For Your Information;
12th March 2012The R.T.E. “Week in Politics” broadcast on this Sunday the 18th of March will devote part of the programme to assessing the political agreement between myself, Jackie Healy-Rae, and the last Government.
I co-operated with the programme in the hope that I could get across the logic of my decision and some of the benefits that were delivered to Tipperary and to the people of the constituency.
The Saturdays “All Fired Up” For Hometown Show
9th March 2012Kennedys Live Promotions are delighted to announce that international pop sensations, The Saturdays will stage a spectacular live stadium show in Thurles, the hometown of band member, Una Healy, over this year’s June Bank Holiday weekend.
Since their formation in 2007, The Saturdays have evolved into one of the most successful pop acts of the 21st century in the UK and Ireland. This achievement was underlined by their recent sold out ‘Arena’ tour which played Dublin’s O2 in late 2011 and their Tipperary appearance promises to be just as spectacular.
Fans are promised a high-octane show with strong vocals, tight harmonies and slick choreography supporting the girls’ array of crowd-pleasing hits such as ‘Notorious’, ‘Work’, ‘Forever Is Over’ and ‘All Fired Up’. Coupled with dramatic lighting and stunning visual effects, the Tipperary show promises to be one of the most exciting concert events in Ireland this year.
Promoter, David O’Mahony and Frances Bannon, from Kennedy’s Live Promotions, are delighted to be bringing this international pop sensation to Thurles. David said, “The Saturdays are one of the most successful pop acts of the past decade and we are thrilled to be bringing them to Thurles. It is appropriate that we should acknowledge Una Healy’s talent and ability and the success of The Saturdays in her home town. The event promises to be a big attraction and affords the young people of the county the opportunity to see one of the strongest acts in the music industry at present. The incredible atmosphere that is already surrounding what promises to be a spectacular performance will make it the stand-out music event of 2012!”
Local T.D. Michael Lowry, Chairman of the organisation team said that this is an exciting and major event for Thurles. “The organisation of the event is being approached in a very careful and professional manner to ensure the smooth running of the event.” Lowry said that “they had received a huge level of cooperation from the various state agencies involved and are working closely with Gardai, security and health and safety officials”. He added that this will be a spectacular homecoming for local star Una Healy.
A superb vocalist and guitarist, Thurles born Una Healy began to carve out her musical career by playing both solo and group gigs in pubs and music venues across Ireland. While she achieved some success here at home, Una was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain further exposure to the music industry in London when she was asked to join The Saturdays. With the incredible international success that quickly followed, Una has become, without doubt, one of Ireland’s biggest musical exports.
2012 is set to be yet another exciting year for the Tipperary native with the birth of her baby daughter in March, her impending wedding to international rugby star, Ben Foden, and, of course, her debut hometown performance with bandmates Mollie King, Frankie Sandford, Vanessa White and Rochelle Wiseman.
The concert is being promoted by Kennedy’s Live Promotions and will be staged in Thurles Greyhound Stadium on Bank Holiday Sunday, June 3rd 2012. Attendance at this spectacular event will be limited to 5,000, and tickets will be priced at €38.50 including booking fee. A limited number of VIP Premium tickets, providing exclusive access to private hospitality facilities, including food, a complimentary drink, and an indoor private view of the stage, will also be available for €95 plus booking fee. Tickets for this unique performance will go on sale from 9am on Friday, 9th March 2012 on www.ticketmaster.ie.
Further information can be found at www.kennedyslive.com
Government Must Ensure That Medical Card Backlog is Cleared as a Matter of Urgency
6th March 2012I welcome the announcement made by the HSE which stated that they hope to end the backlog in processing medical card applications by April of this year. I also welcome the introduction of a mechanism to allow applicants awaiting a decision to secure a 4 month extension to their medical card through their GP.
However serious questions must be answered by the Government for allowing the situation to deteriorate to such a level and disregarding evidence that stated that the creation of a central medical card office would cause severe delays.
When the centralisation of this office was announced I predicted that huge problems would ensue and repeatedly warned and voiced my concerns to the Government on such. All concerns raised by myself and from local offices were disregarded and the centralisation was progressed without the necessary forward planning and training of staff. Instead the government ploughed ahead with stopping local offices from processing medical card applications and renewals and all applications were then sent to the centralised office.
This has proven to be a disastrous policy for applicants. The central office was overwhelmed by the volume of applications. By preventing local offices from processing applications a huge amount of specialised and complex knowledge relating to the processing of medical cards was lost. The staff in the centralised office, though no fault of their own, simply did not have the expertise and knowledge to deal with the volume of applications and their complexity. Staff in the medical card office were redeployed from other areas and were not given the requisite training prior to the opening of the centralised office. Training was always going to be required to arm staff with the skill set and expertise to deal with this personal and highly sensitive information. From the offset they were on the back foot and immediately began to fall behind. In fact training was only commenced after the opening of the office which was not alone illogical but again served to add to the delays as staff were not available to process applications while they were receiving training.
The reality is that the centralisation of medical card offices has caused undue hardship, anxiety and stress for a huge amount of families. Rather than the promised turnover time of 15 days for applications there have been delays of up to 9 months, repetition of correspondence, applications and documents being misplaced, all of which led to huge financial strain on applicants. In fact rather than the promised turn over time, we are now learning that there is in fact a backlog of 31,456 applications.
