CREED WELCOMES €133,560 FUNDING FOR INNISCARRA LAKE – WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2014

Cork North West TD, has welcomed confirmation from his colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan TD, that permission has been granted to the Avondhu/Blackwater Partnership for the approval of funding to the promoters of the Inniscarra Lake development committee who seek to host the World Feeder Fishing Championships in 2014. Commenting on the announcement Deputy Creed said:

“I would like to congratulate the Inniscarra Lake Tourism/Development Community Group who have worked tirelessly over the past year in putting together a plan that will not only bring the World Feeder Championships to mid-cork next year, but will also create a sustainable tourist attraction in terms of a multi-purpose amenity on the lake shore. I cannot stress the efforts made by this group in terms of planning and fundraising to make the hosting of next year’s event possible”.

“I am pleased that the Minister has granted permission in principle for this funding to be awarded through the Avondhu/Blackwater Partnership. I hope that the Inniscarra Development group can now continue their momentum and commence work on the site as soon as possible”.

“I look forward to seeing International competitors from over 30 Countries visiting this state of the art amenity in 2014 in what must be one of the most scenic areas in the Country”.

SUPPORTS NEEDED TO HELP STAY AT HOME PARENTS RETURN TO WORKPLACE

Cork North West TD, Michael Creed has called for measures to be taken to assist parents, who have stayed in the home to raise their children, return to the workplace.  Deputy Creed made particular reference to parents who are not entitled to the supports available to those on the live register.  Speaking in the Dáil during a special topical issues debate on the matter, Deputy Creed said:

 

“I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise the matter of parents who wish to return to the workforce after a period in the home raising children. They are not provided with similar rights and entitlements to those on the live register in terms of education and training initiatives and other labour market activation mechanisms. Although the proposal is couched in gender-neutral terms, in most cases we are talking about women who, mostly for reasons to do with child-rearing, opt out of the labour force for a number of years. As they are not in receipt of a qualifying payment, they are not entitled to participate in many of the labour market activation programmes available through the Department of Social Protection or its agencies”.

 

 

 “I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O’Dowd, and I appreciate that not every Cabinet Minister can be in attendance for these debates. However, I had hoped the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, would attend because she is interested in these matters. In recent days, she celebrated International Women’s Day. It is not often I find myself comfortable in the company of the National Women’s Council of Ireland and SIPTU but it must be acknowledged on such occasions. The two bodies combined to produce a very interesting paper called Careless to Careful Activation. It deals with a range of issues that arise on the basis that women do not present a homogenous group in terms of labour market activation measures. Women who have reared children have different requirements from those who are at the pre-child-rearing stage”.

 

 

 “The challenge for the Minister is whether it is possible to have a gender perspective on labour market activation and to move away from what appears to be a gender-stereotypical approach that one size fits all in terms of labour market activation. I acknowledge it is a lot to ask but, from the point of view of the State, there is a danger of locking out a large cohort of women, many of whom have acquired skill sets at the expense of the State that are in danger of being lost forever. This will have an impact on employment rates in the economy and contribute to household poverty”.

 

 

 “On the other side, women in receipt of qualifying payments are, in some cases, harangued and harassed by the Department of Social Protection to participate in labour market activation measures. In some contexts, it places extraordinary pressure on them, including the obligation to participate in training or courses and, subsequently, low-paid employment, as well as leaving them with the onerous task of domestic, child-rearing and care responsibilities. While we can understand the argument that scarce resources must be allocated in a targeted manner, under the current arrangements we are in many instances reaping the worst of both worlds. A cohort of women wish to participate in activation measures and to avail of the initiatives tailored to that purpose by the State, while another cohort of women, by virtue of the fact they are in receipt of payments, are being hunted and obliged to participate in the labour market activation processes. In many instances, labour market activation processes do not subsequently lead to productive engagement in the labour market”.

