Fingal budget seeks to hit low income households

The Fingal Draft budget was delivered to councillors a couple of days before Christmas. The Council will meet on January 7^th to adopt, amend or reject the budget. If a budget is not adopted on or before January 27^th the Council will be abolished and the County Manager will run the Council directly under the direction of Central Government.

The draft budget proposes to abolish the bin tag waiver for low income households generating €1 million in additional revenue. The budget also proposes cuts in rates for commercial premises by 10.5% or €14 million. Business owners will further benefit from an anticipated 6% reduction in water charges.

This approach means that those who will be hit the hardest are the same people who can afford to pay the least. The very people who have been hit by cuts in social welfare in the recent national budget and by the non payment of the Christmas bonus will be hit again.

If the Council was in the red I would not support an approach which sought to make those with the least pay, while those with the most are insulated from cuts. However the Council is not bankrupt - indeed it is ending 2009 with a surplus of 1.5 million euro. The cost of the bin tag waiver is in the region of 1 million euro.

This draft budget is an unfair attack on low income households – households who have already suffered from recent government cuts. I will be voting against this draft budget unless this unjust and unnecessary measure is reversed.

Seagrange Park Baldoyle

At the December Howth Malahide Council meeting I tabled a motion calling for increased lighting in Seagrange Park, Baldoyle. In particular there is a lack of lighting to serve the path between Parkvale and Bayside Dart Station. A large number of residents are reliant on this route as they walk home from the Dart Station. It is very important that it is well lit during Winter months in particular. The Council management in response have agreed to examine the current provision of lighting to see if additional lights are needed.

At a recent public meeting of the Joint Policing Committee that I chaired which took place in the Racecourse Inn, Baldoyle this issue of anti social behaviour in the park was discussed. The Gardai requested that the Council cut back shrubbery in the park to curb anti social activity in a number of locations. I am happy to report that the Council’s parks department have carried out this work.

The active lobbying of local residents associations resulted in a number of improvements to Seagrange Park in the last couple of years. These include the installation of the playground, lighting, benches, trees and the multi purpose sports unit for teenagers. It is vital that this work is completed to ensure that Seagrange Park thrives as a local amenity.

When the lights go out

Residents in West Malahide have suffered a number of power outages as a result of faults in the ESB Network. Since Sunday 15 November there have been 3 power cuts leaving residents in the dark and without any electricity supply for durations of up to two hours.

In response to this problem I have contacted the chief executive of the ESB. The ESB have offered their apologies to local residents and I have been assured that they are taking a number of steps to address the situation as a matter of priority.

Firstly the ESB have repaired the equipment that experienced faults.

Secondly they are currently undertaking a patrol of all the overhead MV lines and ground mounted transformers in the area .

Finally a new line and large new cables will be extended into the area to reinforce the network. While some of this work may take a little time to complete the ESB assure me it will be undertaken as a matter of priority.

Fingal Council supports Howth Scouts

At the last meeting of Fingal County Council I tabled an emergency motion in support of the Howth Sea Scouts. The attempts by the government to evict them from the premises that they fundraised for and built on the West Pier in Howth are outrageous.

The emergency motion was passed unanimously and all five local councillors and also independent councillor Dave O Connor spoke in support.

The motion reads as follows:
That Fingal County Council calls on the government to intervene to halt the eviction of the Howth Sea Scouts from their building in Howth harbour which they fundraised and paid for and have occupied for the last 22 years

Bridgefield Car Park Malahide

On October 15^th at a meeting of the Fingal Malahide Howth Area Committee proposals were brought by Council management to put on public display plans to remove a playing pitch used by St Sylvester’s GAA club and to replace it with an extended car park while introducing pay and display at the rate of one euro an hour.

I opposed the bringing forward of these proposals on the grounds that there had been no consultation with St Sylvester’s GAA club and that the proposal to remove open amenity space and replace it with pay for parking was regressive and would damage irreversibly an amenity for local children and residents.

I received support in my opposition from my Labour colleague Cllr. Peter Coyle. However as the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael councillors were in support of initiating the planning process for this proposal by putting it on public display we were unable to stop this planning process been initiated.

Following a public outcry against these proposals I welcome the u-turn by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael councillors in recent weeks. However it is regrettable that they did not support me in blocking the initiation of the planning process for this pay and display car park in October. If they had supported my stance at the time we could have saved scarce Council resources which are been wasted with this public display process as well as the time and energy of local people who are worried that this destruction of our open space might go ahead.

Thanks

Firstly I just want to say a big thankyou to everyone who voted for me in the elections on June 5th and to everyone who supported our campaign.

I've set up this blog as a means of keeping people up to date on what work I am doing at a Council level.

If you have any views, comments, questions, suggestions or ideas I would love to hear from you. Just ring or text me at 086 286 6631 or email me at cian.ocallaghan at votelabour.ie

Cleaner Beaches

The June bank holiday weekend was one of the finest of the summer to date. It was the kind of weekend when anyone with good sense headed to their nearest beach. Others, myself included, campaigned door to door with just days to go till election day.

The government this year has reduced funding to Fingal Council by a stagerring 10%. So as the sun beamed down the Council was under pressure to implement cuts. Bins weren't placed on beaches and what bins were near beaches weren't emptied. Our local beaches then made headline news for all the wrong reasons as the rubbish piles grew high.

I raised this as a priority at my first full Council meeting and submitted a motion calling on the manager to ensure that there is never a repeat of this situation. In response the Council management have increased the number of bins on beaches and increased the frequency at which they are emptied.

With local jobs and tourism already under pressure it is vital that the Council maintain basic services to keep our beaches, parks and communities clean.