LABOUR NEWS Eamonn Maloney TD & Pat Rabbitte TD Spring 2015
RESTORING LIVING STANDARDS After seven years the economic recovery has taken hold. For many families it has been a tough struggle. However people are now going back to work, there are modest increases in take-home pay and the real prospect of limited relief in the next Budget. In 2015 Ireland will have the fastest economic growth in Europe. The challenge now is the restoration of living standards in a sustainable way. Negotiations will start next month to address some of the cuts taken by public servants since the collapse and most private sector employments are factoring in pay increases during 2015. In addition, the Environment Minister, Alan Kelly T.D., is due to bring forward a new package of measures designed to address the mortgage arrears issue.
THESE ARE THE ECONOMIC FACTS:
FREE GP CARE FOR UNDER 6s The government deal with the doctors (IMO) will mean an additional 270,000 children under 6 will benefit from GP care free at the point of service. The agreement is the first step in the phased introduction of a universal GP service without fees.
■ 97,000 new jobs created since 2011 ■ Unemployment down to 10% from a high of 15.1% ■ 410,000 low paid workers taken out of USC ■ €3.8 billion for Social Housing investment ■ Budget deficit down from €22 billion to €5 billion ■ Strong export figures and return of consumer confidence. ■ New Strategic Banking Corporation to aid SMEs ■ High speed broadband installed in all 2nd level schools ■ 1,700 new teachers and SNAs will be employed in 2015 ■ 2,046 fewer people on Tallaght Live Register ■ 92,517 fewer people on National Live Register ■ MicroFinance Ireland provides loans of up to €25,000 to businesses
who employ 10 people or less.
IRISH WATER The establishment of a State-owned utility to tackle the water crisis in Ireland is the largest undertaking since the creation of the ESB. The company employs 540 with 1,200 contractors installing meters and 750 in the call centre. Over a million households have signed up plus 260,000 on own water supply. Irish Water will need to raise about €5 billion off the State’s accounts in order to do the major repair job needed. Leaks identified to date in 30,000 properties would supply the city of Limerick. Water supply in Dublin is on a knife-edge and boil water notices are the reality in other parts of the country. Irish Water’s redesign of the treatment plant at Ringsend will save the taxpayer €170 million. The water conservation grant of €100 will be paid from September to everyone signed up before June 30th.
Pat Rabbitte TD with Cllr Pamela Kearns, Chairperson of Rathfarnham/Templeogue Committee SDCC
The long-drawn out negotiations will include an agreed cycle of care for children diagnosed with asthma.The agreement is due to commence this summer and will also provide GP care for all remaining persons aged 70 and over under the existing GMS contract.Once operational, it means that 8,037 children aged 5 and under in Dublin South West will be entitled to free GP Care.
CRIME BILL The Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill will be introduced in Dáil Eireann by Eamonn Maloney T.D. on May 8th. The purpose of the Bill is to reduce from 7 years to 2 years the waiting period before the Criminals Assets Bureau can apply to the High Court for the disposal and forfeiture of frozen assets. Under the 1996 Act the CAB can seize the profits of crime, particularly drug crime.
Honest and Effective Representation
LOW PAY COMMISSION
OPINION Winter has turned to Spring. The worst is over. Seven years have passed since the financial crash. For some families the cumulative effect, year on year, has been extremely difficult. At last the tide has turned. Most people have paid a price. But Ireland is solvent again, employment is growing and slowly living standards have started to improve. The macro-economic indicators, frankly, could scarcely be better. Compare that to Greece. The Greek bailout is in deep trouble. A quarter of the population is unemployed and no fewer than 59% of young people are without a job. There are politicians and parties in Ireland who argued for the Greek way. Some Irish people have been persuaded that maybe there was another way out of the crisis. Sadly for the Greek people, the new Syriza Government has failed to demonstrate that there is another way. Macro-economic indicators cut little ice with citizens until they feel the impact in their own family circumstances. That is now beginning to happen despite new taxes and charges. The reason for broadening the tax base is to provide the opportunity to reduce taxes on people who go to work. A growing economy means more job opportunities. More people at work means more revenue coming in and less going out in Social Welfare. And therefore more investment possibilities for education and health. The government is now well placed to retrieve the €20 billion put into the AIB at the time of the crash. The first tranche of the bank may be sold towards the end of this year or next year. Other debt changes negotiated with Brussels and Frankfurt means that interest on the debt will fall below 4% of GDP – which is less than it was when the economy was booming. Unfortunately money put into the Anglo-Irish Bank disaster will not be recouped but the deal on the promissory note kicks the liability into the distant future. What happened in September 2008 and in November 2010 has been criticised every day since. But what’s done is done. It’s time to move on. The economy is back on an even keel thanks to peoples’ sacrifices. The challenge now is to keep the jobs coming and start to restore peoples’ living standards. We are over the worst.
