Coalition TDs oppose pension cuts

Green Party Minister of State Mary White who has outlined her party's opposition to cuts in the pension. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons/The Irish Times

AOIFE CARR

Proposed cuts to pensions in the budget were opposed this morning by members of Fianna Fáil and their Green Party coalition partners.

Green Party deputy leader Mary White said she was raising a “red flag” to Fianna Fáil over the issue, saying pensions should not be cut under any circumstances.

Ms White said the Government should look for alternative methods of raising revenues.

“We should send a strong signal in this budget, whatever happens, that fair is worth fighting for," she said.

“I’m certainly sending a signal that we should be looking for alternative methods of raising revenue. I am desperately trying to think of less painful methods of raising tax in this budget,” the Minister of State with responsibility for equality said.

Ms White said that while the country needed to be in control of its economic sovereignty and the budget needed to be passed, it also needed to be fair and protect the vulnerable.

“Pensioners have worked all their lives. They now have no method of accruing income for themselves. And with the disastrous erosion of their savings, many of their houses in negative equity, I believe they are in a perilous situation,” she said.

Asked whether the Green Party would vote against the budget if it included pension cuts, Ms White said “there was still time” to shape a fair budget.

She said the matter would be discussed at the party’s parliamentary meeting on Wednesday, she told RTE’sMorning Ireland .

Fianna Fáil TD Mary O’Rourke said she was totally against any cuts to the non-contributory pension.

“We cannot touch it. Old people cannot raise money for themselves. Young people can do a nixer,” she said on the same programme.

She said she would have the “airwaves of Ireland exhausted” in the run-up to the budget listening to her talking about the importance of leaving the pension alone. “We have a regard for older people in this country," she said. "Well, we used to, so let’s put our money where our mouth is."

Sinn Féin’s Aengus Ó Snodaigh called on Mary White to back up her call for pensions to be protected by

committing to vote against the budget if pension cuts are included in it.

“Minister White’s statement ruling out pension cuts can’t be trusted without a commitment to vote against the budget if pension cuts are included in it. Talk is cheap, only votes count," he said.

Meanwhile, a charity for older people is organising a mass public meeting on November 17th to enable pensioners to tell politicians what they need in the budget and to outline the difficulties living in Ireland as an older person.

“There is a real concern that politicians who are making major decisions as part of the Budget do not fully understand the difficulties which older people face in Ireland, or the supports which they cannot afford to lose as part of any cutbacks,” Age Action chief executive Robin Webster said.

The meeting will take place at the Arlington Hotel in Dublin, at 11am on Wednesday, November 17th. Anyone planning on attending must pre-register with Age Action as places are limited.

Older & Bolder, an alliance of groups that represent and work with older people, said today it was encouraged by the response it has been getting from politicians to its campaign to defend the old age pension.

The group will be making a presentation to the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection on Wednesday.

FG defends health reform plan

Fine Gael has defended its proposals to reform the health service following criticism from Siptu that they would result in the HSE being "sold off".

The party's health spokesman Dr James Reilly said the plan published yesterday prioritised the protection of frontline services and put the patient first.

He was responding to comments by Siptu branch organiser Paul Bell on Fine Gael's Reinventing Government plan, which proposes dismantling the HSE amongst over reforms.

Dr Reilly said it was a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the plan to think that putting the patient at the centre of health budgeting and providing universal health insurance could be equated with privatising the health service.

"By changing hospital budgets to ‘money follows the patient’ we will end the obscenity of patients having their operations cancelled and ridiculous waiting times for medical procedures. This will truly make it a patient-centred service as the patient will become king under a new system of ‘no patient, no payment’," Dr Reilly said.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland , Mr Bell said he had been “inundated” with calls and text messages from members of his union concerned about the Fine Gael plan. Under the Government’s proposal announced last week, there would be 5,000 voluntary redunancies in the HSE.

Under the Fine Gael plan, however, there were concerns the service would suffer a loss of 28,000 employees.

Dr Reilly said, however, it was "disingenuous in the extreme" to suggest that 28,000 redundancies would take place in the HSE, when Reinventing Government envisaged a "targeted reduction" of 30,000 staff across the whole public sector.

