Sinn Féin to Challenge Flawed and Unfair City Council Budget

Sinn Féin to Challenge Flawed and Unfair City Council Budget Sinn Féin leader on Cork City Council, Chris O'Leary, has said the party will be challenging the council’s budget across a number of areas when it comes before tonight’s meeting. Cllr. O’Leary, said: “The architecture of this budget is both flawed and unfair. Firstly, I don’t believe it factors in the 25% cut to local authority funding coming from central government in a strategically sound way. As a result of this cut alone, 2013 will see city council being forced to slash services. But there are serious questions to be answered regarding the total grant allocation of €16 million. It is unclear if city management has arrived at this figure by including projected intake of finance from the tax on the family home.” “The folly of such an approach was highlighted last year when part of the budget was arrived at by projecting intake from the disastrous household charge.” “Minister Hogan's household charge was disaster for his department and he is now attempting to shift the blame onto councils the length and breadth of this state. He is now reported to have withheld a further €900k in funding from local authorities because of the non-payment of household charge. “This is the height of hypocrisy given that 47,110 Cork City households will pay approximately €14.8m with the property tax and is no guarantee that the money will come back into Cork City. This may lead to further shortfalls for the provision of housing maintenance, road resurfacing, and the disabled person’s grant. The fact of the matter is that we are now working with 56% of the funding we had in 2009. Approximately €12.7 million has been slashed from the budget of Cork City Council since 2009. Budget 2013 ensures that the main role of the government is to service banking debt and as a result ordinary citizens suffer at a local level. We will not support the council budget as it simply endorses an austerity agenda that is now being propped up by a tax on the family home. But beyond the constraints, Councillors have a duty to make sure that the local authority is making the right choices in order to protect the most vulnerable people in our city.” “As we have done before, Sinn Féin has identified alternative areas where savings could be made, including expenditure on plant hire, fuel and the rent of office spaces around the city which are currently lying idle. Frontline services should not be cut , when every other alternative has not been exhausted, and I am not convinced that Minister Hogan given opportunities for council's to raise as Sinn Féin advised in submission earlier this year ie portion of VAT collected locally, Portion of lotto receipts sold locally, Portion of corporation tax collected locally ,Higher rates on financial institutions, Rates on government buildings as is the case in other EU countries.” “We will also be calling for the Lord Mayor’s salary of €114,200 to be reduced to €35,000 and there should be a moratorium on conference expenses. This would result in significant savings but equally importantly it is a way for elected representatives to show leadership and demonstrate solidarity with those who are suffering hardship due to the current economic crisis. This budget is flawed, unfair, and unworkable. It should be opposed by all councillors.” For further Information please contact Cllr.Chris O'Leary on 0872794307

Increase in pupil teacher ratio short sighted and damaging – O’Brien

Increase in pupil teacher ratio short sighted and damaging – O’Brien Sinn Féin Education Spokesperson Jonathan O’Brien and his party colleague Cllr Mick Nugent met this week with Wille McAuliffe, the Principal of Terence MacSwiney Community College in Cork to discuss the mounting concerns that the increase to the pupil teacher ratio (PTR) for PLC programmes will result in up to 400 teachers losing their jobs and courses being cancelled. Deputy O’Brien has described as “short-sighted and potentially very damaging” the increase to the Pupil Teacher Ratio from 17:1 – 19:1 that was announced in Budget 2013 and he said this latest cut to the education sector would unfairly impact on marginalised learners. He continued; “The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has said that the increase in the PTR will result in the loss of 200 whole time equivalent (WTE) posts which, if correct, will mean an estimated 400 teachers losing their jobs. “In my own Cork constituency there are fears that 25 full-time equivalent or 50 part-time teachers across the three further education colleges in Cork could be lost and specialised courses at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa might be brought to an enforced end. “These were some of the issues Cllr Nugent and I discussed at our meeting today with the Principal of Terence MacSwiney Community College in Cork. “The government has talked a lot about incentivising people to upskill and retrain in order to enhance their employment prospects yet they push ahead with cuts in income supports for people who are unemployed and attempting to participate in further/adult education and training courses. “Increasing class sizes in this this sector is a short-sighted measure because the resulting job losses will greatly off-set any potential savings and it will undermine the quality of learning for second chance learners, particularly those who may not be well suited to mainstream education. “I have raised this matter with Minister Quinn and he needs to explain what impact study was been carried out in advance of this cut. He also needs to look at the implications arising from this decision and reverse the change in the PTR otherwise hundreds of teaching jobs will be lost.” ENDS

