Léargas

This week Sinn Féin introduced into the Dáil an Equality Proofing Bill. The purpose of the Bill was to amend existing legislation and to provide equality proofing of government policy and budget and public bodies through impact assessments. If passed into law the Bill would have ensured that both government and public bodies   in exercising their functions would so in a way that would reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage. As it was the Labour party voted with Fine Gael against the Bill. Government Minister and Labour TD Kathleen Lynch spoke against equality and ultimately against Labour party policy which supports equality proofing. Essentially the Minister said that we cannot afford equality! From a Fine Gael Minister this would have been understandable – Fine Gael doesn’t believe in equality. But Labour’s stated policy is for the equality proofing. By opposing this equality proofing Bill Labour TDs are voting against their par...

The Anglo tapes continue to be a source of great annoyance and outrage for citizens. They provide the most direct evidence yet of the appalling, sneering and arrogant attitude of the banking sector to the banking crisis that crashed the Irish economy five years ago. Last week I asked the Taoiseach during Leaders Questions in the Dáil if he knew if any other tapes from any of the other banks existed. It is common practise for phone conversations between bankers/brokers to be taped to ensure accuracy over agreements reached. Last week the Taoiseach said that he didn’t know. Today I asked the Taoiseach once more about the existence of additional tapes. He admitted that other tapes of conversations in other banks do exist. He also revealed that the Minister for Finance is writing tomorrow to the banks asking that they ensure that any tapes in their possession are held safe. I was surprised by this. The fact is that it is five years since the banking crisis and several ...

Yesterday I contributed to the second stage on the debate of the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013. The first Dáil vote on the Bill is now expected after Order of Business on Tuesday after 5pm. For those interested in the progress of this important legislation below are my remarks. “Minister, I am personally not in favour of abortion. That is my strongly held view. But I am not here to legislate for me. Especially not on this issue. I have a duty and responsibility to legislate for citizens – in this case pregnant women whose lives are at risk. So, I and Sinn Fein will support the Protection of Life in Pregnancy Bill. Sinn Féin believes that Irish society has a responsibility to not only address the issue of abortion but also to address the fact that thousands of Irish women travel to Britain each year for abortions. We also believe that all possible means of education and support services should be put in place to prevent crisis pregnancies. Sinn Féin ...

  Mise with Mayor Cathal King     M ind M indR – A Mental health directory   Further to my tweets from Tallaght about Mayor Cathal King’s launch of a unique and ground-breaking initiative on Mental Health. Last year Cathal proposed that the Council develop an app for the Iphone and android phones providing a directory of mental health services for the area. The idea was to provide easy access to services by location, type, age group, useful links and emergency services. After a lot of hard work by the council’s IT department and with the support of a variety of other organisations, including Comhairle na nÓg, South Dublin County’s Youth Council , this morning the app - Mind MindR - was launched. The iPhone version is up and running and the android version will be out within days. It would be brilliant if this idea could be replicated across the state and across the island. Niall Ó Donnghaile has tweeted to say he is investigating developing...

As those who follow twitter or my blog know I like to walk and to cycle. My schedule doesn’t allow for me to do these as often as I would like but when the opportunity presents itself I jump in with both feet. This is bike week. It’s an annual event organised here and elsewhere around the world to promote cycling and through it encourage a healthier life style for citizens. Wednesday was the third annual Dublin City Lunchtime Cycle event for workers who spend their days in and around the centre of the city. Along with a half dozen comrades from the Dáil I joined thousands of others in bright beautiful sunshine to take the 5k cycle from Grand canal Square. The craic was good and it was a thoroughly enjoyable half hour. A great way to see Dublin and stay healthy.

The Dundalk Gateway Report is one of a series of nine such reports covering the performance of the Gateways that exist across the state. Gateways were established to provide a strategically placed centre of economic growth and to facilitate these areas to grow to their full potential. The Dundalk Gateway region which covers Dundalk Town and north Louth faces a number of unique challenges including the fact that is exists along a border area. This has played a key role in how Dundalk has evolved and has heavily influenced the local economy. It is especially important in the time ahead that there is greater co-operation across the border and that initiatives like the Memorandum of Understanding between Louth County Council and Newry and Mourne District Council are expanded. The fact that Dundalk is located almost mid-way between the two largest urban centres and economic zones on the island – Dublin and Belfast – is an advantage that must be exploited more.. The Dundalk Gat...

The debate on the future of the Seanad continued this week in the Dáil. Last Thursday the Taoiseach moved the 32nd Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013. It contains 40 amendments to the Constitution which will remove all references to the Seanad. It is thought that the amendment will be put to the vote in a referendum in October. If passed the amendment will abolish the Seanad after the next general election and before the first sitting of new Dáil. It will allow for some 75 deletions of the constitution dealing with the composition of the Seanad, and which cover relations between the Dáil and the Seanad in respect of legislation.   The government intends pushing the Bill through its second and remaining stages by the end of the week. In my contribution to the government’s plan to abolish the Seanad I said: “The real starting point of this discussion should have been about how best we can organise our democracy and governmental sy...