Are we missing the real scandal?

I did not hear live coverage of the now infamous Morning Ireland interview with Taoiseach Brian Cowen. As the morning progressed I listened to news bulletins on various radio stations talking about the interview. Simon Coveney’s tweet set the story on fire. Within minutes the news went viral and was carried around the world. Like it or not – the International story was one of a drunk leader in charge of a sinking country. Not a pretty picture.

I listened to a podcast of the interview several times. My first impression was that it was not as bad as it was made out to be. The Taoiseach was hoarse and probably a little hung over but in my opinion not drunk. He was certainly incoherent and exercised bad judgement in doing the interview. What was missed as the day progressed was the real story.

The real story had little to do with the state of the Taoiseach’s appearance and more to do with the state of the country. The Taoiseach spoke about savage cuts and the taking of €3billion from the real economy. He suggested cuts in expenditure and tax increases which will hurt low to middle income earners. He refused to answer a question about the holding of the by-elections and was evasive on banning corporate donations.

However it was what the Taoiseach did not say that troubled me most. He said nothing about a jobs plan and getting the unemployed back to work. He failed to inspire any confidence in the ability of the Government to help those out of work. He had no vision for the country’s future and offered no hope. His only promise was to continue with the failed slash and burn policies of the last few years.

While the media focus in the time ahead may be on Cowen’s rendition of the Lakes of Pontchartrain or his impersonation of Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh Government Ministers will be busy planning savage cuts that will further exacerbate the problems in the economy. Surely this is the real scandal.

No accountability in Irish Health Care system

At tonight’s monthly meeting of Waterford City Council we discussed the 2009 Annual Report of the South Regional Health Forum. I make no apologies for my robust criticism of the forum and the H.S.E. In my view the Forum is a talking shop at best and in no way holds the public health care providers to account. That is not to take from the good work of those councillors who sit on the forum and represents their respective councils and counties well. It is a reflection on a health system in which no one takes responsibility and everyone passes the buck.

Here is an example of this Pontius Pilate imitation at work. In July of this year Waterford City Council discussed the much needed 50 bed geriatric facility on the grounds of St. Patrick’s Hospital. Later that month the Minister for Health said she did not know when funding would be released for the proposed new unit. The unit was promised when the HSE closed St. Brigid’s ward at the hospital last October.

On the 13th of July Waterford City Council received correspondence from Minister Mary Harney and the Department of Health and Children acknowledging the questions raised by the council and stating that responsibility for service provision rests with the H.S.E. Note the buck passing. A day later the council receives a letter from the H.S.E. again acknowledging the issues raised and referring the matter to the regional director of health operations for the South. Note the buck passing again.

The H.S.E, the Minister for Health and the Department for Health and Children are incapable of providing basic answers to straight forward questions. Is it no wonder that the health service has seen so many scandals like the misdiagnosed miscarriages? The H.S.E. is a farce of an organisation that is unaccountable and desperately in need of reform.

HSE CEO Prof Brendan Drumm warned the HSE board last April that the beleaguered health executive was at a "tipping point" and faced a crisis, after the board vetoed key components of his plans for HSE reform. He also wrote to Department of Health Secretary General Michael Scanlan expressing frustration at the pace at which HSE reforms were being implemented.

I wish the new Chairperson of the H.S.E. Waterford’s Mr. Frank Dolphin the best of luck in his new appointment. He surely has his work cut out. A good start would be to replace the regional health forums with local community health partnerships which genuinely allow local politicians and others to hold health service providers to account.

McGuinness impressed with new House of Waterford Crystal

Some time ago I invited Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness to visit the South East region. Martin is part of an all Ireland trade delegation visiting the United States later this year. He will attend an important economic development conference organised by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. I am delighted Martin has accepted the invitation to visit Waterford and the new House of Waterford Crystal ahead of the U.S. trip.

Speaking today Mr. McGuinness said:

I am delighted to be here in the South East today meeting with business, trade union, community and civic leaders.

I thank the Mayor of Waterford City Councillor Mary Roche for hosting a reception. I commend the efforts of local people and civic leaders who are trying to create enterprise opportunities in Waterford.

I am thrilled to be visiting the house of Waterford Crystal. I was saddened when I first heard the Kilbarry plant was to close and Waterford and Ireland faced losing an iconic brand. It was a loss not to just to Waterford but to the island of Ireland.

My heart went out to all the workers and I was moved by their courage when I saw the images on Television of the workers engaged in a sit in.

Today we have a different situation. The new House of Waterford Crystal is a top class facility. I want to commend all of those who were part of this exciting venture. The people of Waterford should be very proud of this gem in the heart of the city.

