Michael McGrath

THERE were a total of 2,177 applications in Cork / Kerry under the Fair Deal nursing home support scheme up to the end of June 2010, according to information released by the HSE to Cork South Central TD Michael McGrath.

Deputy McGrath was also informed of the HSE’s estimate that in excess of 1,608, or 74 per cent, of the Cork / Kerry applications have been finalised to date. €40 million has been committed by the HSE in respect of new applicants under the scheme for Cork / Kerry.

“Many families in Cork and around the country are already benefiting from this new scheme. The scheme is helping to remove real financial hardship from many individuals and families.

“It is important to point out that individuals already in receipt of subvention may opt to transfer to the new scheme or may retain their existing arrangements if they so wish.

“The HSE infoline is available from Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm on 1850 24 1850 for any further queries on this scheme. Details are also available on the website of the Department of Health & Children, www.dohc.ie.

“I am pleased that the new scheme has been successfully implemented in Cork and elsewhere in the country since it came into effect on 27th October 2009,” concluded Deputy McGrath.

The total national funding for long term residential care in 2010 is €979 million. This funding is allocated to cover the costs of providing long term residential care including the Nursing Home Support Scheme, existing subvention payments, public and voluntary long stay facilities and contract beds where the contracts have not expired to date.

Mick Barry

SOCIALIST Party councillor Mick Barry has said that city councillors should refuse to pass a new council-inspired action plan for the Blackpool village area until “such time as the council’s planning department is prepared to outline a hard hitting plan of campaign to tackle dereliction in the historic village”.

Cork City Council will be asked to pass the Blackpool Village Area Action Plan next Monday, Sept 13, at the first meeting of the council since the summer recess.

Cllr Barry said, “There are dozens of derelict buildings in the Blackpool village area.  The Blackpool Village Area Action Plan does indeed outline detailed aspirations for transforming several of these but until such time as I see a credible plan of campaign for tackling the shocking levels of dereliction in Blackpool I will not be voting for this plan”.

Cllr Barry said that many key buildings in the Blackpool village area had been left “to rot right through the Celtic Tiger era” and he questioned whether the owners of these buildings would ever develop them without a change in council policy.

Cllr Barry said that he wanted to see the council “vigorously pursue these owners under the Derelict Sites Act whereby owners who refuse to improve a site can be fined 3 per cent of the property’s value”.

He also said that the council should, if necessary, acquire key properties under compulsory purchase orders and use these properties for purposes that would benefit the community.

He concluded, “Sites can be acquired at market value under the Derelict Sites Act and with the market at such a low level this is precisely the time that the Council should go after some of these neglected properties”.

David Stanton

CORK East Fine Gael TD, David Stanton is calling on people to support local businesses within their own community.

“Local businesses are essential to local communities. They employ local people and contribute enormously to the local economy. Local businesses should also support other local enterprises. By supporting local businesses, consumers are helping to keep local people in jobs and keeping money in their area.

“Small local businesses have been hit very hard from our poor economic situation.  The lack of credit availability particularly is having a very negative impact on small businesses. These enterprises are the mainstay of the Irish economy, employing hundreds of thousands of workers and contributing billions to our economy each year.  They must be supported if our economy is going to recover.

“As well as local people supporting local enterprises, I am also delighted to see so much support from local enterprises for their local areas. In all towns and villages across east Cork, local businesses regularly provide sponsorship for local events.  For example, a wide range of local enterprises are sponsoring the Midleton Food Festival this weekend.

“I am committed to supporting local enterprises as I believe they often offer the best value for money and can also offer a more personal service to consumers. Fine Gael is very much in favour of improved supports for small businesses through improved availability of credit, reductions in employer PRSI and VAT rates. Fine Gael controlled local authorities across the country have also frozen business rates within their Council areas.

“As part of our plans to fix our economy and create employment across the country, Fine Gael has produced a comprehensive package of costed proposals for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” he said.

