“The IDA has set very ambitious targets for delivering Foreign Direct Investment in their “Horizon 2020” plan which they launched yesterday. By 2014, they are committed to creating 105,000 jobs, investing an annual €1.78BN on R&D investments, ensuring that 20% of Greenfield investments are created from emerging markets and refocusing their efforts on balanced Regional Development by committing 50% of investments to areas outside of Dublin and Cork.”

“While I welcome this re-emphasise on balanced regional development, it is very important that County Clare does not lose out and that this County is prioritised as a location for Foreign Direct Investment. As a first step they should sit down with Clare County Council and Shannon Development and identify potential sites for investment. Unemployment has soared in this County over the past year and it very important now that every opportunity to attract new investments to this County is capitalised on.”

“The arrival of full US Pre Clearance at Shannon Airport for both Scheduled and Business Traffic also offers a unique opportunity for the IDA and other development Agencies like Shannon Development to encourage multinationals to set up their Head Offices here. The majority of multinationals have their own private aircraft and Shannon Airport is the only Airport in the World where business executives can fly in clear Customs and Immigration and fly direct in to local Airports in the United States.”

“The IDA has warned that if they are to succeed in their target to bring 50% of investments outside of Dublin and Cork that the development of infrastructure, the delivery of high speed broadband and competitiveness must not be barriers to success. These are areas where the Government must step up to the plate. This Region must retain a daily direct service to the United States, we need to expand our short haul route network not reduce it; the rollout of next generation broadband is critical and the Region must receive adequate marketing funding. Expecting the Airport itself to market the new Pre Clearance facility at Shannon from within its own limited resources is not good sufficient, I understand that only two people are employed at the Marketing Dept in the Airport. The Government must row in and play their part, by providing additional marketing funding, they would give the Airport and this County the helping hand we need to restore our competitiveness and put us in a strong position to compete for new FDI projects when the opportunity arises.”

He has also expressed this concern that the entire Western Seaboard will have no connectively to main administrative capital of the European Union, if the Ryanair to Brussels Charleroi service is axed.

“I welcome Ryanair’s rethink on their Edinburgh and Liverpool Services from Shannon but I am disappointed that capacity will be affected with the frequency reduced to three and four times a week respectively. I would now urge Michael O’Leary to have a rethink on the other routes which he proposes to axe from the end of next month. Several of these routes are very popular holiday destinations such as Faro, Alicante, Girona, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.”

“I am very concerned at the impact that the axing of the Brussels Charleroi Service will have on the business sector along the Western Seaboard. If Ryanair proceed with their plan to axe their Brussels Charleroi Service the entire West of Ireland from Donegal to Cork will be left without any connectivity to the main administrative centre of the European Union. Companies require their personnel to travel to Brussels on a regular basis and they will now be hugely inconvenienced and face additional costs having to travel to Dublin to get a flight.”

“Passenger traffic through Shannon Airport will be reduced significantly if Ryanair proceed with their threat to axe these services and the Government cannot turn a blind eye. They introduced a €10 Air Travel tax which is clearly crippling the aviation and tourism sectors. I have met Michael O’Leary on a number of occasions recently and there is no doubt about it but that this €10 is an impediment to signing of a new deal between the Airline and the Shannon Airport Authority.”

“There has been much debate in recent times about the future of Hangar 6 and the threat that over 500 aircraft maintenance jobs will be lost from this Country. The loss of hundreds of jobs both direct and indirect is hanging over this Region, if Ryanair go ahead and axe these services from next month and the Government cannot just sit idly by and let this happen.”

Deputy Breen claims that the Health Minister has been very slow to act on this issue and he has urged Minister Harney to introduce a system of ongoing monitoring of Head Shops and the Internet in tandem with the banning of these products as “new legal alternatives to illegal drugs are coming on the market as soon as products are banned.”

“I welcome the news that Minister Harney is to take action in this area and I understand from June a list of products, sold as “legal highs”, will be treated the same ways as existing proscribed drugs. These include BZP derivatives, mephedrone, methylone and related cathinones, ketamine, GBL and 1,4BD, tapentadol and certain narcotic and psychotropic substances. Products which have legitimate uses elsewhere will not come under the remit of the new laws.”