 

 

“Does the Department of Social Protection, through its many agencies, have the capacity for a gender perspective on labour market activation that designs tailor-made solutions to individual clients? These will not be exclusively women, but in many cases women currently not in receipt of social welfare qualifying payments are locked out of the benefits of activation measures”.

 

 

“The publication I referred to, a joint effort between SIPTU and the National Women’s Council of Ireland, addresses many of the issues. The only way to come up with a realistic solution is to allow greater autonomy and flexibility to those who decide who participates. Many participants are unwilling and many willing participants are locked out of these arrangements”.

CREED RAISES AGRICULTURE, ALCOHOL & SINGLE PARENT TAX CREDIT DURING FINANCE BILL DEBATE

Watch the debate: http://media.heanet.ie/oireachtas/asx.php?Channel=Dail&Date=20131107&StartTime=05:38:26.000&Duration=01:00:00.000

The debate on the annual Finance Bill is an opportune time to reflect on the state of the economy and how it has progressed or otherwise over the preceding 12 months. A statistic that should bring some comfort, albeit not sufficient comfort for those who are unemployed, is that 30,000 more people are at work today than on the same day last year. The scale of the task this Government faces is put into context by the fact that between 2008 and 2010 more than 200,000 people lost their jobs. We are slowly making progress. Some of the debates in this Chamber on this and other matters are too sterile and predictable. We need to acknowledge what has been achieved and face up to the scale of the problem. In regard to the predictable claptrap about the sixth or seventh austerity budget, the budgets are austere because it is difficult to return to a situation where we are cutting our cloth according to our measure. The Government has made some progress in satisfying the markets, which is necessary before it begins to filter down. One of the other significant issues, apart from the number of people back at work compared to last year, is that the markets are showing some confidence in us now. If we had been able to go to the markets when the Government came into office, the cost of borrowing would have been approximately 15%; it is now approximately 5% or less. That is significant progress and, although it does not mean a lot to people out there still searching for jobs, it is a necessary staging post on the road to recovery. The Government is travelling, although perhaps not fast enough, along the road to recovery to meet the needs of many thousands who are still unemployed. It is making progress.

I caution the Government against raising the bar of expectation on the basis of leaving the bailout in December of this year. That does not mean a lot to the individual who finds himself unemployed because we will still not have an enormous amount of money. As we see the troika members booking their flights leaving Ireland, which is welcome, and we regain our economic sovereignty, we will continue to be in a delicate position for many years to come as we struggle to generate wealth and distribute wealth in a fair and equitable way. I agree with Deputy McHugh. The opportunity is now to plan for a balanced, regionally sustainable recovery. That is not always evident. The overwhelming objective of Government is to get the economy right along broad principles but it cannot lose sight of the objective of having it regionally sustainable.

I welcome the provision in the budget to introduce a new suckler cow welfare scheme or something of a similar nature. I would like the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to consider a commission of inquiry into the beef industry. It is profitable for factories, retailers and everyone in the industry except the farmer. It is a multibillion euro industry earning us enormous sums of money in exports, with over 100,000 people involved at farm gate level. However, very few of them make a living and most suckler cow farmers die in debt. We must look at a way to ensure the farmers who are the foundation of the industry can make a reasonable living. I welcome the Minister’s initiative but a more fundamental appraisal of the industry is necessary.

The Minister for Finance is not known for his timidity but the Government measures on alcohol are timid in the extreme. We have a serious societal problem with alcohol abuse. The stock response is to raise excise duties but we fail to grasp the real problem, which is the imbalance between consumption on licensed premises and through off-licences. That is the real societal problem and we wake up on Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings hearing on the radio about someone being stabbed in a domestic setting because of excess alcohol, perhaps fuelled also by drugs. We must ensure that we encourage alcohol consumption on licensed premises rather than through off-licences. In the former, there is peer group interaction, supervision and intergenerational solidarity. There is a real weakness. I have heard reference to the idea that minimum pricing is not possible because of some issue in Scotland and a review of Scottish legislation. We are a sovereign nation and the only law that has been interpreted in respect of this area upholds the right of states to introduce a minimum price for alcohol. The Minister needs to do so.

