Latest news with #FineGael
Irish Independent
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
25% increase in adult homelessness in Cork in the last 12 months
Corkman There has been a 25% increase in adult homelessness in Cork in the last 12 months. The latest homeless figures released on Friday, May 30 showed that 650 adults in Cork and 193 children in Cork and Kerry live in emergency accommodation. Nationally the number of people accessing emergency accommodation rose again last month. The number of people in emergency homeless accommodation across Ireland has increased to a record of 15,580, according to the latest Government figures. The data shows that 10,805 adults and 4,775 children were accessing emergency accommodation during the last full week of April. It is an increase of 1,571 in a year, when 14,009 people accessed emergency accommodation in April 2024. Reacting to the latest figures, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould criticised Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for 'letting' the emergency get worse. '25% increase in Cork adult homelessness in 12 months. It is not normal that 650 adults in Cork and 193 children in Cork and Kerry live in emergency accommodation. "Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are letting the housing emergency get worse and trying to make it normal. Shame on them,' he added. The people of Cork are being urged to attend the forthcoming 'Raise the Roof' housing protest in Cork City on Saturday, June 21. The Raise the Roof campaign includes a wide group of organisations including political parties, unions who represent older people, students, families and people with disabilities. The Cork TD encouraged as many people as possible to attend the housing protest. 'The housing protest will be held on June 21 in the Grand Parade at 2pm. It has never been more urgent. Let's fight back together.'
Irish Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
The first cracks in the Coalition: ‘Some Independents you would not bring lion-hunting with you'
In December, when Government-formation talks were under way, a Fianna Fáil TD stopped for a chat on the steps of Leinster House. At that time there was still a possibility that Labour might be willing to make a deal. This Fianna Fáil TD clearly preferred that option. 'My gut instinct is to be supported by a bloc,' he mused. 'Labour is a bloc. The Independents have been trying to create one but the reason they are Independent is they have no whip. I worry about a shock.' READ MORE At that moment, an Independent TD appeared on the plinth before him. He nodded at the TD and remarked quietly. 'Some Independents you would not bring lion-hunting with you under any circumstances.' When Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and his Fine Gael counterpart began formation talks in earnest, one of their primary goals was to create a coalition with a working majority and that would be robust enough to last the full five-year term of the 34th Dáil. In the end they settled for a deal with the Healy-Rae brothers and a group of nine regional Independents TDs, whose chief negotiator was the controversial Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry . When the deal was brokered, Lowry used a by now infamous phrase, vowing support 'through thick and thin'. As has been shown over the past 30 years, most coalitions have some degree of intrinsic brittleness. In the first week of government in 2020, a Green Party TD (Neasa Hourigan) voted against a Government Bill on residential tenancies, and a newly appointed minister of State (Joe O'Brien) abstained. [ Barry Heneghan moves Dáil seat away from Michael Lowry to emphasise his 'independent' status Opens in new window ] Finian McGrath was a left-leaning Independent TD who supported the Fianna Fáil/Green coalition in 2007. When the economy starting hitting the buffers, and austerity measures were introduced, McGrath was frequently baited by the Opposition, who accused him of jettisoning his principles. When a harsh and punitive budget was announced on October 2008, McGrath withdrew his support. Intriguingly, McGrath, who retired from the Dáil in 2020, has acted as a mentor and adviser to Barry Heneghan , the 27-year-old TD representing Dublin Bay North. Heneghan is one of four Government-supporting Independents who does not have a ministerial role: Lowry, Gillian Toole , and Danny Healy-Rae are the others. On Wednesday night, Heneghan voted against the Coalition in favour of the Sinn Féin Bill that would have prevented the Central Bank approving a prospectus that allows Israel to sell bonds in the EU. So did his colleague Toole. Her vote took many people by surprise, as she has not been prominent in that group. The vote was 87 to 75 in favour of the government, still a comfortable margin. [ Independents Barry Heneghan, Gillian Toole vote against Coalition and in favour of Sinn Féin's pro-Palestine Bill Opens in new window ] Was this a once-off? Or was it a straw in the wind? Are we seeing the first flecks of rust in the superstructure? Toole said she had voted that way because of a lack of a detailed briefing from Government. For his part, Heneghan said: 'This is about standing up for international law and basic human rights.' Heneghan has learned over the past six months that when you are a freshman left-leaning TD supporting a centrist Government, there is no such thing as a shallow end. On the issue of Gaza in particular, he was harangued from the Opposition benches, and faced a social media pile-on when he pledged support for the Occupied Territories Bill but voted with the Government against a Sinn Féin motion on the Bill in March. McGrath went public to defend his protege, saying Heneghan would not 'bottle it' on the Bill when all the technical and legal flaws were resolved. 