HSE INVITE REPEATED

HSE INVITE REPEATED

 

The HSE have been invited to come before Westport Town Council and discuss the current and future provision of health services within the town, including the future development of the MacBride nursing home according to Cllr Keith Martin.

"In September of 2011 I proposed a motion that representatives of the HSE come before Westport Town Council and update us as to the recruitment of a new Director of Nursing for the MacBride Home and on developments such as the transfer of Westport's two Community Welfare Officers to the Department of Social Protection, the retirement of so many community and psychiatric nurses and how these events will impact on health services in Westport. 

"While we have received written updates in relation to the recruitment of the new Director of Nursing the HSE have not yet accepted our invitation.

"At the January meeting of Westport Town Council I repeated the motion, which was supported unanimously, and the Town Clerk has written to the HSE again asking them to appear before us and update us on the HSE's plans for Westport.

"I expect that such a discussion will take place in March or April and that it will be an informative meeting, which will go a long way to reassuring the people of Westport in relation to the security of their local health services.

Post Office payments

Dear Minister Hogan,

I am writing to you to request that you put in place a system which would allow the public, particularly senior citizens, to pay their household charge in the Post Office.

Numerous constituents who want to pay the charge have been in contact with me due to their frustration with the options currently available for paying the €100 charge. They know the charge is required to fund local services, and they want to be able to pay it in their local post office where many access other public services.

Sincerely

Keith Martin

Councillor

Westport Town Council

Call for Post office payments for new charge

Labour's Cllr Keith Martin says the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan should take action to make the payment of the household charge less hassle and more convenient, particularly for older people.

"The public need to be provided with a more accessible method of paying the household charge and the local post office is the ideal venue. Numerous constituents who want to pay the charge have been in contact with me due to their frustration with the options currently available for paying the €100 charge. They know the charge is required to fund local services, and they want to be able to pay it in their local post office where many access other public services.

"There are too many people who are seeking to pay the Household Charge before the deadline, but who are unable to pay online or do not have the ability to get to their council offices. I have written to Minister Hogan asking him to consider giving people more options for how they can pay their household charge before the deadline is up.

"I can see no reason why the country's network of Post Offices cannot be used to give people more opportunities to pay the household charge. I hope the Minister can move swiftly to give people more opportunities to pay the Household Charge.

"It is one of the basics of all public charges that the State should make it as easy as possible for the citizen to pay the charge. I would hope that Minister Hogan would bear this in mind and allow people to pay the charge through their local Post Office."

Community groups to be spared from big admin bills

New legislation will lift the burden of large auditing and administration bills from the community and voluntary sector, Labour's Cllr Keith Martin has learned.

The Labour councillor has been told that the Dept of Jobs and Innovation is planning to greatly reduce the paperwork legally required by voluntary groups under the new Companies Bill. The Dept intends to exempt charitable organisations from the stringent audit requirements imposed on private companies.

According to Cllr Martin "This is good news for those people who run our sports clubs, help our youth, care for the vulnerable and generally make our communities better places to live, shouldn't be unnecessarily burdened with high cost legal and financial requirements. They need every cent they have for the valuable work they do."

The new Companies Bill, which is expected later this year, will introduce a new type of default private company to cover the charity and voluntary sector, known as a CLS or private company limited by shares.

Cllr Martin says the changes will provide "a number of tangible benefits aimed at reducing the administrative burden on our voluntary groups. The lengthy and complex legal documents needed to set up other companies will no longer be required. These new CLS companies can be incorporated using a single document possibly a page long,"

"In short it will be a great deal easier and less expensive for the voluntary sector to start, use and run such a company. It is a move that will benefit not just community groups but society as a whole,"

 

Smarter Travel must link Westport

According to Cllr Keith Martin the recently announced €5 million
investment to transform Westport into a Smarter Travel Area, promoting
cycling and walking, public transport, and reducing car travel must
include plans to link areas like Sandyhill, the Ballinrobe road,
Carrabawn and the Leanne road to Westport town centre with new
Greenways.

The Labour Party councillor says such Greenways would "significantly
reduce the numbers of cars using the town by giving these areas
improved cycling ways, including safe routes to school and to key
business and workplace zones which would allow people to walk and
cycle, in safety, to the town."

"Currently areas like the Ballinrobe road, Sandyhill and the Leanne
road are virtually impossible to walk or cycle on because of the
volume and speed of the traffic, dangerous bends and impassible
railway bridges. If Westport Town Council provides the Greenways then
we will see a huge uptake in walking and cycling as we have already
witnessed in those areas now being served by the Greenway."

Sky high prices means planes are cheaper than trains

Cllr Keith Martin says that Irish Rail should reverse its decision to increase fares on the Westport to Dublin route.  Cllr Martin says the fares increases are disincentive to rail travel and will impact on visitor numbers to the town this year.

According to the Westport based Labour councillor "Rail fares are already too expensive, at €37 one way to Dublin one could fly to London or Rome with Ryanair for the same price.  It is time we see rail prices cut and subsidised from carbon taxes.  At the moment these funds go into the government's coffers when they should be used to promote sustainable transport such as train travel.

"It is far too expensive to travel by train in this country.  On mainland europe rail travel is a cheap way to travel.  Here in Ireland it is still charged at luxury prices.  It is time that we had cheap train travel especially on intercity routes such as the Westport to Dublin line which are vital to our local and national tourism and business economy.  

"Irish Rail have finally given us the extra services and new trains that we, as a community, have lobbied for.  Now they go and ruin it by gouging rail users for more money during a recession. 

"This increase is a mistake and should be reversed.  I would urge consumers, businesses, councils and chambers of commerce to make their feelings known to Irish Rail.  Train travel should be cheaper than air travel.  Irish Rail need to rethink their business model along the lines of Ryanair and not the Orient Express."



 

Fairtrade Meeting

Westport Fairtrade committee will be hosting a public meeting next
Wednesday at 8pm in the Wyatt Hotel.   The meeting will be chaired by
Cllr Keith Martin and is open to existing members and members of the
public who wish to learn more or volunteer to support the organisation
or join the committee.

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local
sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the
developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices
(which must never fall lower than the market price), Fairtrade
addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally
discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them
to improve their position and have more control over their lives

Fairtrade Ireland awards a consumer label, the FAIRTRADE Mark, to
products which meet internationally recognised standards of Fairtrade.
Supported by ActionAid Ireland, Amnesty International (Irish Section),
Christian Aid, Comhlámh, Concern, Friends of the Earth, Irish Aid,
Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Oxfam Ireland and Trócaire.

Westport's Fairtrade Steering Committee was established in early 2005
with the aim of making achieving Fairtrade status for the town. The
committee members were Edel Hackett, Mary Walsh, Roisin Moran, Sue
Minish, Brian Quinn, Cllr Keith Martin, Gemma Hennesy, Sheila
O'Donnell and Bríd McAuley.    Westport became a Fairtrade town in
2006 and the committee have continued to lobby for the wider
availability of Fairtrade products in the town.

For more information please contact 086 0691182.