This government is continuing to evict families from their homes.
In the Dáil last Thursday, I appealed to Minister Michael Noonan to order the banks he owns to withdraw repossession proceedings in light of the extreme housing emergency which exists.
The Minister refused. This means that the government has given the green light to the banks they own, to continue to evict families.
Court Orders for repossession of 47 primary residences were granted at Clonmel and Nenagh Circuit Courts in the first 3 quarters of 2015. A further 8 buy-to-lets which also house families were also repossessed. Banks are now seeking a further 97 repossession orders for dwellings in Tipperary, of which 32 are being sought by AIB, EBS and Permanent TSB which are owned by the Government through Michael Noonan (FG) Minister for Finance.
Minister Noonan claimed that the issue was being reasonably handled by the banks. Totally misrepresenting the situation, Mr Noonan quoted the 208 orders for repossessions for the whole country for Quarter 3,2015 as representative of the scale of the problem. COURTS ONLY SIT FOR 1 OF THE 3 MONTHS IN QUARTER 3!! The Court Service Figures for the whole country for Quarters 1 and 2 are 586 and 314 respectively.
The proposed Eviction of 97 Tipperary Families Must Be Stopped Now!
Senior Minister Alan Kelly (Lab) and Minister of State Hayes(FG) must now intervene at Cabinet to have a Housing Emergency Declared and all repossession applications withdrawn.
In particular they must force Minister Noonan to withdraw the repossession applications by the banks he owns.
This can be done by government decision and does not require legislation.
Seamus Healy T.D. 18/01/2016
Tel 087 2802199
I will be raising this issue directly with the Taoiseach in the Dáil, today when I will be taking Leaders Questions on behalf of the Technical Group at 4.30 pm.
The closure of the C&C plant in Borrisoleigh with the loss of over 140 jobs is a huge blow to the town, the surrounding area and the county as a whole. Since the company took over Gleesons in Borrisoleigh and Bulmers in Clonmel, it has been cutting jobs and worsening terms and conditions of employment.
We can be sure that this shameful decision to close the Borrisoleigh plant is the prelude to further attacks on the conditions of employees. Now it says it will provide 80 extra jobs in Clonmel. We will believe it when and if we see it because of the track record of the company.
The workers and their trade union representatives must receive the fullest support from the government and its agencies in the face of this disgraceful development.
This blow is all the more devastating because of the dreadful unemployment rate in County Tipperary and the continuing neglect of the county by the government.
It follows the loss of jobs at Grants and Supervalue stores in Clonmel and Tipperary Town with attendant redundancies.
The rate of unemployment in County Tipperary is well above the national average. TIPPERARY is being forgotten despite the county being represented by a Labour Senior Minister and a Fine Gael Minister of State in government.
∗ There was a nett loss of 321 IDA jobs in the County over the 3 years to 21/12/2014-the first 3 years of this government’s term of office
∗ Not a single Tipperary town was included in government’s decision to provide 150 million for advance factories and offices despite my protests to Minister Bruton in the Dáil.
∗ Disposable income in Co Tipp is 5% below the national average and 16% below that in Dublin.
∗ Tipperary is not getting its fair share of new jobs- the vast majority of jobs are being created on the East Coast, Cork and Limerick.
I have repeatedly raised these matters in the Dáil and I have sought more spending on roads, house building and other infrastructure in the county.
There is an emergency employment crisis in Co Tipperary. Promises by government are not enough. Action by Government Now, before The Election, is Necessary.
Firstly, the Government must intervene to save the jobs in Borrisoleigh and instruct Enterprise Ireland accordingly
Secondly, the decision to exclude Tipperary including locations such as Borrisoleigh from the building of IDA Advance Factories and Offices must be reversed and the government strategy must be formally amended in this regard.
Seamus Healy TD 087-2802199
13/1/2016
In the wake of the recent flooding, Deputy Seamus Healy has called on the government to re-allocate to County Councils, the €430M from the road tax monies given to Irish Water.
This money is urgently needed to re-build and repair county roads across County Tipperary and the Country which have been destroyed by floods.
These roads were already in a very bad condition due to cutbacks in road monies buy the Government.
Deputy Healy also called for the upgrading of the National Primary N24 to be added to the Roads Capital Programme announced last year. This road is a vital economic and social lifeline across Tipperary and links the Midwest to the South East. This road was impassable in a number of areas during the recent flooding. Despite demands for upgrading including the provision of the Tipperary Town By-pass and Carrick on Suir By-pass this work has been excluded from the Government’s Road Programme 2015-2016. It must be included immediately.
There must also be a countywide assessment of the flooding and the responses to it including availability of back up pumps and road and gully maintenance.
Deputy Healy praised the work of the Council workers, Civil Defence, Gardaí, Red Cross, Army, Carrick River Rescue and volunteers who did Trojan work during the flooding.
Council staffing has been seriously depleted by the government moratorium and additional staffing is urgently needed to maintain roads, gullies, inlets and dykes.
Seamus Healy T.D.
Tel 087 2802199
11/1/2016
Minister Alan Kelly T.D. must allow the Ombudsman to examine complaints about Irish Water.
The Ombudsman, Mr Peter Tyndall, has confirmed that he has been prevented from investigating complaints about Irish Water.
This is totally unacceptable and there must be an immediate scrutiny of Irish Water.
Irish Water is still on the State’s Books and as in the case with Ombudsmen in other countries, Mr Tyndall must be allowed to investigate Irish Water and Sewerage Services.
