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Tag Archives: Timmy Dooley

University Hospital Limerick.

‘Mind-boggling’ to overlook 96 beds

THE failure of the Health Service Executive (HSE) to even mention the provision of a new 96-bed block at University Hospital Limerick in its capital projects plans for 2018 has been described as “mind-boggling” by a Clare TD. Commenting on the publication of the HSE 2018 Service Plan, Deputy Timmy Dooley has expressed his disappointment with the fact there is no reference to the long-awaited new project at UHL under its capital infrastructure section. The only reference to capital projects for UHL concerns the redevelopment of the old emergency department (ED), which the plan states will be completed next year and will be fully operational by the first quarter of 2019. A UL Hospitals’ Group spokesman stated the development of the 96-bed block at UHL has been approved in principle by the HSE, subject to the normal conditions for such public works and subject to future capital funding availability. The spokesman outlined that the first stage of the process is …

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Shannon caught in a tailspin

SHANNON Airport is set to record a decrease in its number of passengers this year, unless there is a late improvement. Figures for the first three-quarters of 2017 show the number of passengers was 5.2% less than for the first three-quarters of 2016. It is a disappointing state of affairs, almost five years after its separation from the Dublin Airport Authority. According to the CSO statistics, 1,257,996 passengers were handled by Shannon in the first nine months of the year. This was almost 70,000 below the figure of 1,327,313 for the same period of 2016. It was also lower than the 1,297,080 that travelled through the airport in the first nine months of 2015. When Shannon was separated from Dublin, its business plan was to have 2.3 million passengers per annum in 2017, a figure the airport is very far away from achieving. The decline in passenger numbers at Shannon is in marked contrast to the other airports for which …

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Decision soon on Killaloe school revamp

A decision is expected to be made soon that would speed up the much needed redevelopment of St Anne’s Community College in Killaloe, according to Clare TD Timmy Dooley. Deputy Dooley made the comments after receiving a parliamentary reply from the Minister for Education which outlined the current state of play with regard to the construction project at the school. “I am led to believe that the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, which has been tasked with delivering this project, have now completed their report, and it has been sent to the Department of Education for a final decision. At present, this report is being reviewed by officials in the Minister’s office and in the forward planning unit of the Department. “The next step is the awarding of the tender to the successful bidder, and then construction can commence. “This will be the fourth extension of the college since its establishment in 1987, and one that is urgently …

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Local News Matters Now More Than Ever

INVESTMENT in quality journalism is essential to combat the rise of so-called fake news, a conference in Limerick has been told. The use of click-bait and fake news to drive traffic to online news and social media sites, allied to a lack of media literacy amongst many members of the public, were some of the factors cited as influencing the rise of this phenomenon at the event in King John’s Castle. Organised by the Irish South-West Branch of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII), the conference entitled Local News Matters featured a panel of speakers offering different perspectives on the theme of ‘The Truth in the News? The role of quality journalism in an era of fake news’. The panelists were Emma O’Kelly, RTE’s Education Correspondent, Cian Connaughton, President of the PRII and Fiona McGarry, Producer of Clare FM’s flagship current affairs programme, Morning Focus. The debate was chaired by Nandi O’Sullivan, …

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Timmy Dooley

Jobs transferred into Limerick

THE Dublin Airport Authority’s (DAA) Shared Services Centre, which employs 56 people at Shannon, is about to transfer to Limerick. Clare TD Timmy Dooley said he is disappointed that Shannon Group haven’t managed to accommodate Shared Services. In a DAA statement this week, it noted, “DAA’s Shared Services Centre, which currently employs 56 people at Shannon Airport, informed staff and stakeholders last November that it is to relocate its operations to a new office development in Plassey Technology Park in Limerick”. Outlining the thinking behind the move, the DAA added, “The move to the new offices will provide a more modern, fit-for-purpose location for Shared Services. “Shared Services has outgrown its existing premises and this move will provide the business with a suitable base to continue to develop and expand the services that it provides to the DAA group. The move to its new location should be completed in the second half of the year.” DAA’s Shared Services provides a …

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Rural Clare’s future jeopardised by ‘dire broadband’

HUGE tracts of Clare are on the wrong side of the so-called ‘digital divide’ according to local politicians and business people, with concerns this is hampering economic development and will continue to do so for years to come. Research published this week by switcher.ie shows that there is an average download speed in Clare of 17.4 Megabits per second (Mbps). This is the 12th quickest of the 26 counties and while this is dramatically quicker than last-placed Longford (just 7.25Mbps), it is also way behind first-placed Dublin (44.85Mbps) and also some distance behind Waterford (27.9Mbps) and Kildare (27.36Mbps). The research also shows that Shannon, home to companies such as IT giant Intel, has an average download speed of 51.64 Mbps, the eighth quickest city or town in Ireland. While the figure in Shannon is almost three times quicker than the average for the county, there is no doubt that many rural areas are experiencing much slower speeds. Fianna Fáil TD …

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Clare TDs to face councillors

CLARE’S newly elected Oireachtas members are to be invited to the next meeting of Clare County Council, where councillors will put funding for the county’s roads “on the shopping list”. The council is also set to write to the Government seeking funding of €1.6 million towards maintaining the roads. This comes after councillors last month sought to raise a loan of the same amount from the Department of the Environment, with the council currently awaiting a decision. At this week’s council meeting, Councillor Christy Curtin urged that they request the Government to reactivate local road grant allocations. He commented that in the wake of the withdrawal of funding allocations for the Local Road Improvement Scheme and the suspension of the Community Involvement Scheme, people in rural Ireland “aren’t getting the benefits of other citizens”. Figures released by the council show that the Local Improvement Scheme funding dropped from €906,000 in 2009 and 2010 to €302,000 in 2011, the last time …

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‘Clare FF got it wrong’ – Killeen

Clare Fianna Fáil got their General Election strategy wrong, according to former Defence Minister and Fianna Fáil Deputy, Tony Killeen. His views are at odds with those of local Fianna Fáil director of elections, Gerry Reidy, who believes the entry of Dr Michael Harty into the Dáil race cost the party two seats. Speaking during a General Election debate, organised by The Clare Champion in Cáirde, Ennis, on Monday night, Mr Killeen said, “A lot of Fianna Fáil people are very exercised by the fact we got almost 3,000 more first preferences than Fine Gael and, even allowing for a slightly better transfer to Fine Gael from Labour, we only won one seat. “One person described it as a ‘monumental failure’. I don’t agree with him. The first step for Fianna Fáil in Clare is to admit we got it wrong. “I said previously that if we didn’t divide the vote more evenly, we would be in trouble and, if …

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