News Letter March 2019

Dublin South West Newsletter

Colm

BROPHY TD 01-6183196

Dáil Éireann, Leinster House, Kildare St, D02 A272 · Email: colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie

Brophy welcomes new Kilnamanagh/ Tymon Primary Care Centre The new HSE Kilnamanagh/Tymon Primary Care Centre on the Airton Road in Tallaght was opened

by Minister of State at the Department of Health Catherine Byrne.

This high quality facility is now open to local residents. The centre, which has been operational since May 2018 is catering for around 400 people a day and has a staff of over 120. It is the largest Primary Care Centre in Ireland.

In addition to a GP Service, the Primary Care Centre provides nursing, speech and language therapy, OT, and Child Psychology services. Departments such as Home Care Packages, Addiction and Alcohol Services, a Warmth and Wellbeing department and the National Counselling service will also operate from the care centre.

Fine Gael is committed to providing better care in the heart of communities.

Primary Care Centres such as this offer a wide range of multi-disciplinary services and provides a role in keeping people who don’t need to be in an acute setting out of hospital.

Construction begins on new Castletymon Library Work has commenced on the new €2.8 million Castletymon Library.

This library is set to replace the previous Castletymon library which closed in December 2017.

The building work is planned to be completed by the end of 2019. Until the new library is completed, a mobile library will serve the Castletymon area.

Groups that used the library are being facilitated in St. Aengus’s Community Centre.

Colm Brophy TD with Teresa Duffy and Baby Pereppadan.

Colm

BROPHY TD Upgraded Ballyboden Water Treatment Plant officially opened following €10.5 million investment by Irish Water

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olm Brophy TD, representing Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy, officially opened the upgraded Ballyboden Water Treatment Plant, following a €10.5 million investment by Irish Water in partnership with Dublin City Council and South Dublin County Council.

Works on the upgrades began in June 2017, and took approximately 12 months to complete. The works involved the decommissioning of the old open water storage reservoir, the construction of a new 16 million litre covered reinforced concrete reservoir on the existing site and an upgrade to the disinfection process. The investment has reduced contamination risks of the treated water, and as a result, over 37,000 people in Dublin City, South Dublin County and Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown have been removed from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Remedial Action List (RAL) for at-risk water supplies.

After almost 130 years serving Dublin City, South County Dublin and Dún

Orlagh roundabout layout needs to be reinstated by Council A completely unacceptable programme of road changes has been carried out by SDCC which has led to lengthy delays. The Council use a flawed ideological and engineering approach. They have consistently tried to reengineer

Colm Brophy TD officially opening the newly refurbished Ballyboden Water Treatment Plant

Laoghaire - Rathdown, the open reservoir at Ballyboden has been replaced with a more modern covered reservoir to adequately meet current requirements and the needs of future

junctions and roundabouts to drive motorists out of their cars by creating a punitive traffic flow situation for car users. The Orlagh roundabout roadworks are the most recent example of this poor approach to road maintenance.

Colm Brophy supports both funding for and the building of cycle tracks and enhanced pedestrian pathways as long the work compliments other road users. The case at the Orlagh roundabout is particularly unacceptable when there is not

generations. This investment by Irish Water ensures that the infrastructure required for the future economic and social development of the area is in place.

actually a shortage of adjacent land to facilitate these developments but the decision is made purely to curtail existing car space and is based on the ideological approach to the engineering solution.

As far back as seven years ago this proposal was developed for the Spawell roundabout but was successfully opposed by Colm Brophy who is supporting residents on this issue and to ask Councillors in the Fine Gael group to echo that support.

Dáil Éireann, Leinster House, Kildare St, D02 A272

01-6183196

Foodcloud supporting charities in Tallaght The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Burton visited Tallaght recently with Colm Brophy TD to meet co-founders of Foodcloud Aoibheann O’Brien and Iseult Ward.

Have you noticed the new road signs?

New road signs have been installed along the surrounding road network of the M50. These signs are meant to relieve traffic in the event of a major incident or closure of the M50 and involve a coordinated approach between emergency services, An Garda Síochána, the four Dublin local authorities, TII and the Motorway Traffic Control Centre. There are 8 new symbols that were introduced, each correlating to a specified diversion.

Colm Brophy TD and Minister Bruton visiting Foodcloud in Tallaght recently.

