BRENDAN RYAN TD Your trusted voice in the Dáil January/February 2014 Dear Constituent, We exited the EU IMF bailout on the 15th of December 2013. Labour in Government has played a vital role, beyond the limits of our mandate, in moving our country towards recovery in the fairest way that we could achieve: ■ We are delivering 3,000 jobs per month ■ Exports are up
LABOUR HAS ALREADY LAID THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER IRELAND
■ Our live register figures are going down
■ Personal insolvency options
■ We are hiring 1,400 additional teachers next year
■ Free pre-school year retained
■ We are rolling out Labour’s plan for free GP care Many commentators said we could not get to where we are today. Political opponents hoped we would fail so that they would benefit politically.
■ Reduced costs of education ■ Free GP Care for 5 year olds and under ■ Area-Based Child-hood Programmes
What this government is doing is working. Recovery is real and Labour is playing a very important role in shaping that recovery. But this recovery could not be achieved without the patience and endurance of the Irish People. That patience and endurance must be rewarded in post-recession Ireland with a commitment that all politics and public policy, in future, will be people-centred and that what the last Fianna Fail government visited on the Irish People can never be allowed to happen again. Meanwhile, I will continue to be as available, approachable and accessible as ever. I will continue to be the voice in Government for people of Dublin Fingal to the best of my ability.
■ Children’s Rights in the Constitution ■ Youth Employment Guarantee ■ Literacy and Numeracy Strategy ■ Restored the Minimum Wage ■ Reinstated system to protect wages ■ Activation measures to prevent poverty traps ■ Better Energy Area schemes ■ On-line Digital Strategy ■ Research and Innovation Centres
MASSIVE BOOST OF 58,000 JOBS IN 2013
Jobs Increases in 2013 60,000
Creating jobs is the best route to growth and the fight against poverty. To date: ■ 58,000 jobs were created in 2013. ■ Unemployment has reduced from 15.1% in 2012 to 12.8% to the 3rd quarter of 2013. ■ Over €500 million pro-jobs measures planned for 2014. ■ There has been a 6% increase in the number of skilled positions available year on year. ■ 1,007 new jobs due to JobsPlus alone.
48,000 New Jobs Created
■ 1,200 on average are being created per week.
36,000 24,000
12,000
■ 20,200 education, training, work and apprentice places ringfenced for young people. ■ €2.5m invested in 2014 in funding young entrepeneurs e.g. Micro Finance Ireland.
0
2011
2012
CONTACT Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 Phone: 01 618 3421 Fax: 01 618 4584 Email: bren.ryan@oireachtas.ie BRENDAN: Web: www.brendan-ryan.ie www.labour.ie/BrendanRyan @BrendanRyanTD
2013
PROTECTING EDUCATION CLASS SIZES PROTECTED – 1,400 NEW TEACHERS IN 2014 Education has always been a core priority for the Labour Party, and for the third year in a row, there have been no increases in class sizes in the budget. The standard pupil-teacher ratio in both primary and post-primary schools has been protected. The €1.3 billion provided each year to support children with special needs has also been protected for 2014. We will be recruiting an additional 1,400 teachers to our schools next year – two-thirds as mainstream teachers, and one-third as resource teachers to support children with special needs. This brings the total number of new teachers recruited in our schools to 2,800.
REDUCING THE COST OF GOING TO SCHOOL ■ BOOK RENTAL SCHEME - €5 million will be provided for each of the next 3 years to invest in book rental schemes in every primary school in Ireland. These schemes can save parents as much as 80% of the cost of school books. ■ SCHOOL UNIFORMS – Any school which has a school uniform policy, or is considering introducing one, will now ask parents if they want a uniform at all. If they do, they will be asked whether or not they want uniforms in standard colours which are available in all retail stores. This will give parents control over the cost of uniforms.
In November, I spoke on the Finance Bill 2013 raising the issue of the single parent tax credit, home renovation scheme and the plight of people paying Management Fees. For my full speech, please see my Youtube channel or check my facebook account BrendanRyanTD
INVESTING IN SCHOOLS ■ SCHOOL BUILDING PROGRAMME – Since taking office, the Government’s School Building programme has seen 2,700 new classrooms built, for over 66,000 children, at a cost of €600m. The 2014 building programme will continue this momentum, with a further €400m to be spent upgrading our schools. ■ BROADBAND – All second level schools will have access to highspeed broadband, at no cost to them, by September 2014. ■ LITERACY & NUMERACY – A further €9m will be invested in literacy and numeracy programmes.
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Brendan with Rian Cartcath, Ardgillan Community School Balbriggan, who took a "Highly commended" in the junior Maths and Physics Section in this year's BT Young Scientist Exhibition
HARD PRESSED FAMILIES TO GET FREE GP CARE FOR CHILDREN AGED 5 & UNDER In the Budget, Labour secured funding of €37 million for the first rollout of free GP care to children aged 5 or under. This is a commitment we made to help hard-pressed families cope in uncertain times. Fingal has over 9000 children aged 5 and under, the g n most of any local authority in the country. i t c te
Pro Social e Welfar nts payme
Over time it will be rolled out to the entire population. No parent should have to prioritise bills when a child needs medical care. This is one of the first steps to a universal health insurance system that is focused on need, not income.
In October, Brendan hosted a conference on the Youth Guarantee and Youth Unemployment by Emer Costello MEP in the Carnegie Court Hotel, Swords. This was the latest event Brendan has hosted on the employment crisis.