Increase in Pupil Teacher Ratio will result in job losses and a significant blow for further education opportunities

Increase in Pupil Teacher Ratio will result in job losses and a significant blow for further education opportunities Sinn Féin Education Spokesperson Jonathan O’Brien has said there are mounting concerns that increases to the pupil teacher ratios (PTR) for PLC programmes will result in teachers losing their jobs and courses being cancelled. Deputy O’Brien said: “I am concerned that the increase in the Pupil Teacher Ratio from 17:1 – 19:1 for PLC Programmes announced during last week’s budget, will unfairly impact on marginalised learners. “The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) have said that the increase in the PTR will result in the loss of 200 whole time equivalent (WTE) posts, which if correct will mean an excess of 400 teachers losing their jobs or the loss of a significant number of teaching hours. “In my own county there are fears that 25 full time equivalent or 50 part-time teachers across the three further education colleges in Cork could be lost and specialised courses at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa might come to an enforced end. “The Government has talked a lot about incentivising people to upskill and retrain in order to enhance their employment prospects but instead they implement cuts in income supports for people who are unemployed and attempting to participate in further/adult education and training courses. “Increasing class sizes in this this sector is a short-sighted measure because the resulting job loses will greatly off-set any potential savings and it will undermine the quality of learning for second chance learners, particularly those who may not be well suited to mainstream education.” “I have raised this matter with Minister Quinn and he needs to explain what impact study was been carried out in advance of this cut.”

Sinn Féin to hold protest in Cork City against budget measures on Saturday afternoon

Sinn Féin to hold protest in Cork City against budget measures on Saturday afternoon Sinn Féin is to hold a protest in Cork City Centre on Saturday afternoon in opposition to the measures announced in Wednesday’s budget. The demonstration will take place at 1pm in Daunt Square. Deputy Jonathan O’Brien has called on the people of Cork to come out and join the protest against a budget that Sinn Féin is describing as “anti-children, anti-family and anti-jobs.” Speaking from Leinster House, the Cork-North Central TD, said: “This was budget was about priorities and choices. There was scope for Fine Gael and Labour to deliver a budget that was fair and to enact measures that would protect ordinary families. However, the Government decided to attack those on low to middle incomes while ring-fencing the wealthy.” “I am worried about the families in my constituency and right across Cork who have been hit with a tax on the family home, more PRSI, cuts to child benefit, increased college registration fees and motor tax. I just don’t see where many of these families will find the money to survive. They are still coping with the impact of this Government’s last budget.” “The Labour Party should be ashamed. This is a party who claims that it stands up for working people and defends the most vulnerable in society. Yet here we have more broken promises from Gilmore & company. They made very loud vows not to cut child benefit or to raise student fees prior to going into government. However, they have simply flung these promises out the window. Labour Party TDs will have a lot of explaining to do to people on the ground in the communities of Cork City. Fianna Fáil would have been proud of this budget. They designed a lot of these measures.” “The hike in PRSI is non-progressive meaning it will cost €264 a year, whether you earn €20,000 or €200,000. The property tax is indiscriminate in that it takes no account of income, ability to pay, mortgages or stamp duty paid. For Michael Noonan to argue that this was a budget built on the concept of fairness is completely patronising to the people most affected.” “I don’t know how much more people can take. You can sense the anger. They feel betrayed We have to remember that in three months the Government will be paying out over €3 billion in a promissory note to Anglo Irish Bank. I am inviting the people of Cork to join with us on Saturday to protest against this budget which is another part of the culture of social injustice being cultivated by Fine Gael and Labour in government.” ENDS -- Darren O'Keeffe Public Relations Officer Cork Sinn Féin Tel: 0852081872 Sinn Féin Constituency Office - 52 Shandon Street, Cork City - Tel: (021) 4212233 Sinn Féin Cork Office - 136 Barrack Street , Cork City - Tel: (021) 4311389