Kingswood Community College Sod Turning

COLM

BROPHY TD Newsletter Dáil Éireann, Leinster House, Kildare St, D02 A272 Tel: 01-6183196 · Email: colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie

KINGSWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE SOD TURNING Colm was delighted to take part in the recent sod turning ceremony, marking the start of the construction of Kingswood Community College’s new school building.

The building contractor with responsibility for the construction of the permanent building moved on site at the end of August. The construction company is called Glasgiven Contracts Ltd. It is expected that

the majority of the works will be completed

by July 2019 and the new building will be open to students from September 2019.

This is another major milestone in the long awaited provision of a new secondary

school for Kingswood. I will continue to work with the principal, staff, parents and students of the school as the building works move towards completion.

Colm Brophy T.D. pictured with Brian Hayes MEP, Principal Deborah Dunne and student Dylan Finn from Kingswood Community College.

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COLM BROPHY TD Fine Gael is making life easier for families with more affordable childcare Fine Gael is delivering on its election commitment to help ease the financial cost of childcare for hard-pressed working families.

Parents are being encouraged to visit AffordableChildcare.ie to learn about new childcare supports.

Up to 70,000 children have extra supports since the new measures came into effect at the start of September.

A new universal childcare subsidy, of up to €1,040 per year, is available for children aged from 6-months up to starting their free preschool year (ECCE Scheme) at 36 months.

In addition to this universal payment, there are further childcare supports for families who need them most. Families on lower incomes, who qualify by way of a means test, are now eligible for supports worth up to €7,500 per year for children aged 6 months to 15 years of age.

Parents previously prevented from taking up jobs, training or education because of the cost of childcare, are now able to do so.

Since entering Government Fine Gael has prioritised children and families. The free preschool year (ECCE scheme) we introduced and later extended to two free years has been hugely beneficial to families saving them on average €4,000 per child. Now with these new measures, families with children

Changes in schools admissions policy will not impact on minority religion schools

under 3 years of age can also benefit from State supports.

Fine Gael also recently introduced two weeks paid Paternity Leave for new fathers for the first time in the history of the State. Under 6s now benefit from GP care and an extra 10,000

I warmly welcome the decision to remove the baptism barrier from the majority of schools in the country which will enable parents who choose not to have their children baptised to have access to almost all State funded schools.

The current system is unfair because it ensures that preference is given by publicly funded religious schools to children of their own religion who might live some distance away, ahead of children of a different religion, or of no religion, who live close to the school.

That being said, protection for minority religion schools is something which I had highlighted and raised with the Minister as vital to the protection of Church of Ireland communities and other religious minority communities in our country.

children now qualify for a medical card thanks to it being extended to those on Domiciliary Care Allowance. The Government has also provided for 47,000 extra breakfast club places to benefit children and the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance has increased by 25%.

I am pleased that the Minister has set out that his preference to remove the capacity for state funded denominational primary schools, where they are oversubscribed, to use religion as a criteria in the admissions process except, in three scenarios: 1. Where it would not otherwise be possible to maintain the ethos of the school; 2. Where the school is established by a minority religion, in order to ensure that students of that religion can find a school place in a school of that ethos; 3. Where the school is established by a minority religion, in order to admit a student of that religion who resides in a community consistently served by that school

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A New Leader On the 2nd June, Leo Varadkar was elected as the new leader of the Fine Gael party, taking over from Enda Kenny who had successfully led the party for over fifteen years.

Subsequent to this, Leo was elected as Taoiseach by the Dáil on the 14th June.

Having known Leo as a politician and as a friend; I was delighted to support his leadership campaign.

Leo’s election to the office of An Taoiseach brings with it a lot of firsts for Ireland. However, the most important thing is that Leo will be an excellent Taoiseach who will lead our country through a very turbulent few years as Brexit is negotiated and as

Ireland seeks to bring itself out of recovery mode.

With Leo at the helm, Fine Gael are seeking to rebuild the Country as well as strengthen the party.

New crime legislation will tackle repeat offenders

Dublin Bus Service Improvements

Government committed to increased Garda numbers

The recent passage of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016 through the Dáil is a major boost to crime fighting in Ireland.