“The number of Head Shops in this country has increased dramatically in the last couple of years with two of the Shops operating here in Ennis and it has taken public protests and warnings from the medical experts to spring Minister Harney into action.”

“Last year, BZP tablets were made illegal in compliance with the decision taken at EU level in March 2008, to introduce measures controlling BZP following a risk assessment by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. In 2009, the Gardai seized 309,236 BZP tablets; 2,360 BZP capsules and over 4 kgs of BZP powder, which indicates the extent of the problem, and when BZP tablets were made illegal, they were simply replaced with derivatives. Minister Harney is only moving to ban these products now even though these products have been outlawed in some Nordic Countries for quite some time.”

“It is important that Minister Harney introduces a system of ongoing monitoring of Head Shops and the Internet in tandem with the banning of these products as new legal alternatives to illegal drugs are coming on the market as soon as products are banned and we need to be vigilant as these products pose a serious danger to the health of our young people.”

ENDS

Deputy Breen has also expressed his concern that County Clare could be omitted as a priority to attract Foreign Direct investment into Ireland which is due to be published on Tuesday next and he has appealed to the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan to make sure that County Clare is not disadvantaged further when it comes to attracting new Foreign Direct Investment projects to the Region.

“Friday last was another black day for unemployment in this Country and we were dealt a double blow here in County Clare with news that both Postbank and Hughes and Hughes were closing their doors.”

“The news that Postbank is winding down its operation by the end of the year comes on top of the news two weeks that Halifax is closing its doors and it indicates the very difficult trading conditions which many of our financial institutions are now experiencing. Over 260 jobs overall are at risk. At the same time that Postbank were announcing their wind down the news that Hughes and Hughes Book Shop Chain had gone into receivership came through. They operate an outlet here in Bank Place in Ennis and also operate two outlets at Shannon Airport. In the case of Hughes and Hughes, I hope that the units here in Clare could be given a life line and I hope that there will be taken over by another Bookstore Chain and that some if not of all of the jobs involved here could be saved.”

“Our unemployment rates are now at 12.9%, among the highest in the OECD countries and we have to break this cycle of unemployment. What is needed now is creative and innovative thinking, but more, importantly, it will require the determination of the government to create environment where people who have ideas and create jobs are given the necessary support. They should follow the lead of Dr. McAleese, whose “Your Country, Your Call” is geared to supporting job creation ideas, the Government should set up a national think tank where all job creation ides could be fed to hose with real potential and acted upon.”

“There are over ten thousand people unemployed in this County. Last year there was an 11% drop in the numbers employed in industries in the Shannon Free Zone and many small businesses throughout this County have been forced to close their doors. I would be appalled if a new IDA Strategy proposes to omit County Clare from a list of counties to be prioritised by the IDA in its attempts to attract Foreign Direct Investment. Weekend reports suggest that Sligo, Donegal, Limerick and Waterford counties will be prioritised and if this were to happen then the majority of job announcements will be focused on these counties. Shannon Airport is the key driver for economic development in the entire Region and it would be ironic if the County Clare was to lose out to other Counties in terms of future Foreign Direct investments in this Region and I would appeal to the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan to ensure that County Clare is not disadvantaged compared to our neighbouring counties.”

ENDS.

“There is nothing new in the development of a 50 bed replacement ward block at Ennis General Hospital. It is driven by HSE’s plans to reconfigure all acute and surgical services in the Mid-West Region. 27 surgical beds were closed at Ennis General Hospital in January 2010 and when I questioned this with both the Minister Harney and the HSE I was told that this was because acute surgery is transferring from Ennis to Limerick. The reality is that while Ennis General Hospital will have increased Day Surgical Activities, other services will no longer be available.”

