Ben Gavin R.I.P.

On behalf of the Sinn Féin party I extended our deepest sympathy to the family of the late Ben Gavin. Ben served the people of Tramore well as a local town councillor. He served on numerous committees and is best known for his high profile position as chairperson of Waterford Port of which he only recently vacated. He will be fondly remembered by the people of Tramore and beyond. May he rest in peace

Ireland loses a true friend – Ted Kennedy R.I.P.

It is with sadness that I heard of the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. I met Senator Kennedy last year as part of a council delegation to Capitol Hill in Washington. He was in his element as he hosted a reception with Congressman Richie Neal and other members of the Congressional Friends of Ireland committee to mark Bertie Ahearn’s address to the house. He was also very friendly to the Waterford delegation as he posed for photographs. Ted Kennedy was a powerful figure in American politics. He played an important role in the development of the Irish peace process. He was instrumental in advising Bill Clinton to grant Gerry Adams a visa to the U.S. in the early stages of the process. He was also a strong advocate for social justice. He was a leading campaigner for universal health care and his wish was to see every American citizen have equal access to health services. I am sure he will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace.

Waterford Sinn Féin meet to discuss political priorities and campaigns

Sinn Féin members in Waterford held an important meeting tonight to agree a political and campaigning strategy over the coming months. Over 80 party activists met to discuss a wide range of issues and to agree a programme of work in the time ahead. The programme of work will involve campaigning against the Lisbon Treaty, opposition to NAMA, working to reverse Educations cuts, promoting local solutions to job creation and retention and highlighting the growing drug and heroine problem in the city and county.

It is important that people fight back against cuts in Education, Health and welfare payments. The young, the old and the vulnerable should not be punished for the economic incompetence of this Government. At a time when ordinary people are being made to suffer as a result of increased taxes and cuts in services the Government are planning the crime of the century in setting up NAMA. NAMA is a corrupt device, devised by corrupt politicians to bail out corrupt bankers and greedy developers. Sinn Féin will publish detailed alternative proposals that will clean up our banking system in the interests of ordinary people and oppose plans to socialise debt but privatise profit. There is lots of work to be done in the time ahead!!

NAMA in a nutshell

Many people have asked me, how does NAMA work and how much will it cost? I decided to put pen to paper and offer an example. Joe has lent Mick €200,000 to build a house that Mick wants to sell for €300,000. Mick has built the house but can't sell it, and even if he could, he wouldn't get €300,000 for it because the housing market has collapsed, he'd be lucky if he got €100,000 for it. So he can't pay Joe back. Mary has come to Joe and asked for a lend of €50.

Joe can't lend Mary any money because he's waiting on his loan, with interest, back from Mick. So he gives his buddy NAMA a ring and asks NAMA will he take on Mick's loan and give Joe the €200,000, because at least then he'll have his original money back. The sane thing for NAMA to do here is tell Joe that he and Mick took a mad gamble with that loan given that houses prices were on the verge of collapsing and that Mick should sell the house for what he can get and Joe should take what he can get. Instead, NAMA says no problem, even though he's not sure Mick will ever pay him back.

NAMA makes one condition. He won't give Joe the whole €200,000 because he knows houses will never sell for that much this year. But they might sell for a bit more in the future (yeah right), so he'll give Joe €180,000. NAMA doesn't really care after all, because it's not his money anyway (it's the taxpayers'). NAMA says he's interested in Mary getting the loan too, but both NAMA and Joe know that Joe mightn't lend Mary the loan, because Joe just got stung by Mick and isn't sure he wants to take the risk again. Unless NAMA promises to keep picking up the tab. And it is you, the taxpayer, who will pick up the tab and pay anything up to €90billion. I will let the reader decide if this is a good or bad deal.

Education cutbacks will begin to bite in September

Last year, I and other local Sinn Féin Councillors conducted an education cuts survey in Waterford to find how national education cutbacks would impact locally. The results were devastating. Most schools would lose teachers or would not get new teachers needed. Most class sizes are set to increase. Extra-curricular activities will be severely curtailed while school libraries will suffer as a result of grant cuts.

Overall this will mean children will suffer. Many will not get the education they deserve as they will continue to be taught in sub standard schools. So clearly it is time for parents and teachers to fight back. Sinn Féin in Waterford will shortly launch a 'Leave our Schools Alone' campaign. The campaign will be a visbile one and will give me and my party colleagues on Waterford County Council an opportunity to talk and listen to parents about how these cuts will affect them. More importantly it will provide us with an opportunity to fight back - leave our kids alone!!

Centralisation of medical card applications

I recieved a letter today from IMPACT in which they are lobbying elected representatives to oppose the HSE's plans to centralise medical card apllications. This is something I strongly oppose. IMPACT's campaign to have this decision reversed is well worth supporting. If this goes ahead it will result in a slower and less accessible service to people. It will also be the thin end of the wedge as the Government looks to centralise more and more services. I am all for effective streamlining of services but not at the cost of poorer, slower and less effective services to people. Many people are already waiting up to 16 weeks to have their claims processed locally. Centralising will create longer delays. I intend to support the camapign and play my part in opposing the HSE's plans.

Family Resource Centres under threat of closure

An Bord Snip Nua in its report wants to discontinue the Family Support Agency and the Family and Community Services Resourse Centre Programme. They say it will save €30 million. This is another short-sighted decision. It recommends that a portion of the community and voluntary funding be retained and unified with other state programmes.

Do they not realise that there is a world outside of Dublin and that there is a need for Family Resource Centres in areas like Waterford. Unlike Dublin, these centres may be the only service in the area and discontinuing them is not an option. To retain a portion of funding is not adequate, nor is unifying it with other programmes- funding will be spread too thinly on the ground and services will be compromised. We cannot cut family support or mediation services in times of economic uncertainty, when the family unit is under the greatest strain, it is simply not viable.

We can’t just support the family in times of prosperity, we need to do it most in times like these as well. I am meeting representatives of Familiy Resource Centres in Waterford this week to offer my support and to explore ways in which I can help in the campaign against the cuts.