Senator Colm Burke - Representing Cork North Central

Senator

Colm Burke News update

www.colmburke.eu

Where your Money goes

In 2001 there were 1.46 million beneficiaries of the social welfare system and by 2010 this had risen to 2.179 million people

Introduction A Chara,I am pleased to welcome you to my latest Newsletter. I hope you find it informative and helpful.As a senator representing Cork North Central, I am available and more than happy to hear from you and provide assistance on any issue, local or national. Le gach dea-ghuí, Colm

Apple: 350 New Jobs Apple’s recent announcement that it is to create 350 new jobs in Cork is a massive boost for the city.Apple has been a crucial employer in Cork for three decades and this recent announcement represents a considerable vote of confidence in the city. This significant jobs announcement highlights Cork’s role as a major player in the international IT sector which is core to the smart economy. Future economic growth is dependent on a mix of domestic and foreign investment and this is proof that major international companies still see Ireland and Cork as an attractive place to do business.

Social Welfare Expenditure versus Income Tax received for 2010

Social Welfare Programme €000

Older People €4,614,970

Widows, Widowers or Surviving Civil Partners and One Parent Families €2,570,545

Child Related Payments €2,650,751

Illness, Disability and Caring €3,469,550

Jobseeker’s Supports €4,094,732

Employment Supports €597,095

Supplementary Welfare Allowance €950,919

Miscellaneous Payments and Grants €1,324,101

Administration €575,567

Total Social Welfare Expenditure €20.848 BillionTotal Income Tax Received €11.276 Billion

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New Haemophilia Centre at CUH The Minister for Health Dr James Reilly recently opened a new Haemophilia Centre at CUH. It is a vital addition to health facilities in the Cork area providing services to adults and children with bleeding disorders.The haemophilia centre provides a service to adults and children with bleeding disorders, including investigation, diagnosis and management at its outpatient review, treatment and genetic counselling clinics.The opening of this centre finally provides appropriate facilities for people with bleeding disorders providing them with an improved quality of care.

Patient Medication Card Since 1996, people and health authorities in Denmark have been using a Patient Medication Card. These cards are like Credit Cards with all your medical information on them. They allow medical care providers access to details of medical records and the medication patients are on. When you attend your GP and you present your card they can immediately access your details. If it is decided that you need further medication then the GP uploads the prescription onto a secure record system. You can them go to the pharmacist, present the card and have your prescription filled.If a patient is admitted to hospital, once the Card is presented the doctors have immediate access to important information.While major progress has been made in Ireland in hospitals, GP surgeries and pharmacies, we should now plan long term in coordinating the work of all those involved in the health care area. The cost of implementing this policy is now cheaper than ever before, it would help to create a more efficient service and avoid mistakes. Now is the time to start working on this long term plan.

Call for 20 year National Strategy for Care of the Elderly – Planning for our futureLong-term nursing home care is a difficult decision for families and their loved ones, and should be as anxiety free as possible.It is in this spirit that I have called for a 20-year national strategy to plan for the Care of Elderly People. This should set out an all encompassing vision for nursing care, a detailed step-by-step plan to achieve the goal, developing a sustainable funding model with built-in five-yearly reviews.Planning for long term care for our elderly is one of the most important duties of any society and it should be one of the easiest strategies to formulate -after all statistics and projections give us an accurate idea of how many older people we are going to have in 20 years time.

In Ireland there are currently just over half a million people over the age of 65, around 125,000 people over the age of 80 and 24,429 residents in nursing homes. Over the next 20 years these figures are set to double and this fact, and the challenges it will pose to our healthcare and social services, cannot be ignored. In doing this we will be planning for all our futures.