Since the centralisation of the medical card office I have had an unprecedented number of calls from constituents who were battling a chronic illness and were being tied up in red tape at every turn by the medical card office. Numerous people complained to me of applications and sensitive documentation being lost or misplaced. It is unconscionable to put these people through such bureaucracy and delays at a time when they are fighting for their health. Rather than getting support from the state they were sent from pillar to post and forced to suffer delays.
The impact of this cannot be underestimated. Not alone did these delays cause stress but it would also have put applicants under severe financial pressure as they were forced to cover the costs of their necessary medical treatments. These costs would have been significant and a huge burden on already stretched families. I am calling on the Government therefore to introduce a clear system to repay the medical costs accrued while applicants were awaiting their medical cards. The Government must accept responsibility for this shambles and must take active steps to repay those who have suffered through no fault of their own.
Limited Appeals for Small Schools is Grossly Insufficient
2nd March 2012I welcome the minor concessions introduced by Minister Quinn with regards to small schools but believe that such concessions are grossly inadequate to tackle the unfairness of the original measures as introduced by Budget 2012. I also welcome the announcement that following on from a report on the impact of the Budget on DEIS schools he will now retain 235 posts for DEIS band schools on a discretionary basis, which were to be withdrawn under the Budget.
I publically anticipated a climb down by the Minister on this issue to satisfy and quieten clamour from Labour T.D’s who represent disadvantaged schools in the Greater Dublin area.
However the issue of cuts to our small schools is still one that needs immediate attention and considerable amendments to protect the future of rural schools in the constituency.
Minister Quinn announced earlier this week that small primary schools will be entitled to appeal the loss of a teacher where they can prove that their enrolment numbers will be sufficient in September 2012 to retain that teacher. He has also stated than a school that is in line to lose 3 or more posts can apply to have a portion of the loss of posts deferred to the academic year 2013/2014.
This follows on from Budget 2012 which introduced changes to the staffing schedule for schools with less than four teachers, to the effect that such schools must have a greater number of pupils enrolled to retain their current teacher numbers than was previously the case. This appeal is a small victory for common sense and an incentive to all to continue to fight for the reversal of unfair cuts to rural schools.
The announcement from Minister Quinn that he is extending the remit of the Primary Staffing Appeals Board to cover such schools is a welcome step. It was illogical to enforce the loss of a teacher on a school that would have had the required numbers for the next academic year. This would have led to severe overcrowding in classrooms and would have stretched smaller schools to the limit. It is therefore welcome that such schools now have a formal procedure to set down their arguments and explain their case to the independent appeals body.
That said it must be noted that this limited permission to appeal will not go sufficiently far to protect all of the affected rural schools in North Tipperary and South Offaly. Since the announcement of the budget I have been inundated with a huge number of letters, emails and phone calls from schools in the constituency that fear that they may lose a teacher. All of these schools have unique and individual circumstances that clearly warrant the retention of their teacher numbers. This measure does nothing to help these schools. Neither does it alleviate the inherent unfairness and inequality in the original budgetary measures.
The part concession to rural schools enrolment figures does not and will not address the problems associated with the Minister’s policy for a large portion of the affected schools in North Tipperary. This is not a reversal of the measure rather it is merely a right to appeal and this appeal process has the ability discriminate against some schools. I would put a political question over this recently stated initiative.
I would like to commend all the schools, Boards of Managements, principals, teachers and parents who have voiced their opposition to these cuts by attending meetings and petitioning the Minister and their local representations. It is their power and determination that has introduced this appeal for rural schools. Their voices are a powerful and effective tool. We must continue to place pressure on the Government to force them to reverse these cuts in their entirety.
I will be assisting small schools with the Appeal process and will carefully monitor the outcome and decisions made by the appeals board.
Decentralisation Report spells uncertainty for Roscrea
2nd March 2012The implementation of the recommendations of the Report on the Review of Certain Decentralisation Programme Projects by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform earlier this week has raised a number of questions for the decentralised Equality Authority office in Roscrea. I am concerned about the future of the Equality Authority Office which was decentralised to Roscrea and currently employs 16 people.
In the first instance I am disappointed that full decentralisation to this office will not continue. The report lists the Equality Authority as one of the offices where an advance party is already in place and has stated that this advance party will stay in place at present but the remaining posts will not be moved to Roscrea.
In total this office was to employ 41 people which would have been a major boost to the Roscrea area. Unfortunately the current Government is not progressing the decentralisation programme for economic reasons. While I understand and appreciate these reasons it is a further final blow to the people of Roscrea who have already lost so much from their town.
The wording of the report itself raises concerns for the office. The Roscrea office is singled out as still being under review. The report specifically states that;
“The Department of Justice and Equality reports that the future of the Roscrea office is being considered by a working group set up to advise the Minister on issues relating to the amalgamation of the Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority and that, while it will remain in situ at present, a decision on its future will be taken once the working group has reported with its recommendations.”
This vagueness creates great uncertainty for the future of the Equality Authority Office. It is unclear at this point whether the office in Roscrea will face amalgamation or even closure, quite simply we have no indication what the recommendations of the report will be. I have written to Minister Brendan Howlin T.D. seeking further information and assurances on this matter. I will be continuing to monitor this issue closely to ensure that the best possible outcome for Roscrea is the one that is advanced, further to this report being published in the future.