Foodcloud is a charity based in Tallaght which helps connect businesses with surplus food to charities in local communities via a software program and has helped distribute 1,000 tonnes of food to people in need. Recently, Opel Ireland joined Foodcloud in an effort to deliver the equivalent of 2.3 million meals to over 250 charities in one year. This partnership will help reduce the amount of food waste in Ireland by an even greater amount.

Foodcloud is an exceptionally impressive organisation doing great work. I wish them well in the future.

Action on single use plastics The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton TD has announced a review that will consider how Ireland can deliver a 90% collection target for single use plastic bottles in Ireland by 2029. The Department will conduct a detailed review to consider introducing a Deposit and Return Scheme (DRS) and how it would operate in an Irish context utilising best practice from across the EU. Once the review is completed the Minister will bring proposals forward.

Minister Bruton has also committed to increasing the overall plastic recycling rate to 55% by 2030.

It’s time for action on WhatsApp

providing all with a public service, social media companies must also.

The spreading of misinformation, graphic images, fake news and defamatory comments via the popular messaging service, WhatsApp, has become such a serious issue that legislators can no longer ignore it.

We must have modern rules and regulations for social media that respect human decency and the privacy of other individuals. If traditional media can abide by this and have socially accepted boundaries in which they operate while still

colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie

@brophytalks

Instructions will be broadcast on the M50 digital road signs directing motorists to alternative routes enabling people to circumvent any traffic incident. This new initiative will be rolled out in the coming months.

The way we interact and communicate with each other is changing immensely every year. Our laws must do likewise.

In a bid to stop the viral spread of false information, WhatsApp is limiting the number of times a user can forward a message to five. While WhatsApp messaging groups have proven to be extremely successful and helpful to community/sports and working groups the way in which it allows irresponsible content to be shared widely is not good enough.

Colm Brophy has raised this matter with the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and the Environment.

ColmBrophyFineGael

NTA need to rethink BusConnects project improved cycle lanes there is strong objection to the NTA’s policy of prioritizing the commuter over those living in the communities through which the commuters travel.

Colm Brophy has raised this matter in the Dáil outlining the concerns of affected residents.

Colm has particularly highlighted problems in relation to the proposed bus corridor through Templeogue Village.

Hellfire Club Development on hold while An Bord Pleanála await report from Council An Bord Pleanála have delayed South Dublin County Council’s plans to progress the development of the Hellfire Club site by a year.

This delay has been caused due to the Council providing insufficient information relating to a survey on the impact the development will have on the local bird population. An Bord Pleanála have requested that a survey of the Merlin bird over an extended period of time needs to be established.

They have also asked the Council to address other concerns in relation to the development’s impact on the biodiversity of the area. This delay is frustrating for people who have opposed this project and wish to see the planning application refused. Colm has continuously opposed this development and spoke at a recent An Bord Pleanála Oral Hearing on the matter.

Brophy supports upcoming referendum on divorce A referendum to ease the constitutional restrictions on divorce is to be held next year on the same day as the local and European elections on 24th May. The long separation period currently required by the Constitution before spouses can divorce, often leads to separate proceedings for judicial separations, adding expense, hardship and stress for couples. Four years is an unconscionable period of time for people to wait when they are going through separation. They are stuck in a limbo land which often results in increasing hostilities between couples which in turn can have an adverse effect on their children and wider families.

If passed by the people in the forthcoming referendum, the changes that the Government is proposing will allow the Oireachtas to legislate further for this complex and sensitive area.

Colm

BROPHY TD Dáil Éireann, Leinster House, Kildare St, D02 A272 colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie @brophytalks ColmBrophyFineGael

01-6183196

Colm Brophy TD with Tallaght Community School on a recent visit to Dáil Eireann.

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The National Transport Authority has an obligation to listen to the overwhelming negative public opinion and rethink the BusConnects proposal. The impact of the proposals are too great and cause too much distress and anger in our communities.

Following a series of public meetings in relation to BusConnects is has become evident that while residents support the concept of an improved bus network and

Your local Fine Gael team Cllr Paula Donovan Rathfarnham Ward Email: pdonovan@ cllrssdublincoco.ie Tel: 087 220 0741

Cllr Conor McMahon Rathfarnham Ward Email: cmcmahon@ cllrs.sdublincoco.ie Tel: 087 765 2302

Cllr Brian Lawlor Templeogue-Terenure Ward Email: blawlor@ cllrs.sdublincoco.ie Tel: 087 644 5472

Brian Hayes MEP Dublin Email: brian.hayes@ ep.europa.eu Tel: 01 - 2096548