Liam Lynch

THE annual General Liam Lynch National commemoration will take place at Kilcrumper Cemetery, Fermoy on this Sunday, September 12th.

This is the 87th anniversary of the death of General Liam Lynch on the Knockmealdown Mountains in South Tipperary.

Cllr Frank O’Flynn, Chairman of the National Liam Lynch Commemoration Committee has stated that he is delighted that this year’s oration will be given by priest and human rights activist, Fr Joe McVeigh from Fermanagh.

The programme of events on the day will consist of Mass which will be celebrated at 10.30am in St Patrick’s Church, Fermoy.

The parade which will commence at 11.45am will be led by pipe bands and will march from Fitzgerald GAA Park Fermoy to the republican plot in Kilcrumper cemetery where General Liam Lynch is buried.

Wreaths will be laid on the Republican Plot and at 12.30 pm the oration will be given. All are welcome to attend.

John Gormley

LABOUR TD Ciarán Lynch has accused Environment Minister John Gormley of “ducking his responsibilities” by not attending an Oireachtas committee meeting on extreme weather.

“It was with deep disappointment that I found out today that Environment Minister John Gormley has decided to duck his responsibilities by rejecting an invitation to meet with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to discuss the aftermath of the last year’s extreme weather events.

“We have become accustomed to John Gormley trying to wash his hands in matters where he feels he can get away with passing the buck to a Fianna Fail cabinet colleague, but failing to step up and accept responsibility for a situation that a developed right under his own nose marks a new low.

“Clearly Mr Gormley cannot take all the blame for what transpired as extreme weather took hold in areas around the country in November last year, but as the point man for the local government system, he cannot simply walk away in this manner.

“This dismissive attitude from John Gormley is the height of disrespect to the Oireachtas and to a Committee that has at all times endeavoured to engage with him in a fair and constructive manner.

“For example, earlier this year, following extensive meetings and representation from groups and agencies from right across the country, we published a report on last November’s events and made several positive key suggestions as to how it could matter could be progressed.

“Among these was a recommendation that Minister Gormley would appoint an independent team of experts to investigate the extreme weather experienced in places like Lee Valley and Cork City.

“The idea would be that this team would consist of professionals whose skill-sets reflect relevant areas to be investigated, such as hydrology, meteorology, surveying and engineering.

“We forwarded the report to the Minister in the hope that he would respond positively, but unfortunately, this is not the way it has panned out. By snubbing the invitation to even speak with the Committee, it now appears that at best John Gormley is trying to long-finger the matter or at worst, is actually rejecting the report out of hand,” he said.

Broadband

LABOUR Party Senator Michael McCarthy has called on the Minister for Communications to intervene to get eircom and E/net to negotiate a deal to ensure that a fibre optic communications network installed in Skibbereen is made fully operational as soon as possible.

Senator McCarthy said, “This communication system, which is called a MAN, was installed in the town many months ago. All that is required is fifty metres of fibre optic cable from eircom’s exchange to the E/net (the organisation charged with the wholesale marketing of MAN network contracts) distribution building across the road.

“I understand that the delay is due to the lack of meaningful negotiations between eircom and E/net. I have written to the Minister to ask that he intervene to get the process moving. It is most important that we begin to utilise the technology we have lying dormant under our streets.

“This system has massive capacity and huge potential. West Cork has suffered great from neglect over the years in terms of infrastructural development. This opportunity cannot be allowed to languish progress must be made on it.

“eircom and E/net must negotiate and get the last piece of the jigsaw put in place as soon as possible,” he said.

According to the Public Accounts Committee Chairman the electricity levy hike to be implemented next month will be felt most of all by older people and its timing as winter approaches shows a particular disregard for the needs of older people.

Deputy Allen said, “If you are relying on a State pension to get by, news of a five per cent increase in electricity charges is no small matter. The levy is particularly unfair because it imposes a flat rate increase on all electricity users regardless of how much electricity they use.

