ANN PHELAN TD Working for You, Making Recovery Local “Things don’t just happen, they are made to happen.”-JFK
€21M INVESTMENT IN ST LUKE’S HOSPITAL Following on from the very successful opening of the new Palliative Care wing in St Luke’s Hospital which included the provision of a bereavement room for the families of loved ones who had passed on, I am pleased to announce that I officially opened the new Day Services Unit, which will improve cancer diagnostics and the opening of the Dr Jim Mahon Library and Education Centre. A new MRI Scanner will be available in St Luke’s meaning that patients will no longer have to travel to nearby hospitals for such assessments. All construction works are completed on St Luke’s General Hospital and the equipping is well underway. The new Departments will be opened on a phased basis between the end of this September and Feb, 2016. The new Emergency Department and Medical Assessment Unit, is expected to open around Feb, 2016.
SUPPORTING POST OFFICES IN KILKENNY In my role as Minister for Rural Economic Development, I have worked relentlessly to help support a strong, modern and viable post office network. I am happy to confirm the extension of contracts to Bilboa Post Office and to Inistioge Post Office. I was delighted to be able to work with both communities and with An Post to ensure the retention of these vital services for Inistioge, Bilboa and the wider communities it impacts on. The rhetoric that is being spun by the media and other political parties that our Post Offices are closing in Rural Ireland, is simply not true. It is not Government policy to close post offices. 227 closed between 20062010 under Fianna Faíl and 27 have closed since 2011. The reason for these closures are due to natural causes ie, the Postmaster/mistress in question may have decided to retire or sadly, deceased and there was no one to take over the service. All efforts are being made by this Government to secure the viability of the Post Office service into the future. The Post Office Network Business Development Group was set up by my colleague Minister White, and is led by independent chair and businessman Bobby Kerr, the Business Development Group will draw up key proposals for maintaining and gaining business for a sustainable post office network.
453 JOBS CREATED IN KILKENNY DUE TO RETENTION OF 9% VAT I am delighted to confirm that the 9% VAT rate in the Tourism & Hospitality sector has been retained again in Budget 2016. It supports over 3,200 jobs in Kilkenny alone and contributes over €60M to the local economy. This is an issue I have been very vocal on for the past number of years. I engaged with local businesses within this sector and undertook a survey to establish the value of its retention for local business. Since its retention, over 453 have been created within Kilkenny. The Tourism and Hospitality Sector is a critical employer and driver of our local economies here in the Constituency.
€30M FOR RURAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES + €4M FOR REDZ I recently announced the funding allocations for the creation of a Rural Economic Development Zone (REDZ) pilot scheme. I am delighted to confirm that Castlecomer, Graignamanagh and Borris have been identified as a REDZ areas and I have allocated €175,000 to these projects. It also means that all the states agencies such as Enterprise Ireland, the IDA, the Local Authority and Local Enterprise Office will channel their resources into these areas working with the Community groups, advancing their plans in order to incentivise sustainable local job creation and enterprise development. I have no doubt that this project will make a real difference in these areas. It is my aim to expand Ann Phelan TD with Anne Marie Tierney Le Roux, IDA Regional Manager and Joanna Murphy CEO of Connect Ireland upon these REDZ to include other areas, towns and villages, that require investment and support. I am confident that these resources coupled with the €30million for the rural towns and villages renewal scheme that I also recently announced are just the beginning of a process of rural renewal and regeneration.
SUPPORTING RURAL FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS I launched a new programme called “Acorns” to provide support for women in rural areas who have recently started or are taking the first steps towards starting their own business. It will run for at least 3- 6 months and will provide participants with knowledge, support and networking opportunities so that their businesses can succeed and grow. This landmark new programme will help support up to 50 selected female rural entrepreneurs have been competitively selected from nearly 200 applications for Acorns, and represent rural areas in twenty-one out of twenty-six counties. The participants will be mentored by 6 highly successful “leads”, all of whom bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the programme.
