Meath East TD Regina Doherty has very much welcomed the Government announcement that it is to review the case for a north/south electricity interconnector.
An international expert commission will be established to review the project with a view to reporting back within six months.
The Minister for Energy, Pat Rabitte, has said he will finalise and announce the composition of the three-person expert Commission within the next few days.
"It is vital that the terms of reference for this review are wide enough and do not just concentrate on financial costs. I want to thank the minister for his attention to this issue issue since his appointment"
"There is deep frustration in rural communities on this issue and how it has unfolded over the past few years and this is an opportunity to right some wrongs"
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Monday, July 04, 2011
Future of Meath is Reliant on Our Infrastructure
Irish Rail publishes new draft timetable reducing commuter train services from the M3 Parkway at Dunboyne to Dublin.
Meath East TD, Regina Doherty has written to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar highlighting this issue and seeking assistance to rectify this situation on behalf of Meath residents.
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According to Doherty “it is evident from the proposed new timetable Irish Rail are proposing to reduce the frequency of its train service from September 2011. Furthermore there is no proposal from Irish Rail to introduce peak-time commuter services arriving or departing from either Connolly or Pearse St Dart Stations. ”
“This Train Service is a vital piece of infrastructure for County Meath and the future development of this County and I know the Minster will assist in conveying this important message to Irish Rail.”
Meath East TD, Regina Doherty has written to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar highlighting this issue and seeking assistance to rectify this situation on behalf of Meath residents.
According to Doherty “it is evident from the proposed new timetable Irish Rail are proposing to reduce the frequency of its train service from September 2011. Furthermore there is no proposal from Irish Rail to introduce peak-time commuter services arriving or departing from either Connolly or Pearse St Dart Stations. ”In her letter to the Minister, Deputy Doherty went further to request the Ministers assistance in conveying her message to Irish Rail in the hopes that they will review their draft timetables. She believes “there will continue to be lack of patronage for this service if this change is allowed to occur.”
Doherty went further to warn that “Should this change become permanent it would have a considerable negative impact on the financial viability of extending the Dunboyne M3 Parkway service to Navan.”
Doherty is 100% convinced of the importance of the M3 Parkway service to County Meath and for the need to continue the service to Navan.
195 Additional BTEI Places for Meath under Government’s Jobs Initiative
Deputy Regina Doherty is pleased with the announcement this morning from the Minister from Education and Skills that an extra 195 Back to Education Initiative (BTEI) places have been announced. These places will be made available the Meath VEC under the Governments Jobs Initiative which was announced last month.
These places will commence in September 2011 and brings the total number of BTEI places in Meath to 449 part-time flexible learning opportunities.
Speaking of this welcome addition Deputy Doherty states “This is a great opportunity for people in Meath to re-skill, up-skill and re-enter the workplace as quickly as possible.”
“These part-time places will provide people with further education and specific vocational skills. It also enables Meath VEC to increase and build on their important role in providing educational opportunities to those individuals who wish to improve their employment prospects”
“Individuals interested in taking part in the BTEI should contact Meath VEC for their course that begins in September” states Doherty.
These places will commence in September 2011 and brings the total number of BTEI places in Meath to 449 part-time flexible learning opportunities.
Speaking of this welcome addition Deputy Doherty states “This is a great opportunity for people in Meath to re-skill, up-skill and re-enter the workplace as quickly as possible.”
“These part-time places will provide people with further education and specific vocational skills. It also enables Meath VEC to increase and build on their important role in providing educational opportunities to those individuals who wish to improve their employment prospects”
“Individuals interested in taking part in the BTEI should contact Meath VEC for their course that begins in September” states Doherty.
New Secondary School for Ashbourne
Announcement is part of a plan to establish 40 schools nationally.
Fine Gael Deputy for Meath East, Regina Doherty, has welcomed the Government announcement to establish a new second level school in Ashbourne County Meath.
“This announcement is very good news for parents and young people in Meath East. I am delighted that the needs that exist in Ashbourne have been recognised and will be addressed sooner rather than later. ”
“This is part of a plan of a plan to build 40 new primary and secondary schools nationally in the next six years and is a very clear articulation of the Government’s commitment to focus on key areas such as education, despite limited resources.”
“By building these schools the Government is responding to increased pressure in the education system as a result of the growing school going population. The Department of Education is predicting an increase of over 45,050 primary pupils and 24,900 post-primary pupils by the start of the 2017/18 school year.”
