Fianna Fail could be responsible for the closure of dozens of small primary schools across Co. Wexford, says Fine Gael T.D. Michael D’Arcy.
“Co. Wexford has dozens of small rural schools with less than 50 pupils,” Deputy D’Arcy pointed out, “and if they follow the recommendations of An Bord Snip Nua then those schools will close. That will be the legacy of this Fianna Fail led
Government, an almighty blow to education and the decimation of rural areas.”
The report released recently by An Bord Snip Nua stated that 659 small primary schools across the country should be amalgamated. The measure would save in the region of 300 teachers – a cost saving of some €18m each year in salaries. The McCarthy report also suggests mergers of the 851 schools in the 50-100 pupil category, a move which would see another €9m shaved off the annual teachers salaries bill.
“I’m extremely concerned about this because up to now every time this Government has had to cut costs it has opted for the soft targets, i.e. children, the elderly, and the
sick and I believe it could well do so again by closing these small country schools,”
he said.
“In doing so Fianna Fail will rip the heart out of local communities, pulling apart the social fabric of those areas. We’ve already seen rural garda stations and rural post offices close. Rural schools are the focal point of communities, it’s about so much more than pupils being educated, it allows parents to come together, it feeds the parish and serves as a vital conduit for Gaelic games,” the North Wexford TD pointed out. “Close those schools and all that is lost. It would be unforgivable,” he said. “Parents and teachers need to be vigilant about this and fight plans to allow it to happen.”
Banks are continuing to refuse loans and even overdrafts to business customers, putting their future in jeopardy. That’s according to Fine Gael T.D. Michael D’Arcy who says he’s been contacted by a number of concerned business people in north Wexford who are extremely frustrated at the banks’ lack of flexibility.
“The Banks need to cut small and medium-sized business owners some slack and begin extending them credit again to allow them to continue to operate and grow,” Deputy D’Arcy said, adding that in some cases even overdraft facilities have been cut to business customers who traditionally had no problem having such credit extended.
“Gorey has a very strong retail and service sector which we’re dependent on for jobs. We must have better credit facilities for such businesses. With over 3,600 people now unemployed in the Gorey area it has to be a priority.”
“It’s particularly galling given the huge bailout the banks got when they were in difficulties,” the North Wexford TD continued. “The Government, if it is serious about stimulating the economy and saving jobs, never mind creating new ones, must direct at once that the banks start lending again to this sector. Otherwise many of them will go to the wall,” he concluded.
The establishment of a dedicated Garda drugs unit for County Wexford is broadly welcomed by FG TD Michael D’Arcy.
“The need for such a dedicated unit, to operate right across the county, has been patently obvious for some time,” Deputy D’Arcy said. “There isn’t a town, village or small community that hasn’t been affected by the scourge of drugs,” he said. “Drug pushers are operating right across this county and the public’s perception is that they are operating with impunity. Hopefully this special drugs squad will be successful in tackling those who seek to destroy lives by getting people hooked on drugs,” he added.
Deputy D’Arcy stressed however that it’s important that the new unit will be adequately resourced and staffed to ensure its effectiveness.
Cutting a funding lifeline for dozens of Co. Wexford sporting clubs and organisations is “mean spirited” and “a huge blow for sporting endeavour” according to Fine Gael TD Michael D’Arcy.
Deputy D’Arcy had warned previously that the Sports Capital Grants programme was likely to be a casualty of Government cuts. It was announced on Thursday last that no funding will be allocated under the programme this year.
“Sporting clubs and organisations right across Co. Wexford depend on this funding for vital development works and they will be devastated by the news that funding has been cut. 25 sporting clubs and organisations in Wexford were allocated a total of €1.1 million under the Sports Capital Grants programme last year. Many clubs and groups will have put considerable effort into making application for grant aid this year and all for nothing,” Deputy D’Arcy said.
“There are better ways the Government could save money without penalising sporting clubs and organisations which are run entirely on voluntary effort. It’s just so short-sighted,” he said.
The pension levy on public service workers announced by An Taoiseach Brian Cowen last week is just an extra tax by another name, Fine Gael Deputy Michael D’Arcy says.
“It’s effectively a 7% additional tax on the incomes of hundreds of thousands of people engaged at every level of public service,” he said. Deputy D’Arcy said he’s been inundated with letters, e-mails and phone calls from hundreds of people working across all public service sectors in Co. Wexford. “There’s a huge amount of anger over this levy and the hardship it will cause.
“Fine Gael proposed all along that only those earning over €100,000 per year be levied. It makes no sense that while on the one hand the Government wants people to get out there and spend to keep the economy going, they are lopping off a sizeable amount of their income,” he said.
“Fine Gael believe there are hundreds of million of euro to be saved in different areas, the most obvious is the freezing of all increments and bonuses in all State agencies,” Deputy D’Arcy declared. “The Government is saying one thing and doing another – talking about keeping the economy moving but then taking money out by reducing funding to programmes like the Sports Capital grants.”
Continuing it’s tradition of announcing things only to withdraw them down the line (e.g. reducing class sizes, medical cards for over ‘70s) the Government is to scrap its plan to vaccinate teenage girls against cervical cancer.
The move has angered Wexford Fine Gael T.D. Michael D’Arcy who says the announcement to introduce the programme was only made in August “and here we are a scant two months later and it’s been withdrawn. It’s shameful.”
“There might be some justification for cancelling the programme if the savings to be made were substantial but we’re talking about a cost of 10M here,” he pointed out.
