Proposed closure of the Court House at Carrick on Suir, of the District Court Sittings in Tipperary Town, the Court office at Nenagh Courthouse and the actual closure of the Probate Office in the County is absolutely unacceptable and must be stopped.
These proposed closures are part of a more widespread, focused and deliberate assault on Rural Ireland involving the stripping away of services.
This policy was commenced by the last Fianna Fail/ Green Party Government and has been continued even more aggressively by the current Fine Gael/Labour Coalition.
The destruction of rural Ireland involves the
• Closure of rural Garda Stations
• Closure of rural Post Offices ( now continuing by way of deliberate reduction in Social Welfare business and proposed salary cuts for Post Masters)
• Reduction in teacher numbers and increased class sizes in small rural schools
• Withdrawal of bus services north and south of the county including Carrick on Suir, Cahir and North Tipperary areas.
• Lack of effective Broadband Services
• Failure to provide GP Services
• Withdrawal of Medical Card offices which has created confusion, fear and trauma
• Regionalisation of Hospital Services
• Deliberate focus of job creation on the east coast area around Dublin and the cities of Cork, Limerick and Galway to the detriment of rural counties like Tipperary.
I want to commend Muintir na Tire for the launching with other community groups of the “ Save Rural Ireland” campaign which focuses on the Post Office, GP, Broadband and flood risk and flood insurance areas among others. I will be strongly supporting this initiative.
The cuts to rural services are another form of austerity specifically targeted against rural Ireland based on centralisation and the baseless belief that bigger is best.
That of course is demonstrably untrue and is also diametrically opposed to the well-established and universally acknowledged principle of subsidiarity. In other words services are best and most effectively delivered as close as possible to the communities they serve.
I will be raising this way by way of Topical Issue and Parliamentary Question and I am calling on the Tipperary Government Oireachtas members, Minister Alan Kelly, Minister of State Tom Hayes and Senator Denis Landy to immediate halt any closure of Court Services in Tipperary and reverse the serious and deliberate assault on rural Ireland and its essential services.
Seamus Healy T.D.
Tel 087 2802199
3/2/2015
Workers & Unemployed Action 