“Seventeen of the new schools will be in the Dublin area with a further 12 in the computer belt of Wicklow, Kildare, Meath and Louth. Six new schools will be established in Cork, three in Galway and one in each Cavan and Wexford. These new schools will be in addition to the seven new primary schools opened nationally in autumn 2010.”
“Many of the new schools will be sixteen-classroom primary schools and post-primary schools and post primary schools that can cater for up to 1,000 students. The new schools are estimated to cost approximately €380million and the programme of delivery will include some PPP projects. There will also be additional school extension projects which have been necessitated by growing school population”
Fine Gael Deputy for Meath East, Regina Doherty, has welcomed the Government announcement to establish a new second level school in Ashbourne County Meath.
“This announcement is very good news for parents and young people in Meath East. I am delighted that the needs that exist in Ashbourne have been recognised and will be addressed sooner rather than later. ”
“This is part of a plan of a plan to build 40 new primary and secondary schools nationally in the next six years and is a very clear articulation of the Government’s commitment to focus on key areas such as education, despite limited resources.”
“By building these schools the Government is responding to increased pressure in the education system as a result of the growing school going population. The Department of Education is predicting an increase of over 45,050 primary pupils and 24,900 post-primary pupils by the start of the 2017/18 school year.”
“Seventeen of the new schools will be in the Dublin area with a further 12 in the computer belt of Wicklow, Kildare, Meath and Louth. Six new schools will be established in Cork, three in Galway and one in each Cavan and Wexford. These new schools will be in addition to the seven new primary schools opened nationally in autumn 2010.”
“Many of the new schools will be sixteen-classroom primary schools and post-primary schools and post primary schools that can cater for up to 1,000 students. The new schools are estimated to cost approximately €380million and the programme of delivery will include some PPP projects. There will also be additional school extension projects which have been necessitated by growing school population”
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Doherty Calls on Toibin to resign as Chairperson of The Save Navan Hospital Action Group
Meath East Fine Gael TD Regina Doherty has written to Deputy Peadar Tobin to ask him to step down as Chairperson of The Save Navan Hospital Group for the sake of the integrity of the group.
“I am very disappointed by the Sinn Fein deputy’s scare mongering tactics and emotive language he used in both a press release and media interviews this morning. All along people were concerned that confusion could creep into our hospital campaign by having a political activist leading the committee. Some people even went as far as to say that it was being high jacked as a political platform with which to fight the last election.
“I disagreed with most people, as I felt that Peadar Tobin was different and publically congratulated him on the campaign back last October. I am sad to say today, that I was wrong. It is very disingenuous to go on radio and release statements claiming one thing, when you know the reality is different. That’s playing politics and I for one think the 10,000 people who marched on Navan last October (of whom I was one), deserve more from their publicly elected representatives.
“As a new TD Peadar has a platform with which to hold this current government to account. I feel that the campaign to save our hospital should be above politics as we are all looking for the same thing – a vibrant hospital in the heart of our community. That is my priority and I will continue to fight for that aim.”
“I am very disappointed by the Sinn Fein deputy’s scare mongering tactics and emotive language he used in both a press release and media interviews this morning. All along people were concerned that confusion could creep into our hospital campaign by having a political activist leading the committee. Some people even went as far as to say that it was being high jacked as a political platform with which to fight the last election.
“I disagreed with most people, as I felt that Peadar Tobin was different and publically congratulated him on the campaign back last October. I am sad to say today, that I was wrong. It is very disingenuous to go on radio and release statements claiming one thing, when you know the reality is different. That’s playing politics and I for one think the 10,000 people who marched on Navan last October (of whom I was one), deserve more from their publicly elected representatives.
“As a new TD Peadar has a platform with which to hold this current government to account. I feel that the campaign to save our hospital should be above politics as we are all looking for the same thing – a vibrant hospital in the heart of our community. That is my priority and I will continue to fight for that aim.”
Doherty Urges Students to apply as soon as possible for Student Grant Schemes
TD for Meath East Deputy Regina Doherty has today urged students of Meath to apply for Student Grant Schemes as soon as possible.
This statement comes as a result of an announcement made by the Department of Education and Skills of the Student Grant Scheme for 2011/2012. It was announced in May that there would be an over-haul of the student grant scheme. In the first major step towards this the existing four grant schemes have been replaced by one unified grant scheme this year.
“This is the announcement that students have been waiting for. Almost 38,000 students, well over half of the expected number of applicants will be able to apply on line this year.”