Return to Economic GrowthFigures from the Central Statistics Office have shown that Ireland has returned to economic growth. The economy expanded by 1.3%, this coupled with growth in Net Exports of 20.6%, shows that we are back on the road to sustainable economic growth. With an unemployment rate of 14.3%, there is no room for complacency; everything must be done to encourage job creation. These figures indicate a positive upswing in the economy, which, if it continues will, create jobs and address our unemployment crisis. The government has shown its commitment to tackling unemployment issue with the Jobs Initiative which is designed to get people back to work and help restore confidence back into the economy. It involved major decisions on VAT rates, internship programmes, cuttings employers PRSI, restoring the minimum wage, common visas with the UK, and on fast tracking building projects on local roads and schools around the country.

New School for Riverstown, Glanmire The Department of Education is moving ahead with the plans for a new Eight Classroom school for Riverstown. Glanmire. This is a most welcome development given the significant rise in population in the Greater Glanmire area. The school is scheduled to open in September 2013.Funding was also provided by the Department over the summer for improvements for the following schools: Glounthaune NS, Little Island NS, Scoil Oilibheir Ballincollie Road, St Patricks College Gardiner’s Hill, St Aidan’s Community College Ballincolly, Terence MacSwiney Community College Holyhill, Mayfield Community School Old Youghal Road, Cloghroe NS, St Vincent’s Convent NS St Mary’s Road, Riverstown Ns Glanmire, Scoil Colmcille Blarney St, Mhuire Ar Chnoc Haoine Knocknaheeny, Scoil Mhuire Fatima North Monastery, Scoil Mhuire gan Smal Blarney, North Monastery Secondary School and St Vincent’s Secondary School St Mary’s Road.

Seanad Éireann, Leinster House, Dublin 2. Tel: 01 618 3115 Washington House, 33 Washington Street, Cork. Tel: 021 434 8140 Fax: 01 618 4362Email: colm.burke@oir.ie Website: www.colmburke.eu Facebook: www.facebook.com/colmburkefgContact Senator Colm Burke:

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Restoration of the Minimum WageThe restoration of the minimum wage as part of the Jobs Initiative fulfilled a key commitment from the Fine Gael General Election manifesto.The reduction by the FF-led government impacted the low paid most especially women and young people. It caused hardship on families which were at the greatest risk of falling into poverty.While the burden of these harsh economic times must be shared, we have to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected.

National Internship ProgrammeThe National Internship Scheme as announced by the Government, will have 5,000 places and it will be the first initiative operated under the National Employment and Entitlements Service. The scheme became operational on 1 July 2011.The National Internship Scheme will provide internship opportunities of 6 or 9 months for unemployed individuals in organisations in the private, public and community & voluntary sectors.It will be a time limited scheme for a maximum of 2 years. This implies that as the Scheme was launched on 1 July 2011 then applications for internships will continue to be accepted until 30 June 2013.Participants on the National Internship Scheme will receive, through the Department of Social Protection, a single allowance consisting of €50 per week on top of their equivalent existing social welfare entitlements. The National Internship Scheme is limited to individuals who are on the Live Register and have been in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance/Benefit or signing on for credits for at least 3 of the previous 6 months.For more information please see www.welfare.ie

The Common Agricultural Policy is due to be revised by 2013. Agricultural Commissioner Ciolos is expected to make the legislative proposals in October this year. Irish CAP receipts for current programming period 2007 to 2013 will be €12 billion representing over 85% of our total funding from the EU.The size of the next CAP funds will be determined by the heads of State at the next set of negotiations. The revised CAP should be in 2012 but it may not be finalised until Ireland holds the Presidency of the EU in 2013By having a Common Agricultural Policy in place it can benefit citizens by ensuring a safe provision of food at transparent and affordable prices. More importantly it also ensures sustainable use of the land and food security. Going forward the new CAP should continue to push the competitive and potentially competitive sectors of European agriculture towards

operating in a market context, giving more importance to innovation and dissemination of research.The Government is working to ensure the best possible outcome for Irish farming. We believe our current payments from the CAP are fully justified, compared with what others receive, and we are strongly pursuing this line in the negotiations.No effort will be spared to ensure a successful conclusion for Ireland in the upcoming negotiations on the MFF and the CAP. The agri-food sector is Ireland’s largest indigenous manufacturing sector and is a key sector in the context of Ireland’s economic recovery. It accounts for one in seven jobs with export earnings for 2010 estimated at €7.9 billion. The national strategy plan for smart, green growth in the agri-food sector to 2020 - Food Harvest 2020 – is predicated on continuation of sufficient EU support and we are determined to ensure that this will be the case.