It was a remarkable effort by a lot of people to make all of this possible. The collective effort of Waterford City Council, trade union and business leaders to back this plan is a shining example of what can be achieved through genuine partnership, good will and dare I say taking a risk.

I hope that those former workers who are without jobs and pensions are supported and find new employment.

I also want to support the campaign for University designation for Waterford Institute of Technology. The arguments for W.I.T. becoming a university are unassailable.

I visited W.I.T. on the last occasion I was in Waterford. I was hugely impressed by the facilities, the range of courses and the research and development capacity at the institute. University designation would lift the entire region economically, socially and culturally.
I was reminded by the Mayor of Waterford that today is the second anniversary of the sinking of the Irish Sail Training Ship, the STV Asgard II. The Tall Ships fleet visited Belfast in the past and will visit Waterford next year.

I think the island of Ireland should have a ship and a sail training programme. I will raise the idea of an all-Ireland venture at the executive of the assembly and at a future meeting of the north south Ministerial council.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Waterford today. I know we face tough times ahead but as the new Waterford Crystal venture shows, by working together people can make a difference.

Rosslare – Waterford rail service suspended on Green Party watch

The decision by the National Transport Authority to approve Iarnród Éireann plans to suspend the Rosslare to Waterford Rail service is regrettable. The Regional Authorities in the South-East and the Mid-West, together with their ten constituent local authorities, made a formal submission to the National Transport Authority (NTA) strenuously opposing the proposal of Iarnród Éireann to cease passenger services on the Rosslare to Waterford railway line. The two Regional Authorities, the city councils of Waterford and Limerick and the eight county councils in the regions joined together in a show of solidarity to strongly oppose the closure of the Rosslare-Waterford section of the railway line that links the Rosslare Europort with Waterford, Limerick and onwards to the South-West and the West.

The decision of the N.T.A. to ignore the collective weight of the regional and local authorities is mind boggling. That this has happened on the Green Party’s watch is unforgivable. This is a party which prides itself on promoting public transport and sustainable living. The irony of the Green Party being partly responsible for the loss of this service will not be lost on the electorate. This is not to ignore Fianna Fáil’s culpability but do we really expect anything better from them? There is no end to this Government’s bad mix of disastrous and ridiculous policies. The Greens have become a laughing stock. The quicker we have an election and get rid of them the better.

However it is the legacy that this Government will leave be behind that is the real tragedy. Losing a rail service at a time with local authorities are promoting greater use of public transport through green routes is incredible. The business community in the Southeast also voiced their concerns. A socio-economic and business case for the maintenance and promotion of the line has been prepared and submitted by the Regional Authorities on foot of wide ranging submissions. The proposals were submitted to the NTA supporting the argument for rejection of Irish Rail’s application to close the line and for its continued operation. A key recommendation is the establishment of a Community Rail Partnership, a concept that involves the rail operator partnering with the local authorities and local communities to operate, promote and market the railway and its services. This is an excellent proposal of which I fully support. It is a practical and common sense strategy that needs to be supported.

Last Wednesday I attended a protest at Plunkett Station Waterford. It was attended by dozens of local and regional politicians and community activists. The show of solidarity and strength was impressive. Sadly our views were ignored by the Government. Politicians and activists from the Green Party supported the protest. Senator Dan Boyle attended offering his support. I challenged him as to what his party was going to do to save the line. He said the Greens would raise it at cabinet level. It appears their appeal fell on deaf ears and one wonders what influence they really have in Government. It seems there is no end to this Government’s incompetence.

Forced emigration was wrong in the 80's and is wrong today

I have such nostalgic and happy memories of the 1980’s. I try to remember the happy stuff and block out the bad. The 80’s brought us UB40, Simply Red, REM, Sinead O Connor and the best of Queen and U2. It also brought us Wham, Frankie goes to Hollywood, Bananarama and let’s not forget Kajagoogoo. Decide for yourself the good and the bad. We had assassination attempts on the Pope and US President Ronald Reagan. E.T. was released as a movie, Michael Jackson released Thriller and Mikhail Gorbachev called for Glasnost and Perestroika. We also saw the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Maze Hunger Strikes and the emergence of the cabbage patch kids. A mixed bag indeed.

Sadly it also brought forced emigration and a flight of the brightest and the best from our shores. It was wrong in the 1980’s and it is wrong today. The latest ESRI quarterly economic commentary predicted that emigration in Ireland was set to hit 120,000 by the end of 2011. The latest live register figures show 452,500 nationally and 15,614 locally out of work. Mass emigration is back with a vengeance.