The grants online facility has been rolled out to an extra 24 grant awarding bodies giving a total of 35 in all now using the system. The system is available through www.studentfinance.ie
Deputy Doherty wishes to inform those students attending college next year that “Meath VEC and Meath County Council are two such bodies that are included in the grantsonline facility”
For those students who have to wait a little longer, next year is when a single grant awarding authority will become operational in all of Ireland. CDVEC was recently announced as the authority that will after a competitive process.
Deputy Regina Doherty urges all those finished their Leaving Cert who think they may be eligible for a grant next year to apply online now.
“Early applications can prevent delays in receiving maintenance grants. Previously those who have waited until very late in the process, frequently until after the CAO offers were out, have experienced major delays. I would also urge those individuals to ensure that the forms are correctly completed and that they send in all the corresponding paperwork”
The Department have stated that in some cases 60% of applications have to be returned for incompleteness or there are errors.
“With Meath VEC being one of the grant awarding bodies involved in the grantonline scheme this will go a long way to preventing those problems for students of Meath as the programme used checks the data for errors as you enter it.”
There has been little change elsewhere in the grant scheme only in reference to the change introduced by the previous Government under Budget 2011. This reduces the qualifying distance criterion for non-adjacent rate from 24km to 45km.
“I would urge all Leaving Cert Students and potential college goers to log on to www.studentfinanace.ie an complete their applications asap.”
Doherty welcomes Jobbridge, The National Internship Programme
Deputy Regina Doherty has welcomed the launch of the Government’s new internship scheme, which will provide 5,000 places for people who are unemployed and are struggling to access the jobs market.
“JobBridge, the new National Internship Programme, is a hugely welcome initiative, which will help thousands of people who feel stuck on the live register gain access to the jobs market. Hundreds of companies have already expressed interest in the programme, ranging from semi-state bodies to multinational corporations.”
It has been announced that about 300 organisations have indicated that they will take on 1,000 interns between them.
Deputy Doherty states “This is a hugely positive start and a strong indication that the interest in the scheme will be quite significant. Any person who has been on the Live Register for at least three months is eligible to apply for the scheme.”
Internships are set to last for a period six or nine months and the interns will receive an allowance of €50 a week, on top of their existing social welfare entitlements. This top-up will be covered by the Department of Social Protection, meaning there will be no additional cost for employers. This Scheme will last for a period of two years and there are safeguards put in place to ensure that employers do not exploit interns.
For job seekers, the programme offers invaluable hands-on real experience and access to contacts and references that can only open doors to the possibility of securing full time employment. And for the companies involved, the scheme allows them to bring talented and enthusiastic individuals into their organisation.
“Following the announcement of the Jobs Initiative last month this scheme is another measure that has been introduced by the Government to combat the state of unemployment in this country. The creation of good quality internships, spread throughout the country is a great way to support both small companies ensuring that they have access to well trained, experienced people who are ready to take up full-time job opportunities when they are created.”
From this Friday, prospective interns will be able to go online and check out the range of places up for grabs. Interested parties can log on to www.jobbridge.ie now for more information.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Doherty Supports Government announcement of pay ceilings for CEO of Semi States and Senior Public Sector Posts
Meath East TD Deputy Regina Doherty welcomes the announcement made by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin TD, to introduce and implement pay ceilings for higher posts across the public service and for CEO posts in Commercial State Companies.
Deputy Doherty states that “It is necessary for those that hold high offices across the public sector show leadership in the severe economic times we face. I believe that this legislation is an example of that. It is a testament to the public that this Government are not going to shy away from the tough decisions needed to get our public finances back on track and that we will do so in a fair and equitable manner .”
“I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach along with all cabinet members have already led by example, by reducing their salary rates on entering office.”
The implementation of pay caps, which were announced but never introduced by the previous government, will mean that a general pay ceiling of €200,000 will be introduced for future appointment to higher positions across the public service. There will also be a pay ceiling of €250,000 for future appointments to CEO posts within Commercial State Companies.
For those that already hold these positions the Government has decided to seek voluntary waiver of salary of 15% or by a lesser amount if the application of the full 15%reduction would bring the salary levels of those individuals to below the proposed pay ceiling of €200,000. This waiver will include organisations such as NAMA/NTMA.
Deputy Doherty states that “It is necessary for those that hold high offices across the public sector show leadership in the severe economic times we face. I believe that this legislation is an example of that. It is a testament to the public that this Government are not going to shy away from the tough decisions needed to get our public finances back on track and that we will do so in a fair and equitable manner .”
