Minister Alex White TD
DUBLIN SOUTH UPDATE
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Summer 2015
Delivering a stronger economy We have all worked hard to create the conditions that are now delivering steady, sustainable, year-on-year improvements in public spending and family incomes. We have the fastest growing economy in Europe. It will continue to grow steadily each year towards the end of this decade. Our remarkable recovery has delivered 100,000 additional jobs since 2012. Recent agreements will see modest improvements in pay and pension levy reductions. Thankfully the numbers of people having to sign-on the live register has fallen below 10%, and we are on target to reach our goal of full employment by 2018. Locally, there has been a 20% drop in those on the live register at Nutgrove Office and a 30% fall at Dún Laoghaire Intreo Office since the formation of Government Our young people are now returning home to access new opportunities, good quality jobs, and graduate and apprenticeship programmes. In the last nine months in our constituency, 1,250 skilled jobs have been announced in sectors as varied as research and development, technology, finance, and construction. Meanwhile, a significant transformation has taken shape in the public realm with major reforms across many areas of policy in Education, Health, Justice, Social Protection, Workers’ Rights and political reform. Together, we have created the conditions for sustainable growth, and this is the basis on which we can now make realistic and progressive taxation and spending decisions for the future. As TD for your area, I welcome your views and feedback. If you’d like to get in touch, don’t hesitate to e-mail me at alex.white@oir.ie, call me at (01) 296 0047 or pop into my office at 9 Braemor Road, Churchtown which is open on Mondays from 5.30pm-7pm and Fridays from 10am-12pm.
FREE GP CARE FOR UNDER 6s Since July 1, children under the age of six can now avail of free GP care. Many young families worry about the cost of bringing their children to the doctor and just a couple of visits a year can be expensive. Free GP care for children under 6 will make a real difference to a family's household budget. We have also ensured that adults aged over 70 will benefit from free GP care. This means that from this summer, up to 300,000 children and older people will no longer have to pay to see their GP. This is the first step in the phased introduction of a universal, free GP service for all of our citizens, which as Minister of State for Primary Care I initiated and secured in 2014. It marks a shift towards promoting health and wellbeing that will benefit our healthcare system as a whole. If you haven’t already signed your child up to free GP care, you can do so at www.gpvisitcard.ie
Let’s keep in touch! Phone: Email:
01 2960047 or 01 6183972 alex.white@oir.ie
Address: 2nd Floor, 9 Braemor Road, Churchtown, Dublin 14 Website: alexwhite.ie
AlexWhiteTD
Dundrum DE LA SALLE DAY In May, I was invited to participate at “De La Salle” Day at the College in Churchtown and to see first-hand the improvements recently completed under the Minor Works Programme funded by the Department of Education. De La Salle Day is the school’s annual celebration of its founder St. John Baptiste De La Salle. It’s a great day for students and teachers alike who get to celebrate the school’s history and heritage, along with indulging in their annual tradition of free ice cream! While there I met with pupils, teachers, the board of management, and the wider De La Salle community.
ROSEMOUNT FAMILY RESOURCE CENTRE Since 2009 Age Action has provided one-to-one computer training to more than 14,000 older people thanks to Benefit funding from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Most of our learners are over 65 and find that the one-to-one tuition helps them overcome their fear of technology and get online. The classes in Rosemont Family Resource Centre have been running since 2012. More than 180 older people have received training at the centre and over 1,300 volunteering hours of tuition have been provided. Recently I visited Rosemount FRC to present new learners and their volunteer trainers with certificates to honour their achievement.
DIVINE WORD NATIONAL SCHOOL, MARLEY GRANGE NAMED A ‘DIGITAL SCHOOL OF DISTINCTION’ I was delighted to present this prestigious national award to the school for its excellence in the use of technology in the classroom Divine Word N.S. has become a ‘Digital School of Distinction’, joining a growing group of primary schools nationwide to receive the prestigious award. Supported by HP and Microsoft, ‘Digital Schools of Distinction’ is a flagship award programme which promotes, recognises and encourages best practice use of technology in primary schools.
As Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, I hold responsibility for postal services. My Department plays a role in developing and maintaining effective policy for the Irish postal sector and in ensuring Irish citizens enjoy high quality postal services. The local post office is an integral part of our social fabric. Recently I began a new initiative which involves visiting local post offices to meet with postmasters, staff and customers, to discuss the challenges facing a modern post office. This dovetails with the work I have asked Mr Bobby Kerr (Insominia) to undertake under the auspices of the Post Office Business Development Group, which aims to explore new opportunities to secure the future of our post office network.
Stillorgan OATLANDS EXPLORES OUR ENERGY I recently visited Oatlands Primary School in Stillorgan to formally launch ‘Exploring Our Energy’, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s (SEAI) energy education resource for primary schools. Ms Maloney's 5th class pupils demonstrated conduction and convection and were later featured on RTE Junior's News2Day programme. Opposite: Chatting with Fergal Harrington (Dep. Principal) and Cliona Murphy, St Patrick’s College
STILLORGAN KILMACUD ACTIVE RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION – CARBON MONOXIDE AWARENESS Last May I arranged for the Carbon Monoxide Awareness team from Gas Networks Ireland to speak with the Stillorgan/Kilmacud Active Retirement Association (SKARA) who were interested to learn more about the issues involved. Carbon monoxide poisoning is a real concern for many in our community. Last Autumn, I launched Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week and I am keen to emphasise the importance of protecting homes in our locality from the dangers of carbon monoxide: Owen Wilson, Head of Safety at Gas Networks Ireland and his colleague, Karl, gave an interesting presentation to Stillorgan Kilmacud Active Retirement Association explaining Carbon Monoxide poisoning, how it can be prevented and precautions that can be taken. www.carbonmonoxide.ie/htm/safety.htm
n o s a e S e t e F
n Horace McGinley Catching up with Cano Whitechurch Fete.
at the Annual
Enjoying the ‘fun of the fair’ in Kilternan with local Labour councillor Lettie Mc Carthy.
Sandyford/Glencullen A NEW HOME FOR HOLY TRINITY NS I was delighted to officially open the new Holy Trinity National School in March. It was a great day for the Leopardstown area and I would like to congratulate the Board of Management, staff, pupils and especially the parents, past and present, on all of their hard work in securing the funding and managing the development of the new school building. This is one of eight major educational investments advanced in Dublin South since our Government took office in 2011 and fulfils my own personal commitment to the School. The new School for Holy Trinity is a further sign of the extraordinary progress we have made both locally, and nationally, through our schools building and investment programme. I am immensely proud of the substantial educational investment we are making. It is creating real educational opportunities for this generation of children in our community, and the next.
MARRIAGE EQUALITY REFERENDUM As the Labour Party’s national Director of Elections for the Marriage Equality referendum, I was especially pleased that our constituency of Dublin South provided such a clear endorsement for marriage equality, with 49,109 people in our constituency voting yes to the proposal put before them, the highest number of yes votes of any constituency. I had the opportunity to canvass right across the constituency over the campaign and was struck by the tremendous interest and participation I encountered every step of the way. It was really heartening to witness such a high level of engagement with, and enthusiasm for, the electoral process.
GAELSCOIL SHLIABH RUA OPENS ITS DOORS It was terrific to join in the official celebrations at the opening of Gaelscoil Shliabh Rua in Ballyogan alongside my colleague, Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan TD. Gaelscoil Shliabh Rua opened its doors for the first time in August 2013 and shared facilities at De La Salle Palmerston with Stepaside Educate Together NS. It received planning permission in 2014 to build a new school and the progress made in such a short space of time is remarkable. I am delighted that the school has gone from strength to strength and am pleased to note that they will share this new, state of the art 16-classroom school with Stepaside Educate Together NS from next September.
ALEX WHITE TD Phone: Email: Website:
01 2960047 or 01 6183972 alex.white@oir.ie alexwhite.ie
facebook.com/AlexWhiteTD @AlexWhiteTD
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CONSTITUENCY OFFICE Opening Hours: Monday: 17.30 - 19.00 Friday: 10am -12 or by arrangement. 2nd Floor (above Churchtown School of Motoring) 9 Braemor Road, Churchtown, Dublin 14
Working with our local Labour team
Cllr. Lettie McCarthy 086 8186718 lmccarthy@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
Cllr. Peter O’Brien 086 4611638, pobrien@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
Cllr. Grace Tallon 086 2492837 gtallon@cllr.dlrcoco.ie
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