It is vitally important that independent scrutiny by the Ombudsman be allowed give the significant number of complaints about Irish water’s handling of water services and sewerage blockages.
Seamus Healy T.D.
Tel 087 2802199
11/1/2016
The announcement by Supervalu of the closure of the Clonmel store at Market Place is dreadful news for the 44 employees and their families coming up to Christmas. It follows equally devastating news for the families affected by the Caulfield SUPERVALU closure in Tipperary Town last month.
The workers and their union must be supported in their call for a fully satisfactory redundancy and redeployment settlement.
The company has cited a “drop in footfall” as a significant factor in the closure while the Mandate Trade Union, representing the workers, has cited a lack
of disposable income among workers and unemployed.
Austerity measures, involving the extraction of billions out of the economy of by successive governments in recent years, is the fundamental cause of this closure.
Disposable income in Co Tipperary is 5% below the national average and 16% below that in Dublin. The so-called recovery is mainly based in the big cities and has been directed into the pockets of the very rich who have no need to spend the extra money in our shops.
The reduction in unemployment is lagging 4% below the national average in Co Tipperary
Not 1 cent of 150 million to be spent on IDA advance factories and offices to be spent in Ireland over the next five years is to be spent in Co Tipperary!!!
Recent job announcements are barely sufficient to compensate for the nett 321 IDA jobs which were were lost in Co Tipperary over the last 3 years.
94% of all jobs created last year were in the Dublin area Tipperary needs a fair share of the IDA funding and there is a need for more spending on roads, house building and other infrastructure in the county.
The 15 million cut in Leader funding in the County must be restored.
Seamus Healy TD 087-2802199
Seamus Healy T.D. welcomes today’s announcement by Eirgrid that it will not now be proceeding with overhead lines on the Grid Link Project from Cork to Kildare, which was proposed to go through Tipperary.
We do, however, need to stay vigilant until there is further clarification of the alternatives being proposed, he stated.
8 October 2015
Dear Deputy
In September, we submitted a Report on the Grid Link project to the Government-appointed Independent Expert Panel.
Today, the Independent Expert Panel issued its review of our Report.
Our report sets out equal analysis of three options which meet the need of the Grid Link Project- an overhead, underground and ‘Regional Option’. The ‘Regional Option’ uses technology which is capable of strengthening the existing grid in the region without building additional overhead infrastructure.
We first detailed the ‘Regional Option’ in March 2015, in our ‘Your Grid Your Views’ draft grid development strategy. It uses a technology known as ‘series compensation’, the first time this will be deployed on the Irish transmission grid. It is an advanced, smart grid technology that will enable more power to flow through existing lines, and so does not require new 400 kV overhead lines. To complete this solution, an underwater cable across the Shannon estuary is required in addition to some upgrade works to existing transmission lines.
Our Report on the Grid Link Project recommended pursuing this option, as it is stronger across the technical, environmental and economic criteria outlined on our report. The Panel are satisfied that no further analysis of the overhead and underground solutions is required.
We will now be moving ahead to develop the Regional Option.
A summary of our report on the Grid Link Project to the Independent Expert Panel can be found here. The report itself is available at this link.
For further information please contact us on 01 2370479 or by emailing us at oireachtas@eirgrid.com.
Kind regards
Fintan
______________
Fintan Slye
Chief Executive, EirGrid
EirGrid plc – Transmission System Operator, Ireland.
The Oval, 160 Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Oibritheoir Eangach Leictreachais na hÉireann.
160 Bóthar Shíol Bhroin, Droichead na Dothra, Baile Átha Cliath 4.
Registered Office
The Oval, 160 Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Registered in Ireland No. 338522 V.A.T. No. IE 6358522H
TELEPHONE + 353 (0)1 677 1700
EMAIL info@eirgrid.com
FAX + 353 (0)1 661 5375
WEB www.eirgrid.com
Directors:
John O’Connor CHAIRPERSON, Fintan Slye CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Doireann Barry, Dr. Gary Healy, Liam O’Halloran, Bride Rosney, Dr. Joan Smyth, Richard Sterling, Gerry Walsh, Michael Hand, Niamh Cahill (Company Secretary).
The announcement of 200 jobs for Clonmel is welcome but more needs to be done and done urgently said Deputy Seamus Healy in a statement.
Tipperary has not been getting its fair share of job creation.
The County has unemployment levels of 18%, twice the national average, with 14,400 people signing on. Towns across the County are blighted by unemployment with over 25% unemployment in the towns of Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary, Thurles, Roscrea and Nenagh.
This announcement comes in the wake of a litany of job losses, 200 at Intellicom, 50 at Grants and more at C & C, Gleeson’s, Abbott and Boston Scientific.
The County also lost a nett 321 IDA jobs in the 2 years to 31/12/2014.
Tipperary has not been getting its fair share of job creation with 90% of job announcements going to the east coast and the cities of Cork, Limerick and Galway.
The Government’s regional jobs strategy announced yesterday adds insult to injury. It prioritises investment in named towns Sligo, Tralee, Castlebar, Galway, Dundalk, Limerick, Athlone, Carlow and Waterford.
There is not a single Tipperary Town on the list.
In the South East the strategy prioritises Waterford and Carlow for investment for building advance manufacturing and office facilities
This doubly disadvantages all Tipperary Towns and must be changed.
Tipperary’s Ministers Alan Kelly and Tom Hayes need to step up to the mark and demand fair play and a fair share of job creation for County Tipperary Towns.
Seamus Healy TD
Tel: 087-2802199
08/09/15
