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Spring 2015

Michael McCarthy TDKEEPING IN TOUCH

4. SUPPORTING CORK AIRPORTCork is the economichub of the south-westregion and its airconnectivity is crucialto attracting foreigndirect investment. Theairport is an excellentfacility but it needsnew routes and thenecessary policies andinitiatives to improveand attract traffic toand from Cork. I will bepursuing this in theDáil.

5. INVESTING IN BROADBANDMembers of the business and community sector in West Cork recently met with the Ministerfor Communications, Energy & Natural Resources Alex White. I was delighted to facilitate thismeeting. It is imperative that businesses and domestic users alike in West Cork have access togood high-speed broadband and I look forward to continuing to work with Minister White todeliver next generation broadband to every home and business by 2020.

6. NEW SKIBBEREEN COMMUNITYSCHOOLThe Minister for Education and Skills, JanO’Sullivan recently performed theofficial sod turning on the site of thenew multi million euro communityschool at Gortnacloughy, Skibbereen.Construction is already underway at the19 acre site, which will cater for 900 post-primary school students in May 2016.Up to 120 people will be employed during the peak of construction with morethan half of those coming from the locality.

The economicrecovery we areseeing needs to befelt throughout theentire country notjust in our urbancentres. RuralIreland has a partto play in businessdevelopment andjob creation that iswhy over the nextfive years up to€100 million inEnterprise Ireland funding will be made available. IDA Irelandwill also roll out a €150 million capital investmentprogramme to help attract more multinational jobs into eachregion.

Michael with IFA representatives discussing theRural Development Programme 2014 - 2020

2. TÁNAISTE JOAN BURTON VISITS WEST CORK

DELIVERING FOR WEST CORK1. €250 MILLION REGIONALACTION PLAN FOR RURALIRELAND

2014 was another excellent year for Irish tourism. There were a total of 7,604,400visits to Ireland, an increase of 8.9%. The retention of the 9% VAT rate and thesuccess of the Wild Atlantic Way has helped to create new jobs and stimulate theeconomy. It is important now that we continue this growth and ensure that theindustry thrives in 2015.

www.michaelmccarthy.ie

3. PROTECTING SMALL SCHOOLSThe Government has agreedon two new policies tobetter support smallschools, particularly those inisolated areas. This includesimproved changes tostaffing schedules for somesmall schools and avoluntary protocol for 1teacher schools withreducing enrolments. Thispackage will providecommunities with security about the future of their small schools. The future isnow bright for small schools in West Cork and I am very happy that we have beenable to address this issue and provide some security.

7. REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENTFigures from the CSO confirm that the number of people in the Cork area signing-onhas fallen by 4,542 or 11.9%. Unemployment is now at 10.1%, down from a crisispeak of 15.1%, and we will drive this down to a single rate figure in the comingmonth. In West Cork, Bandon recorded a decrease of 17%, Clonakilty 12.3%,Skibbereen 11.3% and Bantry 7.6%.

Tánaiste and leader of the Labour Party Joan Burton recently visited West Cork. She met with anumber of local and community groups and visited St. Mary's National School, Dunmanway. Shewas also joined RTE’s Operation Transformation contestant Veronica Horgan at a tree-plantingceremony in Dunmanway Community Gardens and travelled to Kinsale to meet with the town’sChamber of Tourism and Business.

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VIEWERS of BBC 1’s flag-ship chatshow The Graham Norton Show’ got a few tips on Irish dancing from a West Cork GAA star last week.Adrigole’s Liam Harrington was spotted by eagle-eyed fans

of the show on Friday night last when the host went into the audience to pick some ‘vic-tims’ to show off their dancing skills to guest, Irish dancing supremo Michael Flatley.Unbeknownst to Norton,

the first man he picked from the audience was a fellow West Cork local.Liam, a son of Willie and Margaret Harrington from Reen, is a brother of another talented Adrigole player, Da-

vid. The London-based teach-er didn’t hesitate to show his fancy footwork when asked to to perform some Irish danc-ing along with his friend Kate. Graham was thrilled to dis-cover they were both Irish.

But little did Liam and Kate know they were sitting beside an entire row of accomplished Irish dancers, there to pro-mote Flatley’s Lord of the Dance.Not one bit fazed by his

appearance on the ratings-topper, Liam flew home to play with Adrigole when they kicked off their Division 4 league campaign in fine style with a win away over Aghab-ullouge on Sunday.

Adrigole GAA star’s fancy footwork for Graham

Liam Harrington shows Graham some fancy footwork.

BY SIOBHÁN CRONINTHERE is a ‘severe crisis’ among West Cork’s mussel producers, according to the Irish Shellfish Association.Calling on the Minister for support for the industry, producers said the sector in both West Cork and Kerry has suffered highly unusual algal blooms this winter. The IFA’s analysis shows that up to 10,000 tonnes of top quality mussel crop have been lost to the elements or are now unusable

ensured that consumer and food safety comes first. ‘But unfortunately they have no control over the length of time these natural blooms can per-sist in the ocean. ‘Producers are not arguing with the science or criteria which closed them down. In fact, IFA members work very closely with the agencies such as the Food Safety Author-ity, Marine Institute, HSE and BIM to ensure we have the safest shellfish system in the world,’ he said.But he called on Minister

spring spawning season,’ he said.In her question to the Com-mission, Deirdre Clune said the shellfish industry was ‘very measured’ in its reaction and had not sought to dispute why the closures of some bays were necessary on public health grounds.