“The Government could save that by simply tightening up in a variety of ways across its bloated departments. A classic example, he says, is the Government’s ‘Change’ communications campaign which aims to raise awareness of climate change and its impact and implications for Ireland. “The cost of this campaign, which consists mostly of billboard, radio, television and newspaper advertising, is 12.5M for two years. I can think of far better ways this money could be more usefully spent and the cervical vaccination programme is certainly one of them,” he said.
“This is short-sighted in the extreme. We’re told that cervical cancer is the eight most frequently diagnosed cancer in women in Ireland. The cost of treatment, if it’s not caught early, is substantial. Prevention is the way to go.”
“This move is the kind of ill-thought-out response we’ve come to expect now from a Government whose only response to the economic downturn has been to cast around for the easiest targets. Bereft of courage in tackling the public service, the giant, lumbering monolith that is the HSE and private sectoral interests, it is the sick, children and the elderly that have been targeted. It’s a disgrace”, he said.
With levels of unemployment soaring in Co. Wexford it’s imperative that the Government restructures training programmes to respond quicker to offer retraining to those who find themselves without jobs. So says Fine Gael Deputy Michael D’Arcy whose party has tabled a private members’ motion on the matter for the Dail this week.
“861 people under the age of 26 were signing on the unemployment register in Co. Wexford in September/October – a 23% increase” Deputy D’Arcy pointed out.
“With the number on the live register increasing by nearly 50% nationally over the past twelve months and a projected 8% unemployment rate for 2009 the Government cannot stand idly by and let these people languish on the dole. They need to put in place, without delay, a range of training programmes so give those who’ve lost their jobs the best possible chance of obtaining other work,” he said.
“Training programmes need to be restructured to be more responsive to a rapidly changing labour market and economy,” Deputy D’Arcy added.
The private members’ motion, which is due to be discussed and voted upon in the Dail on Wednesday, also calls on the Government to consider the needs of small and medium-sized businesses when developing training services.
Fine Gael is also demanding a change in the eligibility criteria for the back to education allowance to open up access to further education for the unemployed. “We should be doing all we can to help people who’ve lost their jobs to get back into the labour market,” Deputy D’Arcy said.
CIE’s decision to include the new car park at Gorey train station in its plan for pay and display parking charges at stations on the greater Dublin rail network is unjust and grossly unfair to the travelling public. So says Fine Gael Deputy Michael D’Arcy who has blasted the company’s decision to make travellers pay extra for parking.
“As someone who welcomed Iarnrod Eireann’s plan to establish car parking facilities at Gorey station, something I’ve been lobbying for many years to have done, I’m dismayed and extremely disappointed to now find they plan to make people pay extra to park there,” he said.
“I’m against the introduction of these charges to all 37 stations on the greater Dublin network,” Deputy D’Arcy added, saying “it’s grossly unfair and just another stealth tax hitting those who have to commute to and from Dublin for work.”
“The Government is supposed to be trying to reduce the amount of traffic going into the city. Hammering rail users with extra charges will act as a huge disincentive to people to take the train to work. You have to wonder what the Greens in Government are thinking of in allowing this to be done,” he said.
“Iarnrod Eireann is heavily subsidised by taxpayers – this year to the tune of 196 million – and I’m joining with my party colleagues in calling on the Minister for Transport to cut their subsidy by whatever amount CIE makes from hard-pressed commuters through pay parking if the Minister allows it to go ahead,” Deputy D’Arcy concluded..
Work on the new car park at Gorey railway station is due to get underway in September and be finished by December.
A call has been made by Fine Gael T.D. Michael D’Arcy for a national waiver scheme for refuse charges. “Local authorities in some regions are funded well enough to allow them to provide a waiver scheme for refuse charges to old age pensioners, those in reduced circumstances or living on State benefits,” he said. “A number of people on limited budgets have contacted me in recent weeks to say that, without such a scheme here in Co. Wexford, they are finding refuse costs extremely expensive.”
“A national waiver scheme would be preferable and much fairer,” Deputy D’Arcy said, adding that he has written to the Environment Minister, John Gormley T.D. urging him to look seriously at introducing such a scheme.
What has been patently obvious for years now, that the IDA is not remotely interested in trying to attract new industries to Gorey, was reinforced recently with the news that the Government agency has not brought a single potential investor to Gorey in the past four years.
So says North Wexford T.D. Michael D’Arcy who was told that the IDA had not hosted A SINGLE site visit by potential investors in that time. He asked the question in the Dail recently of Minister Micheal Martin. He says he’s angry, but not surprised, at the reply he received. “It’s an outrage”, he said. “This is the Government agency tasked with responsibility for securing new investment.” “Meanwhile we watch as new business goes to every other part of the country, and when they do come to this county, they go to Wexford town .”
Nor does he accept the explanation from the Minister; that the IDA’s strategy for Co. Wexford is to concentrate resources on Wexford as it is a designated hub town of the county. “Concentrating all resources in Wexford town means that workers are obliged to travel for work. Our poor public transport means that we’re putting a huge number of extra people on the roads, forcing them into extra travel each day. That is pure folly. Meanwhile those without their own means of transport cannot avail of jobs in Wexford.”
“While I appreciate that, as a hub town, there needs to be a concentration of industry there, it should not be at the total expense of other areas,” Deputy D’Arcy said.
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March 1, 2010 2:44 pm | 
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