Tag Archives: Imelda Munster

Travel pass to be provided for children’s dental appointments

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Imelda Munster white coatSinn Féin TD for Louth and East Meath, Imelda Munster, has welcomed the announcement that travel passes are to be provided by the HSE for primary school children in the Drogheda/ South Louth area who since January have been forced to travel to Dundalk, having been left without a local dental service. Deputy Munster raised this matter with the Minister in the Dáil several weeks ago, and expressed concern that many children do not have the means to travel to Dundalk, leaving them with no access to dental services.

Deputy Munster had suggested that a mobile dental unit might be a practical solution in the short term, however government Ministers had claimed that this was not possible for health and safety reasons, despite their use being widespread in England.

Deputy Munster also suggested, in the absence of a mobile unit, a HSE-run hourly shuttle bus to assist families with their travel needs, as they are now obliged to travel to Dundalk and Navan.

Eventually, the HSE has agreed to provide a travel pass for families who have no alternative means of travel, and who previously availed of services in the town but are now forced to attend either the service in Dundalk or Navan, a development which Deputy Munster has welcomed.

Deputy Munster said:

“Upwards of 4,800 children have been left without a service locally since the New Year, and a local dental service is not expected to open until June. I am happy to hear that the HSE has heeded my calls for a solution and that arrangements are finally being made to ensure that children whose families who do not have access to a car can still access dental care.”

The transport will be by way of rail, bus and passes will be issued prior to the dental appointment. Parents are asked to present to their local health centre in Drogheda with their dental appointment card to receive a transport pass. Failing that, other verification of their appointment can be used to make arrangements.

 

Imelda Munster criticises lack of social housing building in Louth, as council land banks lie idle.

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imelda-munster-tdSinn Féin TD for Louth and East Meath Imelda Munster TD has again raised the matter of council landbanks in County Louth in the Dáil. Questioning Damien English TD, Minister of State in the Department of Housing, she asked whether the Minister’s department had completed collating the data for the landbanks available for housing and criticised the lack of progress in delivering housing for the people of Louth.

Deputy Munster said:

“The situation in County Louth is shocking, and given the scale of the housing crisis I am sure that is replicated right across the State. There are almost 4,000 people on the housing waiting list in County Louth, many of whom have been waiting more than nine years to be housed. The number of applicants on the housing waiting lists exceeds the entire supply of council-owned housing stock in County Louth, which is a shocking statistic to bring to the attention of the House.”

“Meanwhile, there are 54 acres of council-zoned landbanks throughout the county on which Louth County Council pays €3 million a year in interest only for the loans. Citizens are deprived of vital services and amenities because the council must pay such an amount in interest, while the land lies idle and barren as not a single house has yet been built.”

Deputy Munster also criticised the government’s slow progress in rolling out a proper social housing scheme, 8 months on from the launch of the Rebuilding Ireland document.

Deputy Munster:

“We are now over eight months on from the launch of Rebuilding Ireland, and the government has still not completed the mapping of the local authority landbanks. This should have been completed a long time ago, long before the publication of Rebuilding Ireland. It beggars belief that in the middle of a housing crisis the Minister had not ascertained what land belonged to local authorities across the State.”

“The Minister of State indicated there are 26 different projects but only six are being done by the local authority. The rest are from public-private partnerships and approved housing bodies. With the six developments, there will be a total of 123 homes over the next two to three years. There are 4,000 people on the housing list.

“Of those 123 homes, 20 have an unknown date of completion, seven are regeneration projects and 24 come from the acquisition of vacant units. There are three renovations included in that figure.”

“The government seems to be saying that Louth should be happy enough with 123 houses, with only a certain number being newly built, over the next three to four years, in the middle of a housing emergency.”

“It is clear as a bell that the Government’s entire policy to solve the housing crisis is developer-led and developer-driven and completely ineffective”.

 

Sinn Féin amendment passed at Transport Committee to push Ross into action – Imelda Munster TD

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imelda-munster-tdSinn Féin Spokesperson for Transport Imelda Munster TD today put forward an amendment to a motion before the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport on the Bus Éireann crisis calling on all stakeholders to get involved in talks to resolve the dispute, and seeking to establish the cause of the financial crisis at Bus Éireann. The amendment to a motion proposed by Fianna Fáil was accepted by the committee. Fianna Fáil withdrew their motion and Deputy Munster’s amendment was carried.