€250 MILLION REGIONAL JOBS PLAN The regional jobs initiative will help to make sure that the jobs recovery is spread to every region across the country. The plan will be led by the IDA and Enterprise Ireland and will take a bottom-up approach working with local agencies and organisations to drive local job creation in Kilkenny as part of the South East Jobs Action Plan. I am currently working closely with IDA Regional Manager Anne Marie Tierney Le Roux and CEO of Connect Ireland, Joanna Murphy on ways to attract FDI and domestic investment in rural parts of Kilkenny.
KILKENNY TO BENEFIT FROM €250M LEADER FUNDING Earlier this year, I launched the €250m Rural Development Programme with my colleague Minister Alan Kelly. This funding will support the delivery of LEADER funding, to rural areas out to 2020 and will focus on tackling rural isolation, generating employment and stimulating village renewal. I announced over €7.8 M for Kilkenny. It is all about community participation and a real “bottom up” approach. The LEADER strategy selection process allows Local Action Groups all over the country to express an interest in supporting the delivery of LEADER funding over the next 5-6 years. I am confident that these resources will support the sustainable development of rural communities the length and breadth of Carlow and Kilkenny.
€135M TO FOSTER RURAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Following the Budget Announcement I am delighted to confirm that €135M has been allocated to invest in rural economic development and community development in the coming year. This will include amongst other initiatives, funding under the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) and LEADER programmes. In 2016, some 40,000 people will receive direct one-to-one labour market training and supports through SICAP..
ENSURING KILKENNY PRIORITISED FOR BROADBAND IN 2016 Following a meeting with Commissioner Phil Hogan, Commissioner Cretu and Minister Alex White, TD, at the “Going Local 2015” event re Rural Broadband; I announced that Kilkenny will be prioritised for new fibre broadband roll out in 2016. A new Fibre-to-Home broadband service is being rolled out in Ireland. County Kilkenny is amongst the early movers in the programme and will receive significant investment in 2016. This means that schools, sports centres, large and small businesses etc in rural Kilkenny, will be able to get the same internet service as urban dwellers. I am also working closely with Eir (formerly Eircom) and SIRO re their plans to rollout fibreto-the-premises in Kilkenny city.
NO PYLONS IN KILKENNY I am delighted to confirm that Eirgrid have decided that they will not be deploying overhead lines in its Grid Link Project. I have worked very closely with community groups and activists throughout Kilkenny regarding this issue. An extensive consultation process took place, of which I put forward my own submission based on the concerns of residents here and in other parts of Kilkenny regarding the construction of Pylons in our scenic environment. I am delighted that our concerns were taken on board and that Eirgrid have decided to deploy a new regional option which will use a smart grid technology “series compensation” which will allow more power to be transmitted on the existing lines.
OVER €600,000 FOR OUR PRIMARY SCHOOLS
DELIVERING €42M FOR SOCIAL HOUSING IN KILKENNY
I am very pleased to be able to confirm that over €600,000 in funding for the Minor Works Grant will be issued to ALL Primary schools throughout Kilkenny and County shortly. The grant enables Boards of Management and school principals to improve their existing school facilities and to help schools purchase furniture, and PE and IT related equipment. This ultimately benefits the educational experience of local pupils. Each primary school will receive a grant of €5,500, as well as €18.50 per pupil. Schools also get €74 for every pupil with special needs enrolled.
€42 million has been allocated to the Local Authorities in Carlow and Kilkenny for the purposes of meeting the Social Housing needs.The move comes as part of the Government’s €3.8 billion social housing strategy announced last November out to 2020. This funding will be invested in a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes by local authorities designed to accommodate 41% of those currently on the housing waiting list in social housing across the County. This is very positive news and is the single biggest investment ever in Social Housing by any Government.
Cllr Tomás Breathnach
Cllr William Paton
Cllr William Quinn
Cllr Maurice Shortall
086 0704114 087 678 7115 breathnachtomas@eircom.net willfpaton@gmail.com
086 1659115 QuinnWm49@yahoo.ie
087 7543906 mauriceshortall@eircom.net
Ann Phelan TD @AnnPhelanTD Ann Phelan
18 Patrick Street, Kilkenny Phone: 056 7756000 Mobile: 086 3294420 Email: ann.phelan@oir.ie
0612
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