“The UK Trust model which Fine Gael will introduce for our hospitals that are currently in public ownership will ensure representation for patients, staff, community groups and elected representatives, thus ensuring far more local autonomy and supporting the ‘not for profit ethos’ that rightly dominates the public and voluntary hospital sector," he said.

The plan would ensure "a smooth transition that will protect the front line and patients at all times".

"Thus some staff will take voluntary redundancy, some will redeploy to the front line and some will move over to the insurance companies."

Mr Bell had expressed concern that the plan would involve the health service being “sold off” to private insurance companies.

“In the Croke Park agreement, there is no provision for the surrendering of the public health service to insurance companies,” he said.

He said that agreement between the Government and the social partners contained commitments that the public health service would “reconfigure”.

This would throw up a number of voluntary redundancies and retirements over a four- to five-year period.

“And from there, the health service will be modernised and will be able to deal with the demand of the Irish public.”

He said the Croke Park agreement focused on wage security, but “most fundamentally it talks about job security”.

“At the end of the day the trade union movement wants universal access to health services…and we will work within the Croke Park agreement to try and reconfigure and streamline the health service”.

Separately, Socialist Party councillor Mick Barry said the Fine Gael plan was a “Thatcherite document which would privatise Ireland’s health service and push unemployment over the 500,000 mark”.

Mr Barry asked the Labour Party to explain to its voters how it could go into a coalition government “with a party that promoted such a hard-line right-wing agenda

'Let them eat cheese' approach fails to butter up electorate

'Free cheese for the needy,' trumpeted Grand Fromage Brendan Smith

MIRIAM LORD

Ireland entered the Twilight Zone yesterday – tipped into another dimension by a gaffe-prone Government’s cheesy attempt to butter up the electorate.

Do not be alarmed, for there is Philadelphia light at the end of the tunnel. Jaws hit the floor at breakfast time when the Minister for Agriculture proudly informed Morning Ireland listeners of the great news.

“Free cheese for the needy,” trumpeted Grand Fromage Brendan Smith, having spent the previous few minutes side-stepping questions about the publication of the dreaded austerity plan.

A budget from hell may be on the way, with €6 billion in cuts and tax rises planned for next month. We are living beyond our means, cautions the Minister for Finance, reprising Charlie Haughey. The future looks grim. But at least we have cheese. Cavan’s answer to Marie Antoinette sounded very pleased with himself.

Have they no sense? Did nobody think that boasting about handing out a bit of free cheese – laudable as the scheme is – might seem a little crass when set against the financial tsunami on the way? Did the Cabinet sit in silence, bereft of ideas, at their meeting in Farmleigh and wonder what they might possibly come up with to comfort a worried nation?

Then somebody shouts: “Jesus . . . cheesus . . . cheeses . . . cheese . . . that’s it. Cheese! Let them eat cheese!” And so the low-profile Brendan Smith gets his big moment on Morning Ireland and launches into one of the most absurd radio performances since Joe Jacob’s memorable interview on what to do in the event of a nuclear accident.

The free cheese scheme has been running for well over a decade, but no minister ever felt the need to make a big deal about it until yesterday.

By mid-morning, Brendan’s announcement had made it to the international cheesewires.

The Opposition rushed to condemn what they saw as the Minister’s insensitivity. Stung by the avalanche of derision, Mr Smith fought back, saying Fine Gael’s reaction to his free cheese announcement was “deeply offensive, especially to the many charity organisations which rely on it each year”.

If there were free wine on offer, which there isn’t, John Wilson, Irish Times wine expert, recommends “a nice Chateauneuf du Pape to go with your Coalition cheddar.

It would be funny, if things weren’t so damn seriou

Pope consecrates Gaudi cathedral

Gay activists take part in a protest by kissing in front of Pope Benedict as he passes by on his way to the La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images

Pope Benedict attacked abortion and gay marriage, recently legalised in Spain, in a Mass today to consecrate Barcelona's iconic church in another pointed criticism of what he called Spain's "aggressive secularism".

Spain's legalisation of abortion on demand this year and gay marriage in 2005 have stoked tensions with the Vatican, but Madrid has tried to downplay any friction during the pope's two-day visit.