HOME RENOVATION INCENTIVE Tax relief of 13.5% will be available for families who invest in their homes in 2014 and 2015 following a proposal by the Labour Party. The Home Renovation Initiative is designed to incentivise renovations and increase demand for small construction jobs. The relief will be given as a tax credit over two years on spending of €5,000 up to a max of €30,000 and must take place in your principal private residence.
Pictured with Brendan, Emer Costello MEP, Cllr Peadar O'Kelly, Duncan Smith Local Area Representative Swords and transition year students from Loreto College Swords.
The scheme will only apply to registered builders with a tax clearance certificate, to help tackle the shadow economy.
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POSITIVE SIGNS OF RECOVERY Labour worked hard to restore our finances and encourage job creation. Our economy is recovering and there are significant signs of progress: ■ Deficit 4.8% in 2014
■ 5.2% increase in VAT figures intake
■ €177bn Exports at record levels
■ 89% have paid property tax, yielding €235m
■ 6.8% increase in Excise intake
■ €2 billion in commercial property transactions completed in 2013
■ €6.4bn ear-marked for new Strategic Investment Fund
■ €3.75bn bonds sold and bond yields dropped to 3.27%, lowest in 8 years
3.9% €100m 58,000 inCrease Jobs in 2013 gnp irish food & drinks exports
40%
housing needs
€57m for
Created
reCord €10bn
on speCifiC
warmer homes
7% rise in tourism numbers
6% inCrease in tourist spending
to €3.64bn
€1.4 billion inCrease in revenue
inCrease in inCrease exports to China €134m in Corporation tax 2013
€500m
wealth
taxes
JACK O'CONNOR: “IT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAKING NOISE AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE” The Head of the country's largest union Jack O'Connor defended the role of the Labour Party in Government and called for unity on the Left. The SIPTU President made these comments when addressing the Labour Party Conference on the 30 November 2013 in a speech entitled "The Legacy of the Lockout". O'Connor said in his speech: "We know that this Party would now be immensely more popular if it had chosen to stand aside leaving the levers of power completely in the hands of the Centre Right. But the price of that popularity would have been paid by working people and by those in our society who depend most on public services. We insist on the right to aspire to a better, fairer future - but we cannot afford the luxury of standing aside and failing to influence the agenda on behalf of working people simply in order to preserve electoral popularity. At the end of the day, it comes down to the distinction between making noise and making a difference. The full text of Jack's speech can be found at www.siptu.ie/media/speeches/fullstory_17775_en.html
Dublin Last year we celebrated the centenary of the 1913 rate the Lockout. The anniversary was an opportunity to celeb past century progress made by the Labour movement over the to keep and to acknowledge the many areas in which we need fair society. fighting and achieving progress towards an equal and for In this spirit, Labour are pushing to introduce the right itment in the collective bargaining to be made law. This is a comm its Programme for Government and we are pushing for . implementation Brendan, Jack O’Co nnor (SIPTU), Joe Daly and his wife Ma (SITPU). Joe Daly y, Paddy Moran was honoured for 70 year’s service to movement, first as the Trade Union a member of the ITG WU and then as a member of SIPTU.
Duncan Sm ith Swords, pre , Local Area Rep senting a p la Padraig Ye ates of the que to 1913 Lockout Co mmittee acknowled ging his wo rk keeping th e spirit of 1 in 913 alive. This award was presen ted on the 100th ann iversary of the Swords Riots on th e 8th of Oct ober 2013. Ove r th year Padra e course of the ig gave pu blic talks in Donabate, Skerries an d Swords on the Lock ou fascinating t which were and very w ell attended.
The year the National Library. Lockout exhibition in ody 13 19 Blo of the nt at me an act nd Bre the re-en nts and exhibitions; ry on show in est Tap was full of great eve 13 19 the d the 31 August an s past Sunday in Dublin on s for Brendan from thi o stand-out memorie tw are cks rra Ba ’s Collin year.
CONSTITUENCY ADVICE CENTRES Malahide: Mondays, 11.00am in St. Sylvester’s GAA Clubhouse, Church Road
Swords: Fridays, 5.30pm in Swords Day Centre, Chapel Lane
Donabate: Thursdays, 5.30pm in St. Patrick’s Parish Hall
Balbriggan: Saturday, 11.00am in The Combined Clubs Community Centre
Rush: Thursdays, 7pm in Rush Community Centre, Main Street
Skerries: Saturday, 12.00pm in The Carnegie Library, Strand Street
Lusk: Thursdays, 8pm in The Carnegie Library, The Green
OTHER AREAS BY APPOINTMENT 618 3421
SWORDS WARD
Cllr. Gerry McGuire Tel: 087 2381980
Cllr. Tom Kelleher Tel: 087 2837165
BALBRIGGAN WARD
Cllr. Ciaran Byrne Tel: 087 2273060
Cllr. Ken Farrell Tel: 087 7551927
HOWTH/ Cllr. Judy Dunne MALAHIDE WARD Tel: 087 6178557 BALBRIGGAN TOWN COUNCIL
Cllr. Monica Harford Tel: 8411287
Emer Costello MEP
Cllr. Peadar O’Kelly Tel: 087 7448251
01 874 6109 emer.costello@europarl.europa.eu
CONTACT BRENDAN: Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 Phone: 01 618 3421 Fax: 01 618 4584 Email: bren.ryan@oireachtas.ie Web: www.brendan-ryan.ie www.labour.ie/BrendanRyan Follow me on Twitter: @BrendanRyanTD YouTube: Brendan Ryan 0612
Your Labour Team in Dublin Fingal