‘What they are looking for is to explore what assistance is available from European funds like the European Fish-eries Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund,’ she said

Cork shellfish producers in ‘severe crisis’ as crop is lost

OPERATION EDUCATION Veronica’s back at school

Veronica Horgan brought Tánaiste Joan Burton to her former primary school, St Mary’s

in Dunmanway, last Friday, along with local Labour TD Michael McCarthy. Veronica has

just one more week to go as a leader in the Operation Transformation TV show See p2

CONTAMINATION of the fuel tanks on the Astrid was among the reasons cited for the disaster near Oysterhaven on July 24 2013, a damning report has stated.The Marine Casualty Inves-tigation Board has concluded that the ship, in its condition on the day, ‘should not have been at sea’. It said that the engines failed as a result of the fuel contamination, leading to the eventual sinking of the sail training vessel, after a major rescue of its 30 passengers off the Cork coast.The report, issued this week, concludes that the con-tamination of the fuel tanks was due to ‘human error’ when water was taken on in Brighton, 12 days earlier, and ‘insufficient action’ was taken to remove it, once discovered.It further concluded that the route taken appeared to have been influenced by the ‘desire’ for photographs of the Gathering event, and the planned route from Oyster-haven to Kinsale was ‘inad

a course within 300m of a lee shore in a Force 6 wind’.Futhermore, an incorrect Mayday message was sent out from the ship, delaying emer-gency services by ten minutes.‘The ship was not certified as a passenger ship for either EU or international voyages, nor were the crew appropri-ately certified, and the ship should not have been at sea,’ the report added.The authors suggested the Transport Minister should ex-plore mechanisms to ensure ‘that sail training ships en-tering Irish waters and ports comply with the requirements of the International Conven-tions and EU Law.’In what appears to be a ref-erence to that night’s Gather-ing Cruise event, the report suggests that: ‘Ships engaged in any promotional activities must ensure that the Master has over-riding authority and must not compromise good passage planning or the safety of the ship and persons on-board when engaged in such

Sail training ship Astrid ‘should not have been at sea’

8. TOURISM ON THE RISE

Michael with Airport CEO Niall McCarthy

0612

DELIVERING FOR IRELAND

7. RE-STARTED RECRUITMENT INTOTHE PUBLIC SERVICE, INCLUDINGGARDAÍThe Government has endedthe recruitment moratorium,and has re-started publicsector recruitment, includingrecruiting several hundrednew Gardaí.

One of the first things Labour did was to reverse the cut in the minimum wagewhich Fianna Fáil introduced. Under Labour leadership, the Government has also setup a Low Wage Commission to work towards better pay for those on low wages.

1. TAX CUTS AND USC CUTS FROMJANUARY 1ST

2. FASTEST GROWING ECONOMYIN THE EUROZONE

The cuts which took effect inJanuary are the first step ineasing the burden on lowand middle income workers.

THE NEXT STEPS...The last few years have been very difficult for people across Ireland. Now that the economy has been stabilised andthe Government's finances are getting in reasonable shape, it is very important that those that have struggled themost in recent years get the most benefit. I am arguing for further reductions in the USC from the bottom up, andthat eventually it should be phased out for low and middle income workers.

3. BUILDING HOMES FOR FAMILIES

Since 2012, despite being in serious financial difficulty, theGovernment has commenced or completed 319 new schoolsand major extensions. It has also opened 37 new primaryhealthcare centres and is working on a further 33.

5. BUILDING SCHOOLS &HOSPITALS

4. REVERSED THE CUT IN THE MINIMUMWAGE & ESTABLISHED LOW PAYCOMMISSION

Just a year after exiting the Troika Bailoutprogramme, Ireland now has the fastestgrowing economy in the entire Eurozone.This fast economic growth is creating jobsand income for the citizens of our country.

Budget 2015 prioritised building new homes for families. We have already re-started social housing programmes, refurbishing boarded-up homes, and weare developing a construction programme to increase the number of homes built to nearly 40,000 by 2020.

6. PROVIDING SPORTSGRANTS FOR CLUBSAROUND THECOUNTRY

8. INTRODUCED CLIMATE CHANGE BILL

Since 2012, the Government has givenover €70 million in grants to Sports Clubsaround Ireland. I would urge all sports clubs inWest Cork to register now for the 2015 SportsCapital Grant Programme ahead of the deadline in April 2015.

The Government recently published the Climate Action and Low Carbon development Bill 2015. This is the first time that a coherent and legislativeresponse has been developed to the threat of climate change. As Chairman of the Environment Oireachtas Committee, I worked with key groups,organisations and leading specialists in the field, with this work forming the basis of this legislation. This legislation will set us apart, as it will make Irelandone of the few EU members states that have adopted climate change legislation to date and one of the first EU countries to put a legal obligation on itsGovernment to develop policies to plan for existing and future climate change commitments.

Michael McCarthy TDConstituency Office:Market Square, Dunmanway, Co. Cork Tel: 023 8855705Email: michael.mccarthy@oir.ieWeb: www.michaelmccarthy.ie

@mmccarthyTD

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