart, is working and things will continue to get better.
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DUNDALK GIGABIT TOWN – FASTEST EVER BROADBAND ON WAY Dundalk is set for a major business and technology boost as it has been chosen to be one of Ireland’s first Gigabit towns with superfast high speed broadband that is on a par with Dublin, London and Tokyo. This is fantastic news as improving Louth’s technology infrastructure has been a focus of mine since being elected and particularly so since becoming Minister for Business and Employment. Homes and businesses in the town will soon have access to the most powerful 1 Gigabit 100% fibre broadband available in Ireland provided by SIRO, a new joint venture between ESB and Vodafone. Dundalk will be among the first ten towns in the country to benefit from the new service, which will be rolled out to 50 towns nationwide by the end of 2018. Top quality broadband is one of the first things companies look at when deciding where to set up a business. As a Gigabit town Dundalk will have the same economic opportunities as those available in Dublin and other major cities. The availability of super high speed internet access will no doubt help to attract outside investment as well as assisting our own indigenous companies to further develop their businesses online . There will be minimum disruption in delivery as SIRO will use existing ESB infrastructure, including overhead cables and underground ducting, to bring high grade fibre connections directly into people’s homes and businesses.
LAUNCHING MATTHEWS ARTS SHOWCASE
MAKING WORK PAY – NEW LOW PAY COMMISSION
I have been happy to get on board with local bus company Matthew Coaches and their Arts Showcase promoting artists from the north east. This Business to Arts initiative celebrates 20 years of Matthews Coach Hire and it will see artists from Louth, Monaghan and East Meath being given the opportunity to promote themselves and their art on the rear of Matthews coaches. Every six months a deserving artist from across a range of arts disciplines in the north east will be selected as the showcase winner. The artist and their work will then feature as an advertisement on the full back of a Matthews.ie coach Singer songwriter Sinead McNally from Knockbridge, Co Louth, is the first recipient of the initiative and Sinead’s advertisement can now be seen on some of the company’s 133 daily services between Dublin and the north east. I would like to congratulate Matthews.ie on this fine example of business supporting the local artistic community in a very practical and imaginative way.
I believe work should always pay; that is why I have established the Low Pay Commission. This independent body, made up of worker and business representatives, will look at all of the issues around low pay and make a recommendation to me on the rate of the national minimum wage. The Commission’s first report to Government is due in July. Labour restored the national minimum wage to €8.65 after Fianna Fail cut it by €1. The Labour Party has always maintained that a job which pays fair wages is the best protection against poverty. The Low Pay Commission, which will make recommendations on the minimum wage each year from now on, is one of the most important initiatives taken by any Government in recent years. The Commission’s brief is to look at the evidence and take the politics out of setting the minimum wage. It will also look at other areas around the issue of low pay in our economy and society. As Minister for Employment, I want to ensure that those on the lowest wages in our society get a real opportunity to share in our economic recovery. Labour in Government is determined to make the dignity of work a reality so I am looking forward to considering the Commission’s recommendations for the new minimum wage.
I am working with the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the private sector on a new Action Plan for Jobs for the Louth and Border region that aims to create more jobs and attract more investment for Dundalk. The plan, due to be published in July, is modelled on the successful national Action Plan For Jobs that helped create 40,000 new jobs last year. It focuses on how we can use Dundalk’s business strengths to attract more companies, including foreign direct investment to the town. And on how we can support more start-up businesses, further develop the town’s tourism potential and make sure that our small and medium sized enterprises can grow more quickly. Business owners and entrepreneurs from Dundalk and the north-east have also contributed. A stakeholder’s forum was held recently where the local business community got the opportunity to give their input on developing the region’s new Action Plan for Jobs to me and state agencies. The Government is making €250 million available over the next five years to help Louth and other counties achieve their full employment potential. Our goal is to reach full employment by 2018 and this regional Action Plan for Jobs will be the blueprint for achieving it.
MAKING WORK PAY – ZERO HOUR CONTRACT STUDY The dignity of work and making work pay are very important to me as Minister for Business and Employment which is why I have instituted a major study into zero hours contracts. This type of insecure employment is where workers are given only short-term notice of what hours, if any, they will work in any given week. There are some protections in place for workers in such situations but I believe they need to be improved. The number of casual or temporary contracts is now at pre-recession level and falling and 86% percent of all new jobs since the start of the Action Plan of Jobs are full time. The study will see workers and business owners surveyed to find out more about the real life experience of both employers and those employed on these contracts. It will look at zero and low hour contracts and gather information on how common such contracts are, and most importantly how they affect workers’ rights and livelihoods. Work should always pay and I will take action on foot of this report. As our economy recovers I believe it is important that we do not allow a situation to develop where jobs are being created that do not allow families to lift themselves out of poverty.
MASSIVE INVESTMENT IN DUNDALK SCHOOLS AND SPORTS FACILITIES Investing in education is a priority for me as a Labour Minister and I am happy to say major progress is being made in Dundalk with two new secondary school buildings on the way and a new Sports Arena opening at DkIT. Construction of the new St Mary’s College is at an advanced stage. This 900 pupil secondary school will incorporate the latest education technologies, classrooms and specialist rooms. Building work is due to be completed by Spring 2016 and the school’s first intake of pupils will be in September next year. Plans to build another new 1,000 pupil post primary school, Coláiste Chú Chulainn, are also well underway with the Louth Meath Education Board awaiting Department of Education approval to proceed to tender on this project. Coláiste Chú Chulainn will be located in the town centre opposite the Marshes Shopping Centre. Louth County Council is currently working to finalise ownership of a part of the site that remains to be acquired. Meanwhile, DkIT's fantastic new Sports Arena will be fully operational and open to the public this summer. The centre ranks among the best college facilities in the country with a swimming pool, gymnasium, steam rooms and Jacuzzis. It will be a great asset to both students and the wider Dundalk community, as the outdoor facilities including the football pitches and training areas which opened earlier this year, have already proved to be.
Minister Ged Nash TD Dáil Office: Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 Constituency Office: Connolly Hall, Palace Street, Drogheda Phone: 041 981 0811
Email: gerald.nash@oir.ie Fax: 01 618 4397 Follow me on Facebook @geraldnash
Working with Senator Mary Moran Phone: 042 932 9052 Email: mary.moran@oir.ie Web: www.marymoran.ie Mary Moran @marymmoran
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JOBS ACTION PLAN FOR DUNDALK ON THE WAY