“I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach along with all cabinet members have already led by example, by reducing their salary rates on entering office.”
The implementation of pay caps, which were announced but never introduced by the previous government, will mean that a general pay ceiling of €200,000 will be introduced for future appointment to higher positions across the public service. There will also be a pay ceiling of €250,000 for future appointments to CEO posts within Commercial State Companies.
For those that already hold these positions the Government has decided to seek voluntary waiver of salary of 15% or by a lesser amount if the application of the full 15%reduction would bring the salary levels of those individuals to below the proposed pay ceiling of €200,000. This waiver will include organisations such as NAMA/NTMA.
Doherty Welcomes the Cabinet Decision to opt into EU Directive on Victims of Crime
Deputy Regina Doherty welcomes the decision by the Cabinet to opt into an EU Directive (published on the 18th May 2011) on the victims of crime which will establish minimum standards on rights, support and protection of these victims.
This directive will be put before both Houses of the Oireachtas in the form of the Victims Bill for approval by the members.
Deputy Doherty states that “By opting into this Directive it will mean that Ireland will have the opportunity to play a full role in shaping the Directive in negotiation over the next 18months.”
This Directive and thus this Bill will create a broader concept of what constitutes the victim of a crime, to encompass family members of victims that have died as a result of a criminal act; to ensure that victims receive sufficient information in a form that they can understand to enable them to participate as fully as possible in the criminal process; to ensure that they are recognised and treated in a respectful, sensitive and professional manner, put in contact with any public authority, victim support or restorative justice service.
“This is a positive step in the right direction to protect the victims of crimes and to treat them with the respect and sensitivity they deserve to allow them to seek justice for criminal actions perpetrated against them.”
This directive will be put before both Houses of the Oireachtas in the form of the Victims Bill for approval by the members.
Deputy Doherty states that “By opting into this Directive it will mean that Ireland will have the opportunity to play a full role in shaping the Directive in negotiation over the next 18months.”
This Directive and thus this Bill will create a broader concept of what constitutes the victim of a crime, to encompass family members of victims that have died as a result of a criminal act; to ensure that victims receive sufficient information in a form that they can understand to enable them to participate as fully as possible in the criminal process; to ensure that they are recognised and treated in a respectful, sensitive and professional manner, put in contact with any public authority, victim support or restorative justice service.
“This is a positive step in the right direction to protect the victims of crimes and to treat them with the respect and sensitivity they deserve to allow them to seek justice for criminal actions perpetrated against them.”
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Meath East Town Named Irelands Best Kept Town
Meath East TD Regina Doherty today (21st June) congratulates Moynalty, County Meath for winning Irelands Best Kept Town award. The announcement was made at Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park Dublin by Minister of State at the Departments of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Fergus O’Dowd.
Deputy Doherty states “An award like this is testament to the pride that the people of Moynalty have in their town. It is a great achievement that will make the town more attractive for all in the community and indeed visitors to enjoy. ”
As well as winning the overall award for being Ireland’s best kept town, Moynalty was also awarded the Best Kept Village category. These awards are highly sought after and are a step up from the Tidy Towns competitions that have been running for the past number of years. To qualify for the Best Kept Town competition the town must have done very well in their Tidy Towns competition, which are judged on cleanliness, the outward appearance of buildings, the presentation of roads and public facilitles and the natural environment
“The Tidy Towns competition have, for years served as a platform for households, shops, schools and other groups in the community to come together and take part in an event that will benefit all residents. Receiving this award can only encourage the residents of Moynalty to keep the town looking as good as it does now. I want to congratulate all those who took part and put in such a great effort to win this award, it is a wonderful achievement.”
Deputy Doherty states “An award like this is testament to the pride that the people of Moynalty have in their town. It is a great achievement that will make the town more attractive for all in the community and indeed visitors to enjoy. ”
As well as winning the overall award for being Ireland’s best kept town, Moynalty was also awarded the Best Kept Village category. These awards are highly sought after and are a step up from the Tidy Towns competitions that have been running for the past number of years. To qualify for the Best Kept Town competition the town must have done very well in their Tidy Towns competition, which are judged on cleanliness, the outward appearance of buildings, the presentation of roads and public facilitles and the natural environment
“The Tidy Towns competition have, for years served as a platform for households, shops, schools and other groups in the community to come together and take part in an event that will benefit all residents. Receiving this award can only encourage the residents of Moynalty to keep the town looking as good as it does now. I want to congratulate all those who took part and put in such a great effort to win this award, it is a wonderful achievement.”
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