LABOUR NEWS Maynooth STAGG RAISES REDUCED AMBULANCE COVER IN NORTH KILDARE WITH MINISTER - MINISTER CONCEDES IF HEALTH RISK IS ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGE IT MUST BE ADDRESSED Deputy Emmet Stagg raised with the Minister for Health under the Topical Issues Debate in the Dail on January 16th, the appalling decision to reduce Ambulance Cover in North Kildare whereby on Thursday's from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. there is no direct dispatch of an Ambulance from the Maynooth Ambulance Base, and instead Ambulances have to be sought from Athy, Naas, Dublin or Cavan in case of an emergency. In his address Deputy Stagg pointed out the importance of early treatment and praised paramedical staff on the work they do. Of 86 Ambulance Stations throughout the State agreement on rostering had been reached in 30 Stations. 25 of these stations had dispatch from them 24 hours a day for 365 days a year. For some reason Maynooth and 4 others do not have dispatch for 12 hours per week which equated to 26 days per year, almost a month each year. The Maynooth Ambulance Base stated Deputy Stagg covered a population of 60,369 people and Deputy Stagg stated that lives were being put at risk. He asked that the matter be reconsidered and questioned how savings could be made through the changes. Minister White responding to Deputy Stagg gave a Civil Service stock answer which was rejected by Deputy Stagg. He rejected an assertion that Athy, Naas, Cavan and Dublin were adjacent to Maynooth if there was an emergency. He again questioned the savings and stated that he had fought for the establishment of an ambulance service in Maynooth and would not allow it to be whittled down. Minister White further responding stated he would ascertain the level of savings but also stated 'Our primary concern is to ensure the health and well-being of the population, including access to emergency care if needed. If it can be demonstrated there is some risk associated with this change, that must be addressed.' Deputy Stagg stated that of course there is a risk and indicated that he would now contact the 28 Doctors in North Kildare and Paramedical Staff for evidence of where lives had been put at risk since the reduction in dispatch hours on Thursdays. He will present this evidence to Minister White and demand the re-opening of Maynooth Ambulance Base on a full 24 hour basis, 365 days a year.
Emmet Stagg TD Working with
Full transcript of the debate is on www.labour.ie/emmetstagg - under local news.
What’s inside... ■ Zoning map draft Maynooth Local Area Plan 2013-2019 ■ Note on Draft Plan
Cllr. John McGinley
DRAFT MAYNOOTH LOCAL AREA PLAN (LAP) 2013-2019 The proposed Draft Maynooth Local Area Plan (LAP) 2013-2019 is to replace the existing Plan that was approved in 2002.The Planning and Development Act 2000 states that an LAP is required for all towns with a population greater that 5,000 and Maynnoth had 12,510 in the 2011 census. The proposed Draft Plan went on public display on 9 January and the public have until 19 February to make submissions to the Council. It can be viewed in the library or on the Councils web site (www.kildarecoco.ie).It sets out an overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of Maynooth in the context of the Kildare County Development Plan 2011-2017 and the Regional Planning Guidelines (RPGs) for the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) 2010-2022. The RPGs have designated Maynooth as a Large Growth Town II situated in the Dublin Metropolitan Area. Maynooth’s role as a Large Growth Town II is to act as an important self sustaining regional economic driver for the GDA, capitalising on its international connectivity and high quality connections to Dublin City Centre, whilst also supporting and servicing a wider local economy. In line with the RPGs the Plan makes provision for an additional 658 residential units on 18.8ha of new Residential zoned land at Mariaville and Dunboyne Road.In addition 72.3 hectares of land has been zoned for the development of Reserach and Technology based employment on lands adjoining NUIM.The Plan provides for a new ring road from the Straffan Road to the Kilcock Road, running parallel to the M4 as far as the Rathcoffey Road. Ring roads are provided in the 2002 Plan around the rest of the town. The Plan pays particular attention to upgrading the town centre e.g. "To transform Fagan’s Lane, Coates Lane and Kelly’s into a shared surface town centre streets using quality materials, lighting, signage and street furniture and removing car parking.” If you would like to make a submission on the Plan it should be addressed to: Mary Foley, Administrative Officer, Forward Planning, Kildare Co. Council, Aras Chill Dara, Devoy Park, Naas, Co. Kildare marked 'Maynooth Local Area Plan'. You can also email your submission to mfoley@kildarecoco.ie. As indicated above submissions must be received no later that 5pm on 19th February.
Emmet Stagg TD
Cllr. John McGinley
Lodge Park, Straffan, Co. Kildare Phone: 01 618 3013 / 618 3797 Email: emmet.stagg@oireachtas.ie Web: labour.ie/emmetstagg
Phone: 01 6285293 Email: jmcginley@eircom.net Web: labour.ie/johnmcginley
0612
Whilst awaiting the re-opening of Caulfields on Main Street, if you need to contact Emmet or John please do so as follows: