Wednesday, 30 October 2013
The Labour Party Continues To Pay The Price For Its Broken Election Promises And Betrayal Of The Electorate
The 25 councillors who have left
the Labour Party over its role in government
It’s not a list which will make good
reading for Eamon Gilmore or those still in the Labour Party…
THEJOURNAL.IE 30/10/2013
Updated 4.10pm
AS THE JUNIOR coalition party,
Labour has taken the brunt of the criticism for its role in the coalition
government over the last two-and-a-half years.
Having now passed the mid-point of
its term in government, the party has already suffered a number of high-profile
departures from its parliamentary party, including a junior health minister and
its chairman.
But at a local level Labour is also
suffering and not just in the polls.
TheJournal.ie now estimates that a total of 25 councillors or nearly 10 per cent
of its total number have left the party since 2011.
All of those directly identified
Labour’s role in government as the main or one of the reasons for their
departure. The list does not include those
who have retired or left for other reasons.
In chronological order, here is the
full list of resignations so far…
(Note: This article has been
updated noting that Paul Bell did not resign from the Labour Party
while Noel Frawley was a former councillor when he resigned his
membership. The article has also been updated to add the names of Paul O’Shea, Billy
Bourke, Bobby Dunphy, Frank McBrearty and Paddy Bourke)
2011
1.
Granard town councillor Tommy
Stokes resigned from the party in October, saying he had become
“disillusioned” with Labour in the seven months since it entered coalition. He
even revealed his intentions to vote for Seán Gallagher and not Michael D
Higgins as president.
2. In November, Clonmel councillor Gabrielle Egan quit
Labour, saying that she did not feel comfortable with the decisions the party
was making in government, less than a year after it had entered coalition.
3.
Macroom town councillor Con
Foley quit the party in December of that year, saying that it had continued
the policies of the previous administration since going into government with
Fine Gael, a move he had not originally been in favour of.
4. New Ross town councillor Bobby Dunphy resigned from
Labour over the coalition’s first Budget which he described as the “last straw”
in December of that year. Dunphy later resigned from the council altogether
resulting in the seat reverting back to Labour who co-opted one of its members
on to it. Dunphy said this was part of an agreement with local Labour members
and said his gripe was with the party’s “top brass”.
2012
5.
Things were relatively quiet until
April of last year when Mary Loftus, the mayor of Tuam, quit the
party, saying part of the
reason was Labour’s performance in
government. She also referred scathingly to Finance Minister Michael Noonan as
a “moron”.
6. Ennis town councillor Paul O’Shea tendered his
resignation from the party in September over “draconian cuts” to home and
community care.
7.
South Tipperary county councillor Darren
Ryan resigned in November, saying that Labour had “forgotten its founders
and birthplace”.
8. Fellow South Tipp councillor Billy Bourke also resigned
that month, citing disillusionment with the party and the lack of opposition to
the abolition of town councils.
9.
Clonakilty-based councillor Aidan
Pendlebury resigned in December – one of a number to quit over the Budget –
citing the “constant refusal” of the parliamentary party to listen to
councillors.
10.
Also that month, former Progressive
Democrats TD and Longford town councillor Mae Sexton, left the
Labour just two years after she joined it, citing concerns over the Budget.
11.
Midleton town councillor Tom
Cashman hit out at Labour’s broken promises and also the decisions in
relation to the Budget when he resigned in the same month.
2013
12.
The year began with Wexford
councillor and former mayor David Hynes hitting out at the party,
resigning over its policy in government. He said Labour was turning its back on
the people it claimed to represent.
13.
In March, Tipperary County
councillor Bobby Fitzgerald resigned his seat and as a member of Labour telling of his concerns over the party losing “its core values”.
14.
This summer and autumn has been a
bloodbath for Labour with a raft of resignations. In May, Limerick city
councillor and mayor Gerry McLoughlin quit the party, identifying a lack
of support for projects in his community.
15 and 16. In June two members of
Wicklow County Council, Tom Fortune and Barry Nevin, resigned after the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore failed to respond to their
request for a meeting. Fortune said that the leadership had “totally lost
touch” with councillors.
17. Also that month, Galway County
councillor Shaun Cunniffe also left the party but it wasn’t austerity which did it for him, rather it was the
party’s position on abortion and the decision to legislate for the X Case.
18. In July, Meath county
councillor Jenny McHugh defected to Fianna Fáil, saying it had become
increasingly clear that Fianna Fáil and not Labour
shared her values.
19. The former mayor of Fingal
County Council Cian O’Callaghan also resigned in July saying that Labour was
lacking a backbone. “Of course, there has to be
compromises,” he said of coalition. “But it hasn’t been fair at all.”
20. In September, Newbridge town
councillor Damian Molyneaux said he was “disillusioned with the whole
lot” when he resigned in September.
21. Also in Kildare that month, the
party lost Athy town councillor and mayor Thomas Redmond, who defected
to Sinn Féin and criticised Labour’s
“lies” and “broken promises”.
22. In October, Skibbereen town
councillor Frank Fahy quit the party, citing its arrogance in power,
comparing it to Fianna Fáil in government.
23. In the same month, Donegal
county councillor and former mayor Frank McBrearty Jr resigned from
Labour, citing broken promises by the party.
24. Yesterday, Killarney town
councillor and former mayor Seán O’Grady criticised the party’s abandonment of “red line issues”, saying the people
paying the price of austerity are the ones the party has historically protected.
First published 10.24am
Sinn Féin Mountmellick – Serving The Community
Sunday, 27 October 2013
An Ireland Of Equals? (Public Sector & Political Elites Look After Themselves)
Public sector elites made sure they didn't
lose out on bumper packages
Sunday
Independent
26
OCTOBER 2013
IT is said that the first thing the
mandarins in the Department of Finance do when they examine a Budgetary
proposal is check to see how it will affect them.
You can be pretty sure that is exactly
what happened when the Government finally got around to implementing the
commitment in the Programme for Government to limit the size of pensions that
people can build up for tax relief purposes to €60,000 a year. A way had to be found around this to ensure that retiring public servants and politicians continued to end their working days on bumper pensions.
The €60,000 a year amounts to an overall
pension pot of €2m.
Private sector employees in
common defined contribution schemes will be hit from January with the €60,000
pension limit.
But two things were done to ensure that
the big retirement incomes in the public sector were protected. First, a
complicated calculation is being used to ensure that the older the person
retiring is, the higher pension they can get out with. Those up to the age of 70 are the big winners here.
So
that looks after the judges who whinged hard last year that they would lose out
under the plans to cap pensions at just €60,000 a year.
Then there was the other little shimmy.
Defined benefit pension
entitlements accrued up to the end of this year are protected.
This applies to all public sector
employees and those in private sector defined benefit schemes. The mandarins
had to allow private sector defined benefit schemes into the party, but it is a
moot point as most are in deficit.
The
net effect of all of this is that private sector employees in common defined
contribution schemes will be hit from January with the €60,000 pension limit,
while those in the public sector won't see the limit fully applied until January
2054.
Public servants retiring in the next five
years will be able to enjoy a pension of up to €115,000.
The elites win again.
Sinn Féin Mountmellick – Serving The Community
Friday, 25 October 2013
Stanley Seeks Answers On Wind Farm Developments In Irish Midlands
Dáil debates
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority
Questions
Alternative Energy Projects
2. To ask the Minister
for Environment, Community and Local Government the proposed new guidelines for
the siting of wind farms; if he will have regulations brought forward to
protect residents who are living in areas where it is proposed to locate
commercial turbines; and if he will ensure that any relevant Heads of Bill are
brought before the Joint Committee for Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht [44943/1
My Department is currently undertaking a targeted
review of the Wind Energy Guidelines 2006 focusing on noise, proximity and
shadow flicker. In the interim, these comprehensive guidelines remain in place
to ensure that all proposed wind energy developments are subjected to careful
scrutiny by the relevant planning authority. They provide advice to planning
authorities on catering for wind energy through the development plan and
development management processes. The guidelines are also intended to ensure a
consistency of approach throughout the country in the identification of
suitable locations for wind energy development and the treatment of planning
applications for such developments.