Hundreds of gay and lesbians protested the Church's position by kissing publicly as the pope passed by on his way to the fantastically embellished modernist Sagrada Familia, designed by Antoni Gaudi and under construction for 128 years.

"The Church resists every form of denial of human life and gives its support to everything that would promote the natural order in the sphere of the institution of the family," the pope said in the Mass.

He also said "the indissoluble love of a man and a woman is the effective context of human life in its gestation, birth, growth, and natural end," in a clear criticism of gay marriage.

Before Sunday the Sagrada Familia - which will eventually be able to seat more than 10,000 people - had never been used as a church. Gaudi died in 1926 and construction has been slow, funded only by visitor admission fees and donations.

It was not clear if the pope noticed the mass kiss protest in the midst of thousands of flag-waving supporters who cheered the pope as he rode by in a bullet-proof "pope mobile".

"We are here for a peaceful protest. The church oppresses us and doesn't respect us. . . . We can't tolerate this sort of pope in the 21st century," said Eduardo Prado, one of about 300 men and women who participated in the so-called queerkissflashmob.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero promoted the legalisation of gay marriage, including adoption rights, and a law allowing abortion on demand for women 16 years and older during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Spain, where 76 per cent of the population consider themselves Catholic, was the third country in the world to legalise homosexual marriage.

Pope Benedict, on his second visit to Spain since he was elected, drew criticism from leftist commentators for remarks he made on his flight to the country on Saturday when he said the country was going through a period of "aggressive secularism like we saw in the 1930s".

The pope called for a "re-evangelisation" of Spain, which has produced some of the most influential Catholics in history.

The pontiff today praised the Sagrada Familia, which when completed will have 18 soaring towers representing important figures of Christianity as well as intricate sculptures detailing Jesus's life. The name of the church means Holy Family in English.

"Gaudi, by opening his spirit to God, was capable of creating in this city a space of beauty, faith and hope which leads man to an encounter with him who is truth and beauty itself," the pope said during his homily

Get ready for 24-hour bashing in storm blast

BRACED: Tens of thousands of sandbags are in place. Photo: Senan Doran O'Reilly

By Alan O'Keeffe

Saturday November 06 2010

THE FIRST big storm of winter will hit Dublin tomorrow night -- and could last for more than 24 hours.

The capital and other coastal communities are on high alert today amid fears that high tides, heavy rainfall and storm-force winds could cause serious flooding problems for householders and businesses.

Flood warnings will remain active until Monday evening as the nation braced itself for a severe storm due to hit the country tomorrow.

The storm is expected to strike the west coast in the afternoon, and will hit Dublin in the evening.

Met Eireann today updated its severe weather warning for tomorrow and Monday, saying a low-pressure system, coupled with the high tides and storm surges, could cause several coastal areas to be flooded.

Dublin City Council along with local authorities in Cork, Wicklow and Galway are distributing tens of thousands of sandbags to residents in at-risk areas, while emergency crews are on standby for the approaching storm.

In the capital, council executives, gardai and health service personnel met today and will meet tomorrow and on Monday to co-ordinate the response to the severe weather alert. Met Eireann warned the danger period will continue into Monday night.

Intense

"There's bad weather on the way. It will be intense, and Sunday and Monday will see the worst of the winds, which will be up to 100kph on the west coast," said a Met Eireann forecaster.

The most at-risk areas are Dublin, Cork and Galway. High tide in Dublin is at midnight tomorrow and noon on Monday, and people living in Clontarf and Sandymount are at most risk of flooding in Dublin.

Gardai warned people not to drive on flooded roads and to be particularly careful when driving close to rivers. The ESB stated it is monitoring water flows from its dams on the River Liffey to ensure that the river does not flood.

A spokeswoman said: "ESB uses its large reservoir at Pollaphouca to store as much as possible of the rainfall, limiting flows from its dams into the Liffey. We will alter flows as required."

In Galway, a tidal barrier at the city's Spanish Arch has been put in place and people in Cork were warned to carefully monitor weather alerts with sandbags already prepared for dispersal in low-lying areas of the city centre.