Deputy Munster has once again called on the Minister to facilitate talks between all relevant stakeholders, including the National Transport Authority and the Department of Transport to resolve the dispute.

She also called on the Minister to carry out of a full review of the Expressway service and market, and to carry out a review of loss-making routes to establish whether the over-saturation of the market is the cause of the current difficulties in Bus Éireann.

Deputy Munster said:

“Whilst I agreed with much of the original motion, I felt that it was too vague and it needed strengthening. That is why I put an amendment to the motion and I am happy that the committee supported that amendment today.

“Minister Ross has gone missing again. The situation is escalating week by week and he is refusing to do his job. I hope that by establishing the cause of the crisis we can come to a real solution. In the meantime I hope that Minister Ross will come to his senses and take his responsibilities as Minister seriously. Our public transport network depends on it.

“No one wants to see a strike. It’s not fair on the travelling public or on the workers.”

SINN FÉIN CALLS FOR ROAD SAFETY MEASURES AT SUNNYSIDE

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Cllr Flood, Imelda Munster TD & Residents at Sunnyside

Cllr Flood, Imelda Munster TD & Residents at Sunnyside

Sinn Féin TD Imelda Munster and local councillor Kenneth Flood have met with residents of Sunnyside to discuss traffic calming measures in the area.

For a number of years residents and parents of students attending the local Sacred Heart School have requested Louth County Council take control of lands known as ‘Kitty Daly’s site’ and use it to widen a perilous stretch of road for the safety of both locals and students of the school at Sunnyside.

However, in December last year, Louth County Council CEO Joan Martin said the council would not be in a position of going down the road for first registration and that the file should now be closed.

Commenting Sinn Féin Councillor Kenneth Flood said,
“I have met with Louth County Council Officials on this issue several times in the past and the answer has always been the same. The council refuse to register the land which they own and now, they have abandoned their claim to the site without attempting to alleviate the traffic congestion at this dangerous bottle neck.

“This issue has been raised multiple times by my party colleagues going back almost two decades. After my latest meeting with Council Officials, Deputy Imelda Munster and I met with local residents at the site to discuss the council’s refusal to take a position on the land. We have also looked at other options where improvements could be made to alleviate the problems at this junction.
“I have now submitted a motion to the April Municipal District of Drogheda meeting calling on Louth County Council to install a mini roundabout to help ease traffic movement and also to install a footpath from the school to the junction of Blackbush Lane so the 600 students of Sacred Heart School don’t have to cross the road in heavy traffic.

” If the council give the usual answer of “no funding available” then my colleague Deputy Munster will pursue this issue with the Department of Transport.
The issues at this site have been ongoing for decades and Louth County Council have been aware of them. Now that CEO Joan Martin has publicly stated that the book should be closed on the council’s ownership of the property at this site which could have solved the problems, the Council must now take action on my motion and use the site to solve the traffic and improve road safety problems in the area”.

Imelda Munster TD tackles Minister on Drogheda slip road tolls

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Imelda Munster white coatSinn Féin Spokesperson for Transport Imelda Munster TD today questioned Minister Shane Ross about the ongoing matter of slip road tolls in Drogheda. Speaking in the Dáil, she accused Minister Ross of failing to take on board the adverse effect the tolls have on the people of Drogheda.

Deputy Munster said:

“The Minister doesn’t care about the people of Drogheda. People are being taxed for living, working, shopping and visiting Drogheda town. This affects local businesses, investment and tourism in the town.”

Deputy Munster said that it was ludicrous that people have to pay a toll to get from one side of the town to the other.

Deputy Munster continued:

“Why would any investor choose Drogheda over other towns when people are asked to pay a toll on entry and exit? It’s the only tolled town in Ireland. The Minister needs to get real and do something about it.”

Deputy Munster said that the Minister accepted the reasoning given by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) on the matter. They have commissioned a “bespoke”, or made to order, survey in Drogheda to protect the impact and cost of toll removal.

Deputy Munster concluded:

“This methodology is not applied on any other motorway. It is incredible, ridiculous and invented to come up with calculations not used anywhere else. It makes it impossible to compare the potential costs of toll removal.

“The Minister and TII know that they can’t justify it. Minister Ross needs to accept that the slip road tolls are not working for Drogheda or for the people of Drogheda. He needs to take action on this.”