Tag Archives: Clare TD

Moves to increase the living alone allowance and introduce a Christmas bonus payment are proof older people have not been forgotten in Budget 2015, Clare TD Michael McNamara has asserted. “The slow but steady pick-up in the economy has allowed us to give something back in the recent Budget. We have been able to offer some relief to our older people in particular, who built this country and sacrificed so much in recent years,” he said in reaction to comments on the issues by Minister Brenda Howlin. “I’m glad to see the introduction of a 25% Christmas bonus, which pensioners here in Clare will receive this Christmas. “People around the country are at last beginning to feel some benefit from the recovery, and we want older people to be fully part of that recovery. Labour has always been deeply committed to supporting pensioners and older citizens, and the package of measures we have announced in this Budget show we have …

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, chaired by Deputy Pat Breen, is to meet on this Wednesday afternoon with both the Ambassador of Palestine to Ireland and the Ambassador of Israel to Ireland. On the agenda for discussion is the situation in Gaza, as well as the wider Middle East Peace Process. Palestinian Ambassador H.E. Ahmad Abdelrazek will address the Committee at 2:30 pm and engagement with Israeli Ambassador H.E. Boaz Modai will follow at approximately 4 pm. Committee chair, Fine Gael TD Pat Breen, said, “This committee has a long-standing interest in Israel-Palestine relations and has monitored recent events closely. It is with optimism that we welcome the recent cessation in violence brokered last week. “Through constant contact with both ambassadors during the conflict, members were keen to stress that both sides need to end their use of violence immediately in order to spare ordinary citizens on all sides the terrible consequences of war. At tomorrow’s meeting, …

Clare Fianna Fáil TD, Timmy Dooley TD has deplored the Government’s failure to make any attempt to replace two support schemes for people with disabilities that were discontinued last year. The Mobility Allowance and the Motorised Transport Grant were closed to new applicants from February 2013. The Government promised last June that these schemes would be replaced. “There was outcry when the Government discontinued these two important supports for people with disabilities were cancelled last year. Almost 400 people in the Mid West are dependent on the Mobility Allowance alone. They are still in limbo as the Government drags its heels on establishing alternative support schemes. It is completely unacceptable that a year later, these people are still waiting,” said Deputy Dooley. “The Government first announced the cancellation of these schemes early last year, describing them as ‘obsolete’. It caused great distress among people with disabilities who depend on such support to maintain a level of independence. The Mobility Allowance …

ELEMENTS within a Government that was damaged by defections after the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill may not have much appetite for a referendum on gay marriage, but it is on the horizon and has been labelled by Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore as “civil rights issue of our generation”. Taoiseach Enda Kenny favours same sex marriage too, but when he spoke to The Champion on New Year’s Eve, Clare Fine Gael TD Pat Breen said he’d like some time to pass before the country’s next referendum. “I think that people are a little bit tired of referendums at this stage. Maybe a year without a referendum might be useful to focus on jobs and the action plan that is coming into place in 2014. Obviously, this will be another contentious issue for some people and we had the Protection of Life Bill last year. Sometimes these things can take your mind off the issues that we have to deal with …