“The provision of a 50 bed replacement ward block is to facilitate the development of Day Surgery procedures at the Hospital and it is only a smokescreen for Government Deputies to hide behind following years of underinvestment and false promises by this Government. When they had a chance to save A&E Services at the Hospital they voted down a Fine Gael Motion in Dail Eireann in February 2010. Over the past ten years, this Government has made numerous commitments to the Hospital which they have not delivered upon, with the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern proclaiming in 2006 that “The Hospital is safe! And that this commitment was written in stone and that we should stop beating the drum. The Management and Staff of Ennis General Hospital have been starved of resources for years and every request for funding has either been met with resistance or been long fingered.”

“Government Deputies should come clean on the plans for the future of Ennis General Hospital, instead of hiding behind smokescreens, it is time that the people of County Clare were told the truth about what the real plan for Ennis General Hospital and what level of services will be available at the Hospital.”

“I welcome the news that €6m has been provided the development of the Pier at Doolin and it comes after years of campaigning for the project. Tourism is the lifeblood of the economy of Doolin and there are a number of tourist amenities on its doorstep, Lahinch, Ailwee Caves and the Cliffs of Moher and the development of Pier will also facilitate access from Doolin to the Aran Islands.”

“Now that the Pier and the local Coastguard facility are to be upgraded and development the final part of the infrastructural jigsaw is the necessary development of the Sewerage Scheme for Doolin.
Over 3,000 tourists visit Doolin every summer and they desperately need this infrastructure. The entire area is dependant on the successful completion of this sewerage scheme to compliment tourism and I would urge the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley to make sure that the necessary funding is providing in the 2010 Water & sewerage Services allocation.”

ENDS

How does it work and Who Qualifies?

Public Meeting - Monday, 8th March 2010.

Venue: Kilrush Golf Club at 8.00 p.m.

Speakers will include a representative of the HSE, Paul Woulfe, Citizens Information and Local Solicitor Gearoid Williams.

Come along and have your questions answered and bring a friend.

Deputy Breen claims that Clare will now be the only county in Munster without an agricultural office and that once again Clare is playing second fiddle to other counties.

“Providing a Lo Call Telephone Number in Limerick is no substitute for Clare Farmers who were able to call into the office on the Kilrush Road in Ennis to do their business, up to now. They have built up a good relationship with the staff and it is very convenient for them, especially on Mart Day when they are in town, they can go over and do what ever business they need to do, and have it all done on the one day. There is no replacement for the personal contact on a one to one basis when you have a query and farmers prefer this, they are simply not going to go on line to this business as has been suggested.”

“The Agricultural office provides a valuable and comprehensive service to Clare Farmers and now those farmers are expected to travel to the far side of Limerick, this is ridiculous and farmers could do with out this major inconvenience.”

“The policy of centralising vital services is having a big impact on our communities, whether it is closing down the local post office or the Garda Station and now the Dept of Agriculture Office, people are being forced to travel longer distances to access basic services and we do not even have public transport in many of these areas.”
“Clare will now be the only County in Munster without a Dept of Agriculture Office and we are tired of playing second fiddle to other Counties. I would appeal to the Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith, even at this the eleventh hour, to rethink this decision and not leave Clare Farmers in the lurch.”

Parliamentary Question No.467 - Reply 230210

To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food further to Parliamentary Question No. 1101 of the 16 September 2009, the position regarding the local agricultural office in Ennis, County Clare; if agreement has been finalised on the redeployment of staff;if he is proceeding with his plan to relocate the office; if so; the plans, he has to ensure the continuation of services and facilities for Clare farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

- Pat Breen.

For WRITTEN answer on Tuesday, 23rd February, 2010.

Ref No: 8783/10

REPLY

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: (Brendan Smith)

On 15th July, the Government approved my plan for a reorganisation of my Department’s Local Office Network. The plan involves reducing, from 57 to 16, the number of offices from which the Department will operate District Veterinary, Forestry and Agricultural Environment and Structures support services in the future. This will result in a reduction of some 400 in the number of staff working in my Department. This reorganisation will yield significant savings for the exchequer and no staff will be made redundant as a result of this rationalisation.
As part of this process, the Ennis Local Office will close on 16th April and all services will transfer to the regional office in Limerick. A ‘Lo-call’ telephone number will be provided for the Limerick office. My Department is currently finalising discussions with other Departments in relation to the redeployment of administrative staff currently working in Ennis local office.