'Unlike many others he is not afraid to make tough decisions and step up,' he said. Heneghan on Thursday indicated that his inexperience told against him for that vote in March. In a sense the vote this week was him standing on his own two feet. Heneghan argues his commitment is to support the programme, financial measures, votes of confidence but there are other issues on which he can vote according to his conscience. Is this twin-track approach consistent and durable? He says it is. One of the five Independents with a ministerial office, Seán Canney, admits that a vote against the Government can cause problems but that this is not on a core issue. 'It's just that Barry and Gillian had a particular issue with this,' he says. 'It's not the case that they are gone, or anything like that. He adds a note of caution: 'It would not want to happen too often.' [ Records show what Independent TDs backing the Government want for their constituencies Opens in new window ] When you speak to Ministers from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael you are immediately struck by a notable sense of fatalism about future Independent defections. A Fine Gael Minister, speaking privately, points to what could be coming down the tracks, and some really tough decisions that might be necessary. 'If our people are voting against the Government on this, you can imagine how they will vote when it's something really unpopular,' says the Minister. A Fianna Fáil Minister, who does not wish to be named, says it is inevitable that the Government will shed numbers. 'It does not take a genius to figure out that the TDs who do not have ministerial gigs will be the flakiest,' he says. That said, nobody in Government is unduly concerned. None can foresee the current majority of 17 falling to single figures, even if a lion-hunting expedition becomes necessary.
Irish Examiner
20 hours ago
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Ireland facing dentist shortage as training places stagnate for nearly 30 years
The number of college training places for dentists has remained the same for almost three decades despite a major recruitment crisis and severe backlogs in parts of the country. That is according to Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central Colm Burke, who has called for increased college places. Each year, there is huge interest in studying dentistry, with college course entry determined by exceptionally high CAO points. However, despite major increases in the population, the number of dental school places has failed to increase significantly. International students from outside of the EU also make up a high percentage of those studying dentistry here. In the Dáil, Mr Burke said there were 1,432 dentists offering to provide dental care under the public scheme in 2012. By 2024, this had fallen to 810. "Going back 30 or 40 years, most older people tended to have dentures. That has now totally changed so there are now more older people who require dental treatment as well." The Department of Health has acknowledged that there are 2,420 dentists in the country, Mr Burke said. "That is 47 dentists per 100,000 people or one dentist per 2,125 people." 'We need to forward plan,' he added. Even if, in the morning, we decided to increase the number of places, it would still take five years before the students would be out there. In University College Cork, there are currently 61 final year students of which 36 are non-EU students, he said. At Trinity College Dublin, there are 46 final year students, of which 21 are non-EU students. He added: "We need to decrease the number of non-EU students and increase the number of Irish and other EU students. 'We do not have to put extra money into it, except to replace the money the colleges are getting from non-EU students with money from the department so we can improve and increase the number of training places available.' The Irish Dental Association has suggested to decrease the number of non-EU students to 20%, he added. 'It did not say to cut them out completely, but to reduce the number. 'We were to build a new dental school in Cork, we had identified a site, we got the planning permission, funding was not available, and the whole project was abandoned. "Now we are in a scenario where we have population growth, people are living longer, and we do not have the dentists to look after them.' In response, minister of State Marian Harkin said approximately 60 places were available each year to students on dentistry courses until this year. "The department recognises that this represents a limited training pipeline at a time when the demand for oral healthcare, both clinical and preventative, is increasing nationally." The number of places offered is a matter for the higher education institutions, she added. However, due to a high level of practical work, there can be constraints on the number of students that can be accepted onto dentistry courses, she said. The Department of Health is conducting a scoping exercise to support a skills assessment across the oral healthcare sector.