This Bill, when passed through all stages of the Oireachtas, will give the Courts more powers in imposing bail conditions, including prohibiting an accused from contacting victims, prohibiting him or her from driving when charged with a serious road traffic offence, and the imposition of a night-time curfew.

Courts will also be required to take additional factors into account when considering whether to refuse bail to serious offenders including the nature and frequency of previous offending.

The Bill allows for people on bail to be monitored electronically to demonstrate compliance with bail conditions when requested by the prosecutor. This Bill also helps the victims of crime allowing for victim evidence at bail proceedings and makes it a requirement that the court give reasons for bail decisions.

Dublin Bus have made improvements to routes 15,15a, 15b and 15d to ensure greater reliability.

Route 15d will operate a Monday to Friday service from Whitechurch at 08.05, and from Ringsend at 15.00 and 16.43.

There is now also a revised timetable on routes 15, 15a and 15B. Extra departures have been added to increase capacity across these routes during peak time.

Email: colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie · CBrophy_Nsltr_Ver3_Sept17.indd 3

@brophytalks ·

Fine Gael in Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and deter crime. By the end of 2017 we will see over 900 trainees become members of An Garda Síochána.

This will bring Garda numbers to about 13,500 by year end, real progress towards the target of 15,000. Furthermore funding has been provided to recruit 500 civilians during 2017 to support the wide ranging reform plan in An Garda Síochána.

In 2016, some €10m was invested in new vehicles for the Garda fleet with 597 vehicles being allocated to the fleet.

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The Templeogue Tidy Towns Committee is one among many such committees in Dublin South West that has significantly improved the aesthetic of our local villages. Templeogue Village has, throughout the summer, been blooming with colourful flower boxes and benefitting from regular clean-ups. I personally wish to express my appreciation to all the members of the committee who support this great work not just during the summer months but right through the year. If you wish to get involved in joining a committee or indeed establishing one in your area please do not hesitate to contact me.

Local Youth Groups and Clubs to benefit from additional funding A new fund of €4million has been established to benefit local youth groups in funding capital expenditure. Community based groups or clubs in Dublin South West have been asked to examine which sports, arts, adventure or other equipment they need the most.

The application process opens in late September for this funding and is an opportunity for groups to replace equipment which may have become outdated. For more information on this scheme please do not hesitate to contact my office on 01-6183196.

Dodder Park Greenway The long awaited Dodder Park Greenway project has just completed a public consultation period. The submissions, which were made by members of the public, interest groups and elected representatives (including myself), are now being reviewed by South Dublin County Council. According to Council documents, the Greenway is being developed to be of international renown and to be on a par with the best greenways in the world.

The Greenway route is approximately 14km in length and passes along the Dodder Valley from Orwell / Terenure through the outer suburbs of Tallaght to rural and upland Dublin to the entrance to the Bohernabreena reservoirs at Glenasmole.

Works will include widening and upgrading existing paths, bridges and underpasses as well as the construction of new paths and new bridges. Ecological enhancements including species rich grassland management and the planting of native trees and the provision of bat boxes are all included in the plans.

Hellfire Club/ Massy’s Wood Estate Development South Dublin County Council has proposed the development of a €15 million visitors centre attraction to be built at the Hellfire Club/ Massy’s Wood Estate area. Colm has lodged an objection to An Bord Pleanála who will make the decision early next year on granting planning permission for this development.

Colm fully supports the development of community based facilities at the Hellfire club and Massy’s Wood site including a better car park, increased signage and public bins but is opposed to this development on scale.

If built, this development would be designed to attract 300,000 visitors a year to the site with major traffic congestion throughout the entire surrounding area.

YOUR LOCAL FINE GAEL TEAM Cllr Paula Donovan

Rathfarnham Ward Email: pdonovan@cllrs.sdublincoco.ie Tel: 087 2200741

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

COLM BROPHY Dáil Éireann, Leinster House, Kildare St, D02 A272.

Tel: 01-6183196

0612

Tidy Towns Committees have a big impact in Dublin South West throughout the summer

TD

Email: colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie @brophytalks ColmBrophyFineGael

GET INVOLVED! - Getting involved in politics at a local level can be a very enjoyable experience! There are lots of different ways to participate and make a difference. I am always very grateful for any help people are willing to give.

If you’d like to play a part in public affairs in our area please email: info@GetOnBoard.ie

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