NEW HOMES The Environment Minister, Alan Kelly T.D., has allocated €73 million to South Dublin County Council for new social housing. Altogether one and a half billion will be invested in a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes by local authorities. This follows on 20 years when social housing need was privatised and, as a result, there has been a serious rundown in the public housing stock. The pressure is particularly on the Dublin Local Authorities to get the output of public housing up and, towards that end, more than €500 million has been made available up to 2017. The average cost of building a local authority house is €185,000 so Councils will have the option of both building and acquiring housing.
Eamonn Maloney TD Dáil Eireann, Dublin 2 Ph: 6184833 E: eamonn.maloney@oir.ie
Pat Rabbitte TD Dail Eireann, Dublin 2 Ph: 6183772 E: pat.rabbitte@oir.ie
The new Low Pay Commission has begun its review of the Minimum Wage and will report in July. In 2011 the new Labour-Fine Gael Government restored the minimum wage to €8.65 per hour. A job that pays fair wages is the best protection against poverty. The Commission will examine all aspects of employment from pay and conditions to competitiveness and the need to protect existing jobs and is chaired by Dr. de Buitleár.
ZERO HOURS In Britain the issue of zero hours contracts where employers can control workers for their own purposes is a major issue. This type of insecure employment is now creeping into Ireland. The Labour Minister, Ged Nash T.D. has asked University of Limerick to prepare a study for him on the issue. A new Bill on collective bargaining will be published within the next month. As soon as the Report on zero hours contracts is ready Minister Nash will respond.
THE USC The last Budget took 80,000 low paid workers out of the USC net bringing the total to 410,000 employees who are not liable for Universal Social Charge. The USC brings in €4 billion each year. It is the intention of government in the next Budget to further ease the burden.
DID YOU KNOW ? The agreement between Fianna Fáil and the Troika indicated that the Budget for 2015 would require €11.4 billion to service Ireland’s national debt. Labour in Government has reduced this burden by as much as €4 billion for this year.
NEW SCHOOLS BUILD New schools authorised for this Constituency in 2015 include the following: Scoil Caitlín Maude, Killinarden Gaelscoil Teach Giúse, Old Bawn Scoil Niamh Community NS, Citywest Scoil Aoife NS, Fortunestown New schools already completed: Holy Rosary National School, Ballycragh St Colmcille Junior & Senior, Knocklyon Naomh Mhuire National School, Saggart
BACK TO WORK – FAMILY DIVIDEND The new “Dividend” enables jobseekers returning to work to hold on to the element of the welfare payment they receive for their children – roughly €30 per week for each child. This is in addition to any other family supplements the family may have.
CONTACT LABOUR & ADVICE CENTRES ADVICE CENTRE (excluding Bank Holidays & August) OLDBAWN Monday 6.00pm to 7.00pm Dominic’s Community Centre (Eamonn Maloney)
TALLAGHT VILLAGE
Cllr Martina Genockey 086 3735657 mgenockey@cllrs.sdublincoco.ie
Cllr Pamela Kearns 087 7756718 pkearns@cllrs.sdublincoco.ie
(Except August and Bank Holidays) 0612
Cllr Mick Duff 087 2865570 mduff@cllrs.sdublincoco.ie
Saturday 2pm - 3pm T.W.S. - Trustus, 1 Main Street, Tallaght Village