The single parent tax credit is the issue on which I have received most representations. We must acknowledge that while some parents may wish to abscond from their parental duties, the majority of people take their parenting responsibilities exceptionally seriously even if their marital circumstances have broken down. It is unfortunate that the Government falls into the response of assuming that most men walk away from parental duties; they do not. The Minister has sent a signal that he will deal with this in some way by apportioning the tax credit to one party or the other where either party may not have a taxable income. Where there is a court agreed apportionment of custody in light of financial circumstances, the credit should also be apportioned on that basis. If there is a 50-50 agreement on parenting, the credit should be apportioned 50-50. It is a significant asset, amounting to approximately €1,600 a year. Hitting someone unilaterally overnight by taking it away is a financial blow that many cannot survive. I welcome the signal sent by the Minister for Finance of some movement but more needs to be done to achieve equity.

CREED WELCOMES €410,873 FOR KILMURRY HISTORICAL & ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Cork North West TD Michael Creed has this morning (Tuesday) congratulated Kilmurry Historical & Archaeological Society on receiving funding of €410,873 for the purpose of developing a state of the art museum and community centre in Kilmurry village.  Commenting on the announcement by Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan TD, Deputy Creed said:

“I am very pleased that the hard work and commitment of all those in the Kilmurry Historical society has been rewarded by the award of this funding, through West Cork Development Partnership.  Significant planning and development work has gone into this ambitious project which will provide a significant tourist attraction and a historical reference point for the Mid Cork region”.

“The award of this funding is the culmination of generations of effort on the behalf of several families in the area to create a museum and historical focal point in Kilmurry.  The existing museum was established in 1965 and in 1978 the O’Buachalla family donated the site for the new development which until now has remained undeveloped.  I would like to pay a heartfelt tribute to all the families who have invested generations of commitment into this facility”.

“Kilmurry historical society, have been actively fundraising to help contribute to the significant costs of the project estimated at €547,831.  This funding which has been now approved by my colleague the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government, Phil Hogan T.D. will supplement the fundraising activities of the Historical society and I hope that this project can progress as soon as possible”.

“I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of West Cork Development Partnership in supporting this project throughout”. 

CREED WELCOMES FUNDING FOR THREE NEW CLASSROOMS FOR BALLINORA N.S.

Cork North West TD, Michael Creed, has welcomed the announcement that funding will be made available to Ballinora National School, for the construction of three new classrooms to replace existing pre-fabricated accommodation currently being used by the school.  Commenting on the announcement Deputy Creed said:

 

“I am delighted Ballinora have received the go ahead to construct three new classrooms to replace existing pre-fabs in the school.  I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of the principal his staff, the board of management and the parents association who have worked hard in putting together an application for funding under the pre-fab replacement scheme”.

 

“The Department’s School Building Unit will be writing to the 46 schools covered under the 2013 programme in the coming days offering grant aid for replacement of rented prefabs.  This initiative will replace 37 resource rooms and 119 mainstream classrooms with permanent accommodation which will cater for over 3,300 pupils”.

 

“A total of €15 million has been allocated for this initiative in 2013/2014.  It is anticipated that further rental savings of €2m per annum will be achieved as a result of this most recent prefab replacement scheme.  This is in addition to the estimated €5m per year savings which will be achieved as a result of the 2012 prefab replacement scheme”. 

 

 “The annual rental bill for prefabs was almost €30m each year when this Government took office.  Between the 2012 and 2013 prefab replacement schemes, this amount will be reduced by almost 25%.  The Programme for Government contains a commitment to reduce the reliance on rented prefabs in schools and this second initiative builds on the success of the previous scheme.  The new initiative will result in the creation of an estimated 300 direct and 60 indirect jobs in the coming years”.

