Ryan, "My primary concern is that the Government will implement the Keane Report's recommendations without rigorously examining the key proposals. Given the scale of the mortgage crisis, which let us remember is a human crisis and in many cases a family crisis, I find this Report lacks enough rigorous analysis to make adequate recommendations to solve the mortgage arrears crisis."
Ryan continued "I was disappointed to find out that the Working Group only met eight times and that some key data, including the number of mortgages on the verge of going into arrears, was not available to the Group. I also raised concerns about the proposed Mortgage-to-Rent scheme. I'm concerned about the capacity of Local Authorities to cope with the potential for thousands of extra properties falling under their remits for repairs and maintenance etc. In my constituency, Fingal County Council is pinned to its collar. At the end of this month we will see the regrettable end to Fingal County Council's bin service due to lack of funding and resources. Now the Keane Report recommends the potential handing over of properties in mortgage arrears to local authorities. This has the potential to cause major problems:
Ryan elaborated, "This past week we have seen residents of the Priory Hall Apartment complex in Donaghmede have to evacuate their homes due to critical safety concerns in the building's construction. There are estates in North Dublin afflicted with Pyrite and I know of many families living in Pyrite affected homes, currently in mortgage arrears too. Will the Local Authorities be able to repair and maintain these homes should the mortgage holder fall into a Mortgage-to-Rent scheme? The Government needs to be mindful of these potential issues when deciding on its policy in this area."
Ryan concluded "While welcoming the Report as an important stepping stone, and commending the work done, the people of Ireland put us into this house to push further to dig deeper and to work harder on finding the right course of action in this most important of issues."
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Ryan continued "The group also set out its goals and expectations primary amongst them the desire to have their pyrite-affected homes to be fully repaired and certified 'pyrite-free'. This is the goal which needs to be achieved and it must be the goal of the Government's working group too. I welcomed the opportunity to meet and speak with the Pyrite Action Group in Leinster House and I will continue to work with them in the weeks and months ahead on this most serious of issues."
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Ryan continued "The airlines, the DAA and others working on behalf of other State organisations, such as passport control, have information. There is a real opportunity to address the issue and disprove or get to the bottom of it".
Officials from the Department of Social Protection responded to Deputy Ryan through saying "There is a problem with some people flying into Ireland to claim social welfare benefits. We are addressing this through variance residence checks." The Department did state that "Departmental Inspectors do not have specific powers at ports and airports to conduct checks" and "it would require legislation to grant such powers." The Department did inform Deputy Ryan that it is actively pursuing a change in legislation in this area.
Ryan "Congratulations to Skerries which was awarded the Regional Prize for Dublin. This is a wonderful achievement and thoroughly deserved by the Skerries Tidy Towns Committee which also received a national award worth an extra €1000 to mark their achievements."
Ryan continued "Congratulations should also be passed to the Donabate Tidy Towns Committee for gaining a Highly Commended Award for sustainable development. Malahide continued its strong performance in Tidy Towns competitions with a gold medal award of its own in the G Category. Lusk Tidy Towns Committee was commended for their efforts in the past year. It has been a very good year for Fingal in the Tidy Towns competition and I congratulate all the committee members and volunteers who dedicate so much time and energy to making the towns of Fingal such pleasant places to live in and visit."
Ryan "It seems certain commentators are tripping over themselves to declare the Metro North project dead in the water. This is both frustrating and not very constructive to a national debate on transport infrastructure. In the past number of weeks I have met a number of partners involved in Metro North including the Railway Procurement Agency and the Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar. The situation remains the same now as it has done for the past number of months insofar as we are awaiting the results of the comprehensive spending review before a decision will be made on Metro North."
Ryan continued "The results of the comprehensive spending review are not yet known and as such the immediate future of Metro North is uncertain. However it is vital that Metro North is kept on the table. As I have said before, Metro North is the only show in town which can meet the deficit in transport infrastructure for the M1 corridor."
]]>- A suitable location for the office has been identified near the Garda station
in Swords
- The main lease terms and conditions have been agreed and final letting and pre-letting arrangements are being prepared for completion with the landlord in question.
- An exact programme for construction will be agreed with the developer on the signing of these contracts.
Ryan says "It is vital Swords is facilitated with a comprehensive social welfare office as soon as possible. We are facing a similar problem in Balbriggan as that community is also waiting for a comprehensive social welfare office. The OPW has informed me that they are still seeking suitable locations for such an office in Balbriggan. I will maintain my pressure on the OPW and the Department of Social Protection to deliver offices for both Swords and Balbriggan as soon as possible.
"It is imperative the results of this Census are used to inform responsible planning in North County Dublin over the coming years in order to avoid the mistakes made in the past. The previous census forewarned huge population surges in North County Dublin yet the required planning needed to cope with such a surge remained wanting. Balbriggan is a perfect example of this neglect. The latest Census has highlighted a 57.5% population increase since 2006 in the population of outer Balbriggan; the largest percentage and actual increase of any electoral division in the country. On RTE Radio's Drivetime show Dr Brian Hughes of DIT highlighted the critical need for schools in Balbriggan to cope with the massive population spike.
"There is an element of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted as the planning failures of the previous government has left Dublin North scrambling to catch up to its ever increasing population. The school, amenities and transport infrastructure is lagging behind the influx of people into the region and this is leading to daily hardships for ordinary people. Proper and strict spatial planning is a must from this moment on. Let Census 2011 dictate a new era for stricter planning in Dublin North and throughout the State".
]]>"The original decision by the ICC to restrict the next World Cup to just ten Test level nations, excluding associate countries like Ireland, was a disgraceful decision. In my constituency of Fingal, there are four senior clubs containing numerous international players and a loyal fan base. The original decision to exclude associate nations was seen by many in the Irish Cricketing fraternity as stymying the progress of the game, especially in countries such as Ireland where Cricket is a growing sport. There was a feeling that Ireland was being cheated of the right to participate.
"The decision to allow four associate nations to qualify for the next World Cup is a great result for Cricket Ireland and the many thousands of Irish fans, including myself, who wrote to the ICC directly demanding that the proposed changes be overturned. The door is now open for Ireland to qualify for the next World cup and build on the great strides the team made in both the 2007 and 2011 World Cups".
]]>"The Government and the Minister for Social Protection should be commended for keeping the promise we collectively made on the doorsteps to work towards getting our people back to work. Since we have been in
Government we have been busy developing innovative ways to stimulate the jobs market within the terms of the EU/IMF bailout negotiated by the previous administration. It will be a long road and this is only part of the plan but it is a step in the right direction.
"I have seen in my own constituency how families have suffered from the pain of emigration and I hope this scheme will allow that trend to be reversed and keep some of our best and brightest at home.
The Deputy also says the schemes success will be measured by the quality of internships provided, and that the experience gained by the people getting back into the workforce will be invaluable to them in their futures.
Deputy Ryan believes people, employers and organisations across the private, public and community and voluntary sectors should take this opportunity to play an active role in our recovery and work together in a way that is mutually beneficial for all.
"This scheme is cost neutral for businesses and it should be embraced by anyone who is serious about getting Ireland back on her feet. It will help get people out of the cycle of not getting a job due to a lack of experience or not getting any experience because they can't get a job."