The campaign to elect the next Dáil is now officially underway. Polling takes place on Friday 26th February 2016. I am running to win a seat in Kildare North and I am asking voters in the constituency to give me their number 1 vote. I’ve met many voters over the past few months and look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the remainder of this campaign. Over the past 5 years, Kildare North hasn’t received the level of representation it deserves. We’re suffering from the lowest levels of garda coverage in the country, lacking childcare support behind other counties, all capital investment in the constituency has effectively stopped, and we’ve no strong voices representing us in Dáil Éireann. By voting for me on 26th February I will ensure that Kildare North is no longer represented by silent Government backbenchers. If you agree, please vote James Lawless no. 1 on polling day.
I’m delighted that my proposal has been accepted for the creation of a derelict sites task force which will seek to tackle the derelict buildings across Co. Kildare with a view to rendering them suitable for residential and commercial use. The Derelict Building Task Force will examine and work with the council to restore the empty buildings in Kildare.
At the recent meeting of Naas Municipal District council, I asked for updates on the flood relief plans at Killeenmore. This follows from flooding of the Morell and Painstown rivers several times over the previous months and on a regular basis for the past several winters. This is a matter I’ve been raising for years now. We need a comprehensive flood relief plan for Killeenmore and indeed all effected areas along the Morell river. Repeated flooding has gone on far too long now and residents are continuously distressed.
Earlier this week we witnessed the Government (re)announce their much lauded “Action Plan for Jobs” in Naas, Co. Kildare. While on the face of it we’re made to believe that this is something we should be grateful for, once you start to examine the detail of the plan you can see that it lacks long term vision for the economy and it is very poor deal for local small and medium sized businesses. In fact, many independent commentators have criticised the plan for having very little detail on specifics at all. The bulk of the Government’s economic policy has been geared towards attracting multi-national corporates (who are now currently under fire for paying very little tax).