MERGE N22 BYPASS & DUNKETTLE SCHEME AND GIVE PROJECT THE GREEN LIGHT

　

Cork North West TD Michael Creed has outlined a proposal that could see the prospects of the commencement of the N22 Macroom – Baile Mhuirne bypass project enhanced significantly.  Commenting on his proposal Deputy Creed said:

“I am encouraged to be embarking on a new Dáil term with the legal uncertainty surrounding the N22 bypass project now put to bed.  Engagement between the NRA and landowners has now commenced and for the first time in many years there is tangible progress with the project.  Nonetheless we are still in the midst of a bailout programme and the State’s finances remain in a very fragile state”.

“My priority for the new Dáil terms is to engage pro-actively with my colleague the Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar, in order to explore ways in which the Macroom Baile Mhuirne bypass can finally be made a reality.  With this in mind I’m putting forward a proposal which would see the N22 bypass project coupled with the Dunkettle Interchange Improvement Scheme, so that both schemes can be offered as one contract”.

“Offering these schemes as one single contract, will ensure that the cost of both projects can be minimised and crucially that the N22 scheme can be elevated in terms of priority.  I believe it is important to work constructively with the Minister & the NRA in order to find the best solutions in delivering the N22 project as soon as is financially possible”.

CREED WELCOMES DECISION TO HOLD CORK COUNTY REFERENDUM COUNT IN BALLINCOLLIG

Cork North West TD, Michael Creed has welcomed the decision to hold the referendum count for Cork County in Colaiste Choilm, Ballincollig on October 5th. Commenting on the decision Deputy Creed said:

“It is correct and proper that the forthcoming referendum counts for Cork County will be held in the County, and not within the City boundaries as was proposed. Colaiste Choilm Ballincollig is the ideal venue to host the count on October 5th as it is easily accessible for Council staff carrying out the count and voters who may wish to witness the count”.

“I warmly welcome this decision and hope that Ballincollig can become the permanent venue for future referendum counts”.

CREED WELCOMES €5.8 MILLION IN EXTRA ROADS FUNDING FOR CORK COUNTY

Cork North West TD, Michael Creed has today welcomed the allocation of a supplementary €5,818,342 in extra funding for road repair and resurfacing works for Cork County.  Commenting on the announcement Deputy Creed said;

“This allocation, which accounts for approximately 10% of the national allocation, and is the largest sum being made available to any County in the Country.  The additional allocation is to be directed primarily to surface restoration works and must be spent in 2013”.

“The significant size of the allocation in proportion to that of other Counties is in the main due to the contribution Cork County Council has made from its own resources to road maintenance.  I have been campaigning for many years to successive Transport Ministers for larger discretionary road budgets for Cork County.  I am pleased that my colleague Minister Varadkar has made this funding available on a fair and equitable basis”.

Further Commenting on the allocation Cllr Michael Creed said;

“I will be engaging with officials in Cork County Council to ensure this allocation is fully utilised.  There are numerous projects that need to be undertaken and this funding provides an opportunity to do so.  Furthermore this is a welcome economic stimulus for Cork County and will provide much needed employment opportunities”.

CORK NORTH WEST CONSTITUENTS MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR UK WINTER FUEL ALLOWANCE

Cork North West TD Michael Creed, has highlighted that many Irish people returned from a lifetime of work in the UK could be eligible for the UK Winter Fuel Payment Allowance – even if they did not receive the payment while living there.

“To be eligible for this fuel payment, the only requirement is that a claimant was born on or before July 5th, 1951, and have a ‘genuine and sufficient link’ with the UK. Having a British Pension is not a strict qualifying factor but of course, it will be of enormous help when applying. Undoubtedly, many Irish people can easily prove they have lived or worked in the UK for most of their working lives.

“The UK Winter Fuel Payment Allowance continues to be paid to thousands of eligible Irish people who moved back to Ireland from the UK and had already been receiving the payment while living there.

“Since 2002, the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions has paid out more than £8.2m (€9.5m) under this scheme to Irish people who returned to these shores after living and working all their lives in the UK. The annual payment ranges between £100 and £300 sterling tax-free depending on circumstances.