It seems the current Government’s answer to rising unemployment is to export it. They cut the dole for young people, did very little to provide new training and education opportunities and even less to stimulate the economy and create jobs. We are yet again seeing the brightest and the best leave this country due to the incompetence of its political leaders to provide a future. Unemployment is not a price worth paying for a negligent Government – it destroys lives and leaves permanent scars on our communities. What this Government fails to accept is that behind every statistic is a personal tragedy.

Fianna Fáil cannot claim any economic competence when they are complacently presiding over increasing unemployment. The government is determined to slash public services and put even more people on the dole. A bit like some of the music choices referred to earlier, forced emigration was not cool in the 1980’s and it is not cool today. We need real political change and we need it now.

Holding the line is not easy

The forced closure of TK Maxx outside the city last week caused an understandable stir. The retail outlet is popular and employs people locally. Although I support the court decision I do so understanding that shoppers are demanding more top end retail in the city and that people face losing their jobs. This is a sorry saga that should never have happened in the first place. It’s what happens when people play games with the planning process. It’s what happens when neighbouring authorities compete for retail space without having regard to proper and sustainable development. It’s what happens when one local authority tries to get ‘one over’ on another.

Competition and policy means nothing to the average shopper. They rightly demand the very best in retail whether inside our outside the city centre. They want choice and convenience and who would blame them. However the situation is more complex then this and policy is needed to regulate the market. The correct policy is one which strikes a balance between being overly protective on the one hand and allowing the market to go crazy on the other. And let’s face it, during the Celtic tiger years the market went crazy.

The retail policy of Waterford City Council is clear. It is a policy of sequential preference which protects the city centre first and foremost. However contrary to recent debate and commentary it does allow for what’s called ‘out of town’ shopping through a number of strategically placed District Centres. These include centres like the Hypermarket, Ardkeen, the Lisduggan Shopping centre, Poleberry and the Tesco Centre on the Dunmore Road. This is where the balance is achieved. However the failure to build a sufficient critical mass of retail in the city centre is the policy’s main fault line. The city centre is crying out for more top end retail and the council is desperate to see it happen. Site assembly is difficult but not impossible. The Brewery or New Street site would have worked if the developer had got it right from the beginning. The original proposal was so off the wall that it was always doomed to fail and played into the hands of those who would object to anything.

Holding the line on a worked out and sustainable policy is not easy. Overall the policy has not worked out as it intended due to site assembly and planning issues and over zealous developers. However there are a few tricks up the council’s sleeve. We may well see a scaled down but significant development in New Street yet. And we have the option of building out onto the river either side of the clock tower as part of the relocation of the House of Waterford Crystal. All is not perfect but all is not lost either.

A note from the canvass

It’s been a busy week. I started on Tuesday in Connolly Place in the City. The reaction was good but the issues were to be expected. People are worried about the economy, jobs, the next budget and generally making ends meet. Anti-social behaviour also featured with concerns raised regarding a number of boarded up houses. Several complaints were made about the quality of the remedial works in the area and having inspected the houses it is hard to disagree. Poor finishing and uncompleted works has left a sour taste in the mouths of many. In one house floor boards were used as skirting! I left feeling a little annoyed that the council had spent so much money and yet the works are not of the highest standard.

On Wednesday I visited Farron Park in the City and Portlaw in the county. The areas are different in many ways and yet the issues are the same. A lot of anger was vented towards the Government and people are genuinely worried about the future. I was struck by how many young people were out of work and how they felt they had no prospects for the future. Some talked about emigrating but I wondered how real an option it was for them. The monthly live register figures reinforced the magnitude of the problem – 452,000 people nationally out of work. So much for being out of recession!

Thursday brought me to Crook and Cheekpoint in Passage and Ballinroad in Dungarvan. In Crook and Cheekpoint the state of the roads and a decline in fishing dominated the doorstep conversations. I was completely taken aback as to how bad the roads actually are. On the entrance to one housing estate I counted seven potholes. An issue that emerged a lot was the need for a running water tap in the local graveyard and it puzzled me that local authorities often fall down on the small but important things.

In Ballinroad in Dungarvan residents living in An Grianan and Pairc na mBlath are furious with the county council regarding water quality. Residents complained of being unable to use showers, damage caused to electrical appliances, a discolouration problem and recently a contamination of the water supply. Several people complained that when taking showers they get scalded because the pressure is so low. Many are forced to visit family or friends nearby to use their shower facilities. Others complained of a bad smell coming from the water and of a need to constantly purchase bottled water. Parents with young children are particularly concerned as they cannot boil up bottled water for the children. A new community was built in the area without proper infrastructure provision such as footpaths, lighting, roads and water. I had hoped we had learned from the mistakes of the past, obviously not. I wonder what next week will bring..