I wrote the following article for the Irish Mirror on 4th November, 2013… This coming week in the Dáil, TDs will be dealing with the Finance Bill. Believe it or not, one of the biggest losers in the Finance Bill is actually separated parents. Out of the blue on Budget day, Minister Noonan announced an end to the One Parent Family Tax Credit. This tax credit is Read More
I wrote the following piece for the Irish Mirror on Monday, 4th October, 2013…. Now, I know pensions policy is not the most exciting thing to be reading about in the newspaper. But I’m going to tell you about it anyway. Just to make your blood boil. You see an awful lot of taxpayer’s money- between €2 and €3 billion as a matter of fact – is spent Read More
I wrote the following piece for the Irish Mirror on Monday 4th November, 2013… Wouldn’t the Revenue Commissioners break your heart? They didn’t cover themselves in glory when introducing the Local Property Tax this summer – giving guidance on property values that they couldn’t even stand over themselves. And making it very difficult and, in some cases, very costly to pay the tax. Anybody would think they didn’t Read More
DÁIL QUESTION NO 158, 161 and 162 To ask the Minister for Finance the measures he is targeting in 2014 to give effect to the commitment in the Programme for Government to cap taxpayers’ subsidies for pension schemes which deliver pension income of more than €60,000; the total saving that will be made in 2014 in implementing this policy with a breakdown of the saving for each measure; Read More
Well done on showing up and taking a stand. It’s a pity we are not meeting in better circumstances and that you are being forced to protest against these disgraceful cuts. Let’s get one thing clear from the start. Older people have been playing their part in getting the country back off its knees. Often without complaint and without protest, they put up with Read More
City Councillors recently approved the next phase of the dublinbikes initiative, and stations will now be provided to the East and West of the City Centre in the Docklands and as far as Heuston Station. All new stations are expected to be in use by July next year. The stations nearest to our area will be on the North Circular Road — one close to the junction with Dorset Street, Read More
A new over-bridge is planned for the level crossing linking Finglas and Cabra to replace Reilly’s bridge. A new road will be built linking the southern side of Ratoath Road to Ballyboggan Rd. Iarnrod Eireann expects the bridge to be completed by 2015. This should significantly improve car and cycling journey times on this route. It should also allow more train services to operate through Broombridge, as resources allow. Read More
There is a growing crisis in our child welfare services. The number of child welfare cases referred to social workers in Ireland continues to grow but the number of social workers hasn’t increased to match. Nearly six and a half thousand children are in State care. But the dreadful reality is that we can’t be sure that all of these children are safe. Various HSE and HIQA reports have highlighted Read More
On foot of today’s announcement that Dublin City Council are no longer in a position to fund the Housing Adaptation Grant Scheme for People with a Disability and the Housing Aid for Older Person’s Grant Scheme, Deputy Róisín Shortall has branded the Government’s decision not to provide the necessary additional funding as being “not only the very worst form of austerity, but also just plain stupid”. The Dublin North-West Read More
Dublin North-West TD Róisín Shortall today welcomed the announcement that the pilot Youth Guarantee scheme will be run in Ballymun as a huge boost to the area. The pilot scheme aims to guarantee employment or education to everyone under 25 by working with local employers, FAS, the Local Employment service, the CDVEC, and the Ballymun Whitehall Area Partnership, to create opportunities in the community. Responding to the announcement, Deputy Read More