“Up to last year, these monies were only paid to Irish people who essentially transferred their Winter Fuel Payments from the UK to Ireland. However, following a ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2012, the qualifying criteria can now be extended to returned Irish people who worked all their lives in the UK but did not avail of the allowance when living there.

“This significant ruling means eligible Irish people who did not apply for the payment before leaving the UK may now claim while living in Ireland if they meet the qualifying criteria.

“I am keen to highlight the significant change in the qualifying criteria given that it’s likely to positively affect many Irish people who have returned from the UK and who are not aware of this payment. Further details on the scheme can be obtained by accessing https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/how-to-claim or contacting my constituency office,” concluded Deputy Creed

SUPPORTS NEEDED TO HELP STAY AT HOME PARENTS RETURN TO WORKPLACE

Cork North West TD, Michael Creed has called for measures to be taken to assist parents, who have stayed in the home to raise their children, return to the workplace.  Deputy Creed made particular reference to parents who are not entitled to the supports available to those on the live register.  Speaking in the Dáil during a special topical issues debate on the matter, Deputy Creed said:

 

“I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise the matter of parents who wish to return to the workforce after a period in the home raising children. They are not provided with similar rights and entitlements to those on the live register in terms of education and training initiatives and other labour market activation mechanisms. Although the proposal is couched in gender-neutral terms, in most cases we are talking about women who, mostly for reasons to do with child-rearing, opt out of the labour force for a number of years. As they are not in receipt of a qualifying payment, they are not entitled to participate in many of the labour market activation programmes available through the Department of Social Protection or its agencies”.

 

 

 “I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O’Dowd, and I appreciate that not every Cabinet Minister can be in attendance for these debates. However, I had hoped the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, would attend because she is interested in these matters. In recent days, she celebrated International Women’s Day. It is not often I find myself comfortable in the company of the National Women’s Council of Ireland and SIPTU but it must be acknowledged on such occasions. The two bodies combined to produce a very interesting paper called Careless to Careful Activation. It deals with a range of issues that arise on the basis that women do not present a homogenous group in terms of labour market activation measures. Women who have reared children have different requirements from those who are at the pre-child-rearing stage”.

 

 

 “The challenge for the Minister is whether it is possible to have a gender perspective on labour market activation and to move away from what appears to be a gender-stereotypical approach that one size fits all in terms of labour market activation. I acknowledge it is a lot to ask but, from the point of view of the State, there is a danger of locking out a large cohort of women, many of whom have acquired skill sets at the expense of the State that are in danger of being lost forever. This will have an impact on employment rates in the economy and contribute to household poverty”.

 

 

 “On the other side, women in receipt of qualifying payments are, in some cases, harangued and harassed by the Department of Social Protection to participate in labour market activation measures. In some contexts, it places extraordinary pressure on them, including the obligation to participate in training or courses and, subsequently, low-paid employment, as well as leaving them with the onerous task of domestic, child-rearing and care responsibilities. While we can understand the argument that scarce resources must be allocated in a targeted manner, under the current arrangements we are in many instances reaping the worst of both worlds. A cohort of women wish to participate in activation measures and to avail of the initiatives tailored to that purpose by the State, while another cohort of women, by virtue of the fact they are in receipt of payments, are being hunted and obliged to participate in the labour market activation processes. In many instances, labour market activation processes do not subsequently lead to productive engagement in the labour market”.

 

 

“Does the Department of Social Protection, through its many agencies, have the capacity for a gender perspective on labour market activation that designs tailor-made solutions to individual clients? These will not be exclusively women, but in many cases women currently not in receipt of social welfare qualifying payments are locked out of the benefits of activation measures”.

 

 

“The publication I referred to, a joint effort between SIPTU and the National Women’s Council of Ireland, addresses many of the issues. The only way to come up with a realistic solution is to allow greater autonomy and flexibility to those who decide who participates. Many participants are unwilling and many willing participants are locked out of these arrangements”.