Councils in Wicklow, Clare, Waterford City, Tipperary, Wexford and Sligo put emergency crews on standby for the weekend and have made sandbags available.

Met Eireann said icy patches could develop on roads tonight and with some freezing fog developing in places. Lowest temperatures plus 1 to --3 C.

It will be very cold and frosty at first tomorrow, with icy roads and patches of freezing fog. Dry and bright for the morning, with some hazy sunshine in many places, but the fog may be slow to lift over parts of Ulster.

Surge

Very wet and very windy weather developing in Atlantic coastal areas by early afternoon, will sweep across the country by evening.

The storm depression will affect the country during Sunday night and for a time on Monday and this will create a tidal surge, and some coastal flooding

Westlife - Safe

Flood warning for coastal areas

Dublin City Council distributed sandbags in Clontarf and Sandymount

Friday November 05 2010

Authorities have warned of flooding risks in coastal areas with high tides, gales and heavy rain forecast this weekend.

Alerts were issued in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Clare for Sunday as the first big weather system of winter sweeps across the country.

The worst of the rain and winds are expected to hit in the 24 hours into Monday afternoon with Met Eireann warning of gales of 70-100km per hour gusting to possible storm force and likely to cause flooding.

Dublin City Council distributed sandbags in Clontarf and Sandymount and planned to close car parks along the seafront.

"This combination of high tides and low pressure increase the possibility of coastal flooding, particularly at high tide around midnight on Sunday and midday on Monday," a spokesman said.

Cork City Council said it expected to be hit with a tidal surge, with low lying parts of the city centre at serious risk. Galway City Council put up a safety barrier on the quay at the Spanish Arch and warned of localised flooding on Spanish Parade, Quay Street and Flood Street. Clare County Council said regions along the west coast expected to be hit by tidal surges and severe gales.

"While river levels currently are not a cause for concern, land, home and business owners along with motorists are being urged to exercise increased vigilance concerning the potential for localised flooding," a spokesman said.

David Stanton, Fine Gael defence spokesman, called for the Government to do the best to could to minimise risks from floods and severe weather.

"It appears to me that the army are only being called in as a last resort and when lives are at risk," Mr Stanton said. "I think it would be prudent to utilise the Defence Forces and any other state bodies and agencies in a preventative role to ensure that measures such as sandbagging and the like are put in place before homes and businesses are flooded.

"With a severe weather alert this weekend I am urging national co-ordinating bodies to ensure that all measures are in place and that all agencies are utilised to the full to minimise any damage that might occur.

Government to let them eat cheese

IRISH TIMES REPORTERS

The Government is to distribute some 53 tonnes of free cheese to people in need in the run up to Christmas.

Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith announced the EU-funded scheme today following talks with a number of charitable organisations.

He said the cheese will be available free of charge for distribution to those most in need. It will be available from November 15th “in time for Christmas”.

The State has been given more than €818,000 from the EU budget to purchase the cheese and the Irish Dairy Board has been awarded the tender to supply it. More than €750,000 will be spent on the Christmas scheme.

The Minister said the scheme was “an important means of contributing towards the well-being of the most deprived citizens in the community”.

“I am very conscious that many people find themselves in difficult circumstances at present and I want to commend the work of the many charitable organisations who are working on the frontline to bring what comfort and relief they can," he said. “I am glad to be able to help their work in such a practical way.”

The cheese is available in boxes of 12 1kg blocks from stores in Clondalkin, Portlaoise, Kilmacthomas Waterford, Cobh and Togher Co Cork from November 15th with a “minimum of one box per collection”.

Fine Gael’s agriculture spokesman Andrew Doyle reacted with scepticism to the plan.

“Fianna Fáil and the Greens gouda be kidding,” he said. “People on the breadline would rather the Government’s unfeta’d attention was on solving the economic crisis they caused and providing jobs rather than on this ridiculous announcement."

Mr Smith said Fine Gael's comments demonstrated "a complete lack of empathy with and sensitivity to those who have benefited in the past and will again this year from this EU-funded scheme”.

The reaction to the charity cheese scheme was "deeply offensive, especially to the many charity organisations which rely on it each year”, he said.