The guidelines were issued under section 28 of
the Planning and Development Act 2000 which requires both planning authorities
and An Bord Pleanála to have regard to them in the performance of their
functions. The indicative timetable for the publication of the draft revised
guidelines is quarter 4 of 2013. These will – like all other new or revised
guidelines – go out for extensive public consultation for a period of six weeks
to two months to allow for publication of the final guidelines in 2014. All
interested parties, including the joint committee, are welcome to make written
submissions during this consultation period.
Once the consultation period is closed, the
submissions received on the draft guidelines will be considered and taken into
account in the final form of the guidelines. The final revised guidelines will
issue under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, which again
will require both planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála to have regard to
them.
Does this answer the above question?
Yes!
I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I am
raising this matter because concerns about wind farms are growing across the
midlands. Even people who support wind energy are concerned about the approach
being taken on it. The Minister of State mentioned guidelines to which projects
must have regard when seeking planning permission. She knows, however, that
there are two weaknesses in that argument. The first is the word
"guidelines" which can be pulled to whatever length one wants, like
an elastic band. Second, the term "have regard to" can mean reading
the guidelines before shredding them. That term can mean anything and is not
descriptive. We do not have an adequate regime in place. We need to have a
moratorium on siting wind farms until proper guidelines are in place. The
Government should put such guidelines in place. The Minister for
Communications, Energy and Natural Resources said recently that one company has
paused its projects for nine months. I am asking for them all to be paused
until we have regulations in place.
For quite some time, I have made it clear what
the timelines are concerning the guidelines.
I am aware of the concerns expressed. There is a
big difference between wind energy produced for export and wind energy which
will be used in the context of Ireland meeting its targets. In regard to the
wind energy produced for export, this cannot happen until agreement has been
reached between the two Governments and the policy framework being developed in
the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has been
completed. Such projects will also have to go through a rigorous planning
process. As such, no wind energy project will go ahead in the next nine months.
This cannot happen until all of the processes outlined have been completed.
Work on the policy framework being developed by the Department of
Communications, Energy and Natural Resources will be ongoing throughout next
year. People can be assured that any projects involving wind energy for export
will not be proceeding any time in the near future.
If projects involving wind energy for export are
being delayed because of policy development, should projects involving wind
energy for domestic use not also be delayed? We are talking in this regard
about huge developments. I ask that a maximum height be imposed in respect of
turbines, some of which will be 600 ft. or 185 m in height. I believe
restrictions in terms of maximum height should be imposed and that a minimum
setback should also be imposed. We need this type ofprotection for local
communities.
Has the Government undertaken a cost benefit
analysis of the wind energy industry? Mr. Colm McCarthy and other economists
have questioned the viability of such projects, in particular those being built
in the midlands, which in terms of the generation of electricity will be
enormous. Time does not permit me to quote what they have had to say but I can
share the quotations with the Minister of State if she wishes. Has the
Government undertaken a cost benefit analysis of the industry?
Extensive work in this regard is being done in
the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The Deputy
would need to table a parliamentary question to the Minister to get the detail
in that regard.
On height and so on, all these issues have a
bearing on noise, proximity and so on, which issues form part of what is being
considered in the review of the guidelines. As stated, a draft of the
guidelines will be published before the end of this year. Up to two months will
be provided for consultation on the draft guidelines. I hope the relevant
committee will find time to consider them. Assuming the draft guidelines are
published before the end of this year and taking into account the following two
months for consultation, the final guidelines will probably not be published
until the first quarter of next year.
Sinn Féin Mountmellick – Serving The Community
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