Intro

I believe that my professional and volunteering background have given me a unique outlook as Minister. I spent many years in the Finglas area as a teacher and later as a Vice Principal, serving as chair of the City of Dublin VEC and volunteering in the Finglas community. These years of work have given me hands on knowledge and experience  of how community organisations operate; their needs and concerns in tackling disadvantage; drug misuse and many other social issues.

I have helped many individual constituents, groups, clubs and schools to improve the area by representing their views on  Dublin City Council since 1985 and in the Dáil since 1997.

I am deeply ambitious for the Dublin North West area. There has been a  significant investment in North West Dublin  since 1997, helping to tackle disadvantage and social exclusion. Now, as Minister,  I am keen to see this work continued in the most efficient manner possible, despite the economic reality we find ourselves in.

Long term strategic projects are key to the social and economic development of North West Dublin, and are one of my priorities.

National Priorities

Economy

The Irish economy is facing its greatest challenge since the foundation of the state. We have taken bold, decisive and innovative steps to manage our way through this crisis. The Government over the past 18 months has made budgetary adjustments of more than €8 billion for 2009. Had we not done so, the deficit would have ballooned towards 20 per cent of GDP. The measures we have taken have been commended by international bodies such as the European Central Bank, the European Commission, the IMF and the OECD and he approval of the international markets. In December 2008, Fianna Fail in Government launched a five year plan for economic renewal entitled “Building Ireland’s Smart Economy, A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal.” Our aim is to develop Ireland as a leading knowledge-based, high productivity economy by harnessing the best elements of the enterprise economy and the “ideas” economy.

Jobs

Fianna Fail is fully committed to getting people back to work. Budget 2010 lays the foundations of the smart economy through major stimulus measures such as the national retro-fit programme and an allocation of €6.4 billion in infrastructure projects. Various schemes such as the Enterprise Stabilisation Fund and the Employment Subsidy Fund have been inroduced to support the maintenance of vulnerable jobs and to prevent people from being made redundant. In terms of tackling unemployment, support and training will be made available to 180,000 individuals in 2010 via programmes such as the Work Placement Programme and the Community Employment Scheme.

Rural Affairs

We are committed to the development of rural Ireland through the continued investment in transport, roads and employment in rural areas. Funding for the Rural Transport Programme is being maintained in 2010 in recognition of the important role it plays in combating rural isolation. Following a review in 2009, a revised Scheme of Community Support for Older People will be introduced providing security for upwards of 9,000 older people in their homes. We are also committed to increased investment in capital Rural Development measures, including investment in the CLAR Programme.

Older People

We are committed to developing a comprehensive range of services for older people. We will ensure that older people can live in dignity and where this is not feasible, older people should have access to quality, affordable long-term residential care. We are committed to the needs of pensioners and they were the only group exempted from the necessary social welfare cuts in Budget 2010. My Department runs the “Seniors Alert” scheme providing alarms and security equipment to local groups to aid older people living in their homes. Further information is available from seniorsalert@pobail.ie

Communities

Fianna Fail in Government will protect communities and support the ongoing work of community and voluntary groups through the Local and Community Development Programme.