“This short-sighted increase comes at a time when the energy regulator has confirmed that there were almost 10,000 disconnections in electricity supplies to households and businesses up to July of this year. It is clear that many people are struggling to keep up with their bills as things stand, heaping yet more misery on them in the form of increased costs is unjustifiable.

“There seems to be no regard whatsoever for the most vulnerable in our society. Eircom recently introduced a cause placing a minimum payment of €20 on monthly telephone bills paid through the post office, a disgraceful development.

“It should not be forgotten that the reason we find ourselves facing an economic disaster of the current magnitude is because of the action of this Fianna Fáil government. That is why things are much worse in Ireland than many comparable countries.

“The Greens are now complicit in punishing ordinary people for the green of Fianna Fáil and their cronies through the actions of Eamon Ryan. Hitting those who cannot pay hard because of the recklessness of the rich and powerful can never be justified,” he said.

Mick Barry

NO To Bin Service Privatisation is the title of two public meetings to be hosted in Glanmire and Blarney by Socialist Party councillor Mick Barry this week.

The first will be held in Glanmire Community Hall tonight (Monday) at 7.30pm and the other will be held in the Muskerry Arms, Blarney, tomorrow (Tuesday) at 8pm.

The meetings come in the wake of Cork County Council’s decision to privatise waste collection services.

Cllr Barry said, “The privatisation of the bin service will mean the abolition of the waiver system in two years time, effectively throwing the poorest households in the county to the wolves”.

The meetings are open to the public and all are welcome to attend.

Batt O'Keeffe

MINISTER for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe has announced a €1.4 million pilot management training fund for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) aimed at driving productivity and improving workplace skills.

The move comes on foot of Forfás research for the Management Development Council, published in March, which identified areas for improvement in management practice among SMEs.

Minister O’Keeffe said he was initially investing €1.4 million to get the pilot fund up and running this year.

“The plan is to develop seven regional management development networks this year – two in Dublin, and one each in the west, south-west, midlands, north-west and south-east.

“The pilot initiative is an important test-bed for the impact of management training on the performance of firms. Research shows that improving management capability in SMEs through this type of training can lead to significant returns in terms of increased value added, employment, better business survival rates and a more skilled workforce.

“I will be insisting on clear outcome targets for the training and on regular evaluation of the networks’ effectiveness,” said Minister O’Keeffe.

McKinsey and Company estimates that bringing the poorest performing firms in Ireland up to average levels of management skills could be worth between €500 million and €2.5 billion in terms of increased gross value added in the manufacturing sector alone.

SMEs, which employ 700,000 workers out a total labour force of 1.9 million and account for some 270,000 Irish businesses, are the bedrock of the domestic economy.

Minister O’Keeffe plans to grant-aid firms that come together to provide training as part of the seven pilot management development regional networks.

SMEs can approach these networks directly to join and access training.

The firms are from a range of sectors including engineering, construction, food and drink, education and business services. Half of them are in the information communications technology (ICT) and services sectors.

The trade mission has been organised by the Government’s indigenous job creation agency, Enterprise Ireland, to coincide with President Mary Maltese’s visit to Russia. Russia is Europe’s largest emerging market.

Irish exports to the country grew by over 66 per cent in the first five months of this year. Ireland is the seventh largest provider of foreign direct investment to Russia ahead of the US and Japan.

Enterprise Ireland has set up an extensive programme of meetings for each Irish firm with existing and potential customers and partners.

Speaking before he left, Minister Kelleher described the trade mission as, “An important opportunity to showcase Irish firms and generate new business opportunities.

“Russia is a significant trading partner for Ireland and the country’s continued economic development has resulted in a wide range of business and commercial opportunities for Irish firms.

“We want to give Irish firms opportunities to strengthen their business links with Russia and help new market-entrants to land their first breakthrough sale there. Our economic recovery will be export-led and the Government’s strategy is to target markets with high growth potential that can generate revenues and jobs for Irish firms,” he said.