He rejected the suggestion that this was the first time the scheme was publicised.

“To try to make political capital out of a very well established EU funded initiative which has benefited the less well off since 1987, and which offers an important outlet to Irish dairy produce, is an unforgivable slight to the great work of Irish charitable organisations."

Some 350 tonnes of butter was allocated this year by the European Commission, but it was swapped for 315 tonnes of cheese. The 53 tonnes of cheese made available from this month brings the total to 167 tonnes for the year.

Mr Smith said: “Not alone would it benefit people from the point of view of providing good food, but it also promotes the use and the value and the importance and the nutrition of cheese and dairy products."

He said the EU had always had such a scheme, but this was the first time the Government had issued a press release announcing it.

"It goes to show that they think that providing free cheese will soft-soap the electorate and make us all forget the mess Fianna Fáil made of the country and the hardship Brian Lenihan will inflict on everyone. It won’t. At least this announcement has exposed Fianna Fáil and the Greens’ true attitude when it comes to the Irish people: Let them eat cheese.”

Permits are being issued to applicants to facilitate collection. Further information and application forms are available from the Department of Agriculture’s intervention operations department at Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford.

According to the Department of Agriculture, the programme of food aid was first introduced in 1987 as a reaction to conditions faced by deprived persons during a particularly harsh winter. Its primary objective is considered to be a "social measure" but it also has the effect of reducing the intervention storage costs at EU level.

The overall budget for the programme has increased from €100 million in 1988 to €478 million for 19 member states this year. Ireland’s share of the budget this year is €818,816 or 0.17 per cent.

Because of the reduction of the stocks in intervention the commission has been granting cash to buy products on the open market instead in recent years

Centre of excellence at Mayo General Hospital under threat -

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Centre of excellence at Mayo General Hospital under threat -"no logic" to decommissioning a department that has saved the HSE money" says Dr Jerry Cowley

Dr Jerry Cowley, Labour party general election candidate for Mayo is calling on the HSE not to downgrade the successful Stores Department at Mayo General Hospital.Dr Cowley visited the department on Wednesday, 3rd November to meet with staff on their concerns around the reorganisation of the service. It may mean that a service that saved over € 2.8 million for the HSE in Mayo General Hospital in the past year, is decommissioned. It is agreed by all that changes in the health service are necessary but Mayo General Hospital Stores Department is the most efficient in the Country presently.

Dr Cowley " I was extremely impressed by the commitment and professionalism of the staff of the stores department at Mayo General Hospital. This is confirmed by their nomination for a series of awards in recognition of their excellence. I cannot see any basis for downgrading a successful local unit, recognized nationally as a centre of excellence, based on arbitrary geographical factors as opposed to an analysis of the actual capabilities of the unit itself. There is no logic to this proposal which will cost several million of lost revenue to Mayo local suppliers. It also means that an unacceptable patient risk will come into play as no stock will be held on site at Mayo, but will have to come from Sligo or Galway in the event of an emergency situation. Considerable concerns have already been raised in the hospital concerning this ."

Staff informed Dr Cowley that their success in cutting costs on supplies for the Hospital is now being used as the model for the HSE throughout the country. It now seems that the 28 members of the team that has delivered this centre of excellence will be broken up and disbanded. Sligo and Galway are likely to be chosen as the new centralised stores areas and Mayo would lose out as a result.

Dr Cowley said he will be asking the parties health spokesperson to raise the matter with the Minister for Health at the first available opportunity in the Dail. He added "I call on all other public representatives in the county to join me to ensure that Mayo General Hospitals stores department is protected. If it can't be maintained in Castlebar, the HSE should consider using a central town in Connaught, Claremorris for example, as a base for any new centralised stores for the counties involved which include Galway, Sligo and Roscommon. This could also facilitate the retention of the excellent staff I met today in the county, serving the needs of the health service in the region as a whole. If properly managed this could mean 70 to 80 jobs for the Claremorris area.

Uproar in Dáil over Donegal poll

Sinn Fein Dail leader Caoimhghin O Caolain: criticised cost of Supreme Court appeal

MARIE O'HALLORAN and MICHAEL O'REGAN

The Dáil was suspended twice today amid chaotic scenes in a row over the Government's intention to appeal yesterday's High Court ruling on the Donegal South West byelection to the Supreme Court.

