People Before Profit Lucan Newsletter Autumn 2022

Lucan NEWSLETTER

Constituency Office phone 01 4030007 Office Hours: Mon & Fri 11am - 1pm

Gino

Kenny TD � gino.kenny@oireachtas.ie phone 085 721 1574

The Cost Of Living Crisis Deepens: It’s Time To Fight Back The cost of living crisis deepens by the day.

But real wages are not increasing.

The real problem is profiteering. Five of the best-known Irish energy companies had a combined yearly profits rise of €280 million and yet they continue to raise their prices and cripple ordinary people.

In July People Before Profit introduced a bill to reduce rents. This would have had a significant impact on people’s lives but it was voted down by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gale, and the Green Party.

People Before Profit have also published a Bill to provide a cap on energy and fuel prices.

Another tangible way to deal with the cost of living crisis.

Help build the Cost of Living Coalition

The Cost of Living Coalition will hold a major pre-budget march on September 24th join us and make your voice heard at 2.30 pm from Parnell square.

Lucan Newsletter.indd 1

07/09/2022 17:29:09

Shortage of Public Health Nurses in parents have raised the issue Lucan Several of the lack of public health nurses in the Lucan area. Public health nurses play a vital role in aiding the healthy development and detecting early illnesses in newborns and infants through regular checkups.

The HSE has acknowledged that due to recruitment issues for these posts there is a shortage of health nurses and as an interim measure, a cross-cover arrangement for priority cases has been put in place.

The HSE will continue to recruit for these vacancies.

However, the concern that children will not receive their developmental check-ups because of staff shortages is deeply worrying.

Gino Kenny TD, as health spokesperson for People Before Profit, will continue to raise this issue with the minister, on the health committee and in the Daíl.

Government Overturn a Ban on Future Data Centres This Summer South Dublin County Council became the first to ban data centres after a motion put forward by People Before Profit Cllr Madeleine Johansson was passed.

The ban on further data centres is an important victory for the environmental movement, they provide little in terms of jobs and have a huge cost and environmental impact.

However, the democratic mandate of the Council is now being challenged by corporate greed.

Echelon DC Holdings Limited, a company which owns and develops data centres, has brought forward a High Court challenge to overturn the decision. The Minister for Local Government Peter Burke has also intervened to direct the council to remove the ban.

It is estimated over 10% of Ireland’s electricity use is consumed by data centres and is expected to increase to 30% by 2030. Eirgrid has warned that the demand on the national grid must be reduced or we will likely experience blackouts this winter.

The Irish Academy of Engineering has estimated that data centre expansion will require almost €9 billion in new energy infrastructure and add at least 13% to Ireland’s carbon emissions by 2030 making it impossible to reach our 2030 and 2050 climate reduction targets.

People Before Profit will continue to stand up against corporate greed and fight to ensure that people and the planet are put before profit.

Lucan Newsletter.indd 2

07/09/2022 17:29:11

BusConnects and Kishogue Station Update

BusConnects was implemented in Lucan earlier this year. For some this has meant a better service with the new local buses very welcome. But unfortunately, the 25 bus service is gone, and despite organising a campaign to retain it the NTA has decided not to. This is very disappointing.

We are also aware of the problems with capacity on some of the Lucan buses and we have contacted the NTA about this. Some buses are very full and leaving passengers behind, this is not good enough for a public service!

The Kishogue train station is not yet opened and now requires substantial work to open. The station should have been opened when it was first built, which could have helped to alleviate the traffic problems in Lucan. We have raised this multiple times with the NTA and they have promised that the station will open when the new houses are built in Clonburris SDZ. More investment in public transport in the area is needed as new homes are being built. People Before Profit will continue to fight for this in the next budget and beyond.

Government to Blame The housing crisis for Housing Crisis just gets worse.

Childcare Costs

The Government is failing to build enough homes and has done nothing about the 166,000 vacant properties.

PBP wants housing for all. We need: • A state-led building company to build social and affordable houses.

• 50% of private developments should be handed over to the state at reduced prices • To take vacant homes into public ownership to house all people • Rent reductions and a ban on evictions

Childcare costs in Ireland are the most expensive in Europe. The disparate nature of childcare provision in the state is heavily reliant on the private sector. In some cases, families are paying enormous amounts of money for this basic provision.

People Before Profit stand for: • Extend the Early Childhood Care Scheme, the Universal Subsidy and the Affordable Childcare Scheme to make Childcare Genuinely Affordable • Integrate care, education and after-school services by linking early care and education services, primary schools and after-school services • Move to a National Childcare Service Free at the point of use • Increase investment – move to 1% of GDP

Lucan Newsletter.indd 3

07/09/2022 17:29:12

Gino Kenny TD To Introduce Legislation to Decimalise Cannabis the coming for Adult Personal Use Inweeks, Gino Kenny TD will put forward a bill to decriminalise cannabis. The bill will seek to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act on the personnel possession of cannabis for adult use.

The criminalisation of cannabis in this country and across the world has done little to stop its use.

Prohibition has failed to prevent cannabis use in Ireland. It’s time we acknowledge that and implement a policy that is better suited to deal with people’s needs instead of wasting public resources on criminalising cannabis users through the criminal justice system.

People Before Profit hope this bill can start a meaningful debate which can lead to the end of cannabis prohibition in Ireland.

Special Oireachtas Committee to Examine the Issue of Assisted Dying.

Last year the Dáil’s Justice Committee recommended that a special Oireachtas committee should examine the topic of assisted dying following the scrutiny of the Dying with Dignity Bill which People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny put forward in 2020.

The special committee will convene this October and run for a period of nine months.

Following these deliberations, the committee will then make its recommendations to the government.

Recent opinion polls have indicated that a clear majority would support a change in legislation to give those with a life-limiting terminal illness a choice to avail of voluntary assisted dying. People Before Profit look forward to the discussion in the months ahead.

Your Local PBP Team

Gino Kenny TD phone 085 721 1574 twitter @Ginosocialist � @CllrGinoKenny � @ginotdkenny � gino.kenny@oireachtas.ie

0612

Lucan Newsletter.indd 4

Cllr. Madeleine Johansson phone 087 3630242 twitter @CllrJohansson � @CllrJohansson � mjohansson@cllrs.sdublincoco.ie

JOIN at www.pbp.ie/join For More Information on People Before Profit Contact 087 2839964 or visit www.pbp.ie

07/09/2022 17:29:16