Seanad Éireann, Leinster House, Dublin 2. Tel: 01 618 3115 Washington House, 33 Washington Street, Cork. Tel: 021 434 8140 Fax: 01 618 4362Email: colm.burke@oir.ie Website: www.colmburke.eu Facebook: www.facebook.com/colmburkefg

€1.5 million for new Holyhill library The recent announcement by the government of €1.89 million in new capital investment for libraries in Cork is most welcome. €1.5 million has been allocated fo)r a new library in Holyhill with €190,000 allocated for the County Mobile Library unit.This investment is a huge boost for the people on the northside of Cork. It presents not only a social and cultural addition to the area but also the opportunity for the creation of new construction jobs. Library facilities are of huge importance, they are essential to communities and also help those looking for employment by providing internet and other useful tools to aid upskilling and training.

CAP Reform

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CoNTACT DETAIlSSeanad Éireann, Leinster House, Dublin 2. Tel: 01 618 3115

Washington House, 33 Washington Street, Cork. Tel: 021 434 8140 Fax: 01 618 4362

Email: colm.burke@oir.ie

Website: www.colmburke.eu

Facebook: www.facebook.com/colmburkefg

Cork Docklands Development The redevelopment of the Cork docklands is critical to the future development of the city and wider region. It has been identified as a priority project in a number of national and regional policy documents, for example, the national spatial strategy and the South-West Regional Planning Guidelines 2010-2022. It is also a key element of the Cork area strategic plan, the non-statutory strategy jointly agreed by Cork City and County Councils.Cork Docklands will contribute to the growth and development of Metropolitan Cork as a location of 23,000 residents and 27,000 jobs, by helping to arrest population decline in the inner urban area; providing new opportunities for business activity, acting as a key attractor of foreign direct investment, R&D and as a focus for culture and tourism. While the Department for the Environment is currently awaiting an economic proposition report from Cork City Council, a new impetus is crucial to drive this project forward. Presidential candidate

I warmly welcome Gay Mitchell’s Presidential bid and I am honoured to give him my wholehearted support. He has been successful in each of the 14 elections he has stood in, which is a testament to his work ethic and commitment to his constituents. He has led the fight in the European Parliament in support of developing economies. He boasts an impressive record which makes him the most suitable candidate for the Presidency and would serve with honour and dignity.

I would like to encourage people to give Gay Mitchell their first preference vote in the upcoming Presidential election. For further information you can visit his website at www.gaymitchell.ie

Dáil ÉireannDara Murphy T.D. 01 6183324 | dara.murphy@oir.ie

Seanad ÉireannColm Burke 01 618 3115 | colm.burke@oir.ie

Cork City CouncilPatricia Gosch, 086 8518362 | patricia_gosch@corkcity.ie Joe Kavanagh 086 2307507 | joekavanaghfg@hotmail.com Joe O’Callaghan 087 6784742 | joe_ocallaghan@corkcity.ie

Cork County CouncilPat Burton 086 2574950 | pat@patburtonco.ie Gerry Kelly 086 8596659 | gerrykellyccc@hotmail.com Noel O’Connor 087 2738222 | mailme@noeloconnor.com Tom Sheehan 087 2382456 | tomshe5@eircom.net

Your local Fine Gael Representatives

Seanad Profile - Colm Burken I am the Fine Gael Seanad Spokesperson on Health

n I am a member of the following Joint Oireachtas Committees

I. Health and Children

II. European Affairs

SeNatoR Colm BuRke - Working for you

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