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Local residents complain of ‘absolute mayhem' following new Pearse Street traffic restrictions
The changes, the latest phase in the Dublin City Centre Transport Plan, came into effect last Sunday and introduced new restrictions on cars turning left onto Pearse Street from Westland Row. Buses, taxis and cyclists aren't affected, but general traffic must now turn right at the junction. Reaction to the changes had initially been muted, but correspondence received by councillors indicates that many local residents are now seeing traffic issues worsen on local roads such as Sandwith Street and Macken Street. One resident said: 'We could list off dozens of reasons why these new measures are not effective. 'All anyone has to do is stand on Sandwith Street at any time of the day to see the gridlock and dangers that are happening. 'The traffic issues are not merely an inconvenience; they are a significant barrier to everyday life, impacting our ability to reach work, school, appointments, and even leisure activities,' they added. 'It's clear to see that the new traffic measures on Westland Row/Sandwith Street are causing absolute mayhem for the surrounding area.' Local Sinn Féin councillor Kourtney Kenny said she's heard many similar stories over the last few days. 'I've had women onto me who have children with dyspraxia and they need to go to [occupational therapy] appointments,' she said. 'They're down €100 missing the appointment because they actually can't get out of their home. They're prisoners.' Dublin City Council is seeking to make the city centre less attractive for traffic cutting through the city, but Cllr Kenny said the answer wasn't to 'penalise people living in the inner city'. 'Some people are carers, some people are healthcare assistants, some people have disabilities and rely heavily on their cars,' she said. 'Dublin City Council said, after the fact, they're willing to meet residents, but you know yourself, you could be long waiting on that.' Danny Byrne, a Fine Gael councillor for the area, said that while the reaction from residents has been negative, he felt it was just 'teething problems'. 'I know there's always a willingness [from the Council] to listen and to observe how it progresses. You can't really assess it over a few days until maybe people get used to it.' Similarly, Green Party councillor Janet Horner said it was 'inevitable' that traffic changes would cause some disruption for the city. 'Everything obviously does require a bedding down period, there's no point being too knee jerk about any of this stuff where there's a few days when a new measure throws up a little bit of chaos or extra confusion,' she said. 'Let's look at the data. Let's see how this is bedding down and achieving what we wanted to achieve. 'We are investing, we are making changes. The idea of that is to make it easier, better, cheaper, more comfortable, safer to take sustainable means of transport into town.' The next phase of the Dublin City Centre Transport Plan will make Parliament Street a car-free zone after 11am daily. It will come into effect at the end of June. Dublin City Council was contacted for comment.
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
‘I have tried to be honest and frank including mistakes and regrets as well as triumphs' – Leo Varadkar set to publish memoir this September
He signed a six-figure book deal with Sandycove, an imprint of the publisher Penguin, last year following a bidding war for the rights to his autobiography that involved nine publishers. The former leader of Fine Gael, who resigned as both taoiseach and party leader in a shock announcement last April, said he has 'tried to be honest and frank' in his account. The book, which is titled Speaking My Mind, will be released on September 11. 'I served in government at one of the most interesting periods in history - the aftermath of the economic crash, Brexit, transformative referendums and the pandemic,' he said, sharing the cover of the book to social media earlier today. "The book is both personal and political and I hope it will give the reader new insights into that time. I have tried to be honest and frank including mistakes and regrets as well as triumphs.' Mr Varadkar was awarded the title of 'Hauser Leader' at Harvard University's Kennedy School's Centre for Public Leadership earlier this year, where he is currently guest lecturing. In a statement released by his publisher when he signed with them last year, Mr Varadkar said: 'I am really enjoying writing my story and I was keen to do so while it was still fresh in my head. It's as much a personal memoir as it is a book about political history. "There is so much people know already about my time at the top but there is almost as much that they don't. I have the freedom now to say things I could not while holding office and I have enough distance to reflect on the mistakes I made as much as what was achieved.' The former Fine Gael leader was elected to the Dáil in Dublin West in 2007 at the age of 28. He contested the party leadership election following the resignation of Enda Kenny in 2017 and was elected taoiseach that year at the age of 38. Mr Varadkar is one of a number of former taoisigh to publish his memoirs, including Brian Cowen and the late Albert Reynolds. In 2008, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern agreed a €400,000-plus publishing deal with Cornerstone Publishing, a subsidiary company of US publishers Random House.
