Tag Archives: Oireachtas

Meetings with Oireachtas members highlight Clare farming issues ahead of Budget 2022, reports Dan Danaher CLARE farmers are being urged to lobby local Oireachtas members to tackle agricultural issues in the run up to the Budget. As part of a series of meetings with Oireachtas members, Clare IFA chairman, Tom Lane met Deputy Joe Carey, Deputy Violet Anne-Wynne, Deputy Cathal Crowe, Senator Timmy Dooley and Senator Martin Conway to discuss a number of key farming issues. While Oireachtas members were not in a position to give any firm commitments ahead of the Budget, they have pledged to raise IFA concerns with the relevant government ministers. Speaking to The Clare Champion, Mr Lane urged farmers to familiarise themselves with the IFA’s Pre-Budget Submission and CAP proposals, with a view to voicing concerns or making proposals for improvement in agricultural policies to their local Oireachtas member. He stressed farming is entering a critical period with a number of key issues to be …

DATA published by the Department of Health show that 83 women with Clare addresses had termination of pregnancy procedures carried out in Ireland in 2020. The figure is an increase of ten on 2019, the first year for which statistics are available on procedures under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act. The increase, of almost 14%, bucks the national trend which showed a slight year-on-year decrease from 6,666 to 6,577. Within the Mid-Western region, 278 women with Limerick addresses had terminations in 2020, an increase of 52 on 2019. Those who gave Tipperary addresses accounted for 161 of the national total last year, down 13 on the figure for 2019. Nationally, 97 procedures were carried out last year because of a fatal foetal abnormality; 6,455 in early pregnancy under Section 12 of the Act. Twenty were related to a risk to life or health while five related to a risk to life or health in an emergency. Under …

CLARE’s Oireachtas members need to address deficits in services for people who have suffered from various forms of abuse as highlighted by South Galway mother-of-three Sourney Linnane. That’s according to Clare Haven manager, Dr Siobhan O’Connor, who stressed it is vital that the voices of women who suffered from coercive control and other forms of domestic abuse must be heard and addressed in the formation of a new updated national strategy on domestic sexual and gender based violence in Ireland. Dr O’Connor acknowledged there was a huge increase in domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic, which was addressed with additional funding for Clare Haven from Tusla, Clare County Council and the Department of Community and Rural Development. There was a 21% in the demand for the service across the board, the Clare Haven helpline numbers went up by 24% and the numbers using their refuge increased by more than 20% from December 2019 to December 2020. “20% more women and …

SENATOR Róisín Garvey has pledged to arrange a meeting of the seven Oireachtas members to discuss how the key issues facing Clare can be addressed. In an interview with the Clare Champion, Senator Garvey stressed the three new senators and four Dáil deputies had to work together to revitalise Shannon Airport, tourism and small and medium enterprises that have been hit hard by Covid-19 restrictions. “It is very important that the seven Oireachtas members work together. I think there is a lot on rural development, remote working and Greenways such as the Ennis to Kilkee Greenway in the new Programme for Government. “If we would get wifi hubs in villages and towns, that would help people to work remotely. There are also plans to upgrade derelict buildings in villages, which has been difficult to do because it is very bureaucratic and expensive up to now. “It is important to bring people back to live in towns and villages,” she said. …

ENNISTYMON’S Martin Conway has retained his Seanad seat making him the only successful Clare candidate in the race. The Fine Gael member secured 90 first preference votes and was elected to the Administrative Panel on the sixteenth count, on a total of 149,765 ballots. Senator Conway has been a high-profile member of the Upper House since 2011. Earlier today, Clare candidate Ann Marie Flanaghan, a social inclusion campaigner, bowed out on the sixth count for the Administrative Panel. Ms Flanagan, a Corofin native, polled 22 first preference votes and was on 25, 306 by count six. The Ennistymon resident had been nominated by the Living Movement Ireland In a Tweet following her elimination, Ms Flanagan said: “Very proud of the 1st preference, given I am an un-elected rural independent and female.” Yesterday (Thursday), both Timmy Dooley, former Fianna Fáil TD and Michael Vaughan, prominent Lahinch hotelier, were eliminated from the race for seats on the Industrial and Commercial Panel.   …

The Joint Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government will meet on Wednesday to discuss the Census 2016 results. The primary focus of the meeting is to examine the trends and developments in housing across Ireland and identify how this may impact upon existing housing policy. Officials from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) will address the Committee. The latest census figures are of significant importance to the Committee. The Housing in Ireland report is the first of eleven thematic reports from Census 2016 and will form the focus of the meeting, The report provides data and analysis on the housing landscape in Ireland over the last five years from April 2011 to April 2016. The census found that there are almost 260,000 vacant homes in the State and Committee members will be keen to discuss this breakdown.

WHILE Michael McNamara claimed last week that the Labour Party leadership went out of its way to stop him running for election to the Seanad, the party has denied anything underhand has happened. Also, Seamus Ryan, who served as director of elections for Labour in Clare, has defended the party, saying it is no longer in a strong enough position to be putting forward multiple candidates. In a post on social media last week, Mr McNamara wrote, “If there was a democratic contest for the party nomination on the Agricultural Panel, I think I’d have won. So did the party leadership, so there was no contest.” Also, in an interview last week, Mr McNamara, referring to senior figures in the party, said, “It’s quite clear that not alone did I not have their backing but they went out of their way to prevent me from running”. He also claimed that he was being paid back for not being what he …

ALREADY contentious, Shannon based Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy has turned up the political heat regarding the potential sale of the State’s share in Aer Lingus, as he has vowed to resign the party whip if the Government does sell to IAG. He made his comments after IAG CEO Willie Walsh addressed the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. Mr Walsh told the Committee that in the event of an IAG takeover, Shannon would get a five-year guarantee of Heathrow connectivity. However, after being quizzed by Senator Mulcahy, he acknowledged that he was not offering any guarantees around the preservation of the Aer Lingus services between Shannon and the US. While Mr Walsh did say that transatlantic services from Shannon have “huge potential” and that the numbers travelling on them are likely to increase in the summertime, this didn’t cut much ice with Senator Mulcahy. In a statement released shortly after the Committee sitting he said, “I cannot support …