Unless there is an urgent intervention by the Minister for Disability, with additional resources, complaints relating to Assessment of Needs applications will continue to put on the long finger. The HSE informed Fianna Fáil that there are currently 445 complaints currently outstanding as of February 2nd. Continue Reading →
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Cautious Welcome of Additional Gardai Follow Emergency Dáil Debate
I welcome these additional resources for the county. This was just one issue I raised in the Dáil last week during an emergency debate on Garda coverage in Kildare North. At the time I highlighted with the Minister that we are lowest in terms of Garda numbers per head of population and call for an immediate increase in numbers.
While the additional recruits are very welcome a step change is needed to adequately resource our county. Reactionary management of man power in Kildare North is not good enough. We need consistent growth in our emergency service numbers. I will continue to press the Government to lobby for better Garda numbers in the county.
To read my full Dáil debate please click here.
Opening of the Phoenix Park Tunnel for Kildare North Commuters
Inisde the tunnel this morning before the first trains ran through
It is welcomed news that the opening of the Phoenix Park tunnel for their service from Kildare North into Pearse Street Station, Connolly and Grand Canal Dock took place this morning. This change will bring us commuters right into all the transport links in the Greater Dublin Area.
Since being elected to the Dáil, lobbying for the opening of the tunnel was my number one objective. It is a matter I have been working on for over ten years since I first entered public life. It is a credit to Irish Rail and the National Transport Authority (NTA) for working together on this project. Continue Reading →
Parnell Summer School
I was delighted to attend the Parnell Summer School recently. At the Summer School I gave a speech on the echoes of 1916 and patriotism in the modern era. Below is a transcript of that speech.
Nationalism cannot become the sole preserve of an exclusionary, closed borders rhetoric. A positive force for national self-confidence and assertion of fraternity; a recognition that between the models of material individualism and xenophobic supremacy lies a third way.
Communitarian, egalitarian and continually evolving, true patriotism embraces diversity and recognises the nation as a state of mind and cultural connections as much as a physical entity bound by borders and barriers.
The progressive and open nationalism of the Catalans, the Scottish and indeed the Irish must be championed and distinguished from the narrow and often false flag patriotism of the new cheer leaders and charlatans of the 21st century. Continue Reading →
Greater Calibre of ICT Graduates Needed, Second Level ICT Skills Should Be Focus
Having spent the past number of months meeting with representatives from major multinational companies, since being appointed spokerperson on Science, Technology, R&D, it has become clear that the standard of ICT graduates can be improved. Our ICT skilled graduates has increase year on year yet the standard of graduate, according to some companies, could do with improving. Continue Reading →