The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, criticised the Government for the delay in filling the vacancy which arose in the summer of 2009 when Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher was elected to Europe.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the Government had decided to appeal the decision, on the advice of the Attorney General, because the judgments had given rise to important constitutional issues.

The importance of the appeal was underlined by the fact that the judgment was the first time the courts had interpreted the Constitution to give rise to an obligation of that nature.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny criticised the cost to the taxpayer of the Supreme Court appeal and insisted that there should be no appeal unless the legal advice of the Attorney General was “crystal clear” that the Government would win the appeal.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore accused the Government of using the Supreme Court appeal to prevent other legal challenges on the three other Dáil vacancies in Dublin South, Waterford and Donegal North East, the latter following the resignation earlier this week of Fianna Fail TD Dr Jim McDaid.

Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimghín Ó Caolaín also called for clarification and criticised the cost of the Supreme Court appeal.

Ms Coughlan said the Government was appealing against the decision because the judgment had raised constitutional issues concerning the separation of powers between the judiciary and Oireachtas

Government to hold bye-election this month

Updated: 20:55, Wednesday, 3 November 2010

The Government will hold the Donegal South-West bye-election forthwith and the writ will be moved straight away.

1 of 3

Taoiseach & Tánaiste - Government were briefed this evening

Play

One News: High Court upholds bye-election complaint

Play

One News: Implications of bye-election ruling for Govt unknown

Related Stories

• Donegal bye-election case in High Court

The Government has said that the Donegal South-West bye-election will be held by the end of the month.

The announcement was made by Chief Whip John Curran following today's High Court ruling, which found there was an unreasonable delay in holding the vote.

Mr Curran said he expected the writ to be moved straight away.

However, he said the Government would appeal today's ruling to the Supreme Court.

He said the Government decided to appeal in view of the serious issues of constitutional importance raised by the High Court decision.

He said the Attorney General was of the view that serious matters had arisen around the separation of powers and that the appeal would be timely.

He said writs for the other bye-elections - Dublin South, Waterford and Donegal North-East - will be moved in the New Year.

The High Court ruled this morning there has been an unreasonable delay by the Government in moving the writ for the Donegal South-West bye-election.

The Court granted a declaration sought by Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty and ruled that the delay amounted to a breach of Senator Doherty's constitutional rights.

The seat has been vacant since June last year.

High Court President Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns said the delay in calling the bye-election was unprecedented.

It was the longest in the history of the State and represented a significant proportion of the five-year Dáil term.

He said the relevant legislation did not set out the time period in which a bye-election should be called but he was satisfied it should be interpreted as requiring the writ to be moved within a reasonable time as in other countries.

He said far from the Court tearing asunder the provisions of the Constitution by adjudicating on this application - as claimed by the State, it was the ongoing failure to call the bye-election, which offended the terms and spirit of the Constitution and its framework for democratic representation.

The judge said he was not going to order the Government to move the writ or not to oppose a motion for the issue of a writ.

But he said he hoped any clarification provided by this judgment would have that effect.

Mr Justice Kearns said the court might feel constrained to take a more serious view if any Government, not just the present one, was seen to be acting in clear disregard of an applicant's constitutional rights by continually refusing over an unreasonable period of time to move the writ for a bye-election.

He said the Court can intervene in a more draconian way in extreme cases to protect constitutional obligations.

He said this was not yet such a case but in his opinion it was not far short of it.

Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh had earlier said he would seek to move the writ for the bye-election in the Dáil tomorrow.

Speaking after the High Court ruling, Senator Doherty said the Taoiseach should call a General Election.

'That the Government chose to waste taxpayers' money fighting this case is a disgrace,' he said.

'Today's court decision has struck a fatal blow to the life of this Government.'

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore also appealed to the Government not to appeal the High Court decision, which he said, would involve spending more taxpayers' money.

Earlier today, the Green Party said the writ for the bye-election should be moved as soon as possible, even if the Government decides to appeal the rulin
g