Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis said today, that for the Transport Minster Shane Ross there is no choice but to intervene in the Dublin Bus Strike.

Deputy Ellis said:

“The refusal by Mr. Ross to intervene is an interesting position for the Transport Minister to take when a national company is at loggerheads with its employees. No side wants industrial action but Dublin Bus management leave the workers with no other option but to continue with strike action in the absence of any willingness to negotiate.

“With the possibility of other industrial action coming down the line it looks like the Minister actions, or lack thereof, leads to one conclusion, that he is trying to play a long game in regards to privatisation. Have no doubt about it, privatisation of our transport network will benefit no-one except the private firm’s shareholders. Privatisation will lead to weaker worker rights and pay and less transport services for the public. So it is imperative for the public and the state that the Minister puts his ideology to one side and intervenes.”

Sinn Féin TD for Dublin North West Dessie Ellis has stated that completion of the Metro North, and the opening of the Phoenix Park Tunnel, will ease the increasing traffic congestion and provide the start of a proper public transport system for many areas in Dublin North West.

Welcoming the commitment from government, Deputy Ellis said;

“This investment is not before time as the Fingal area has registered the third highest population growth rate in the country (at 13.9%) in Census 2011 and a further 8% growth rate in the intervening 5-year period as shown in Census 2016 results.

“In reply to Parliamentary questions I asked the Minister for Transport Shane Ross, he confirmed that funding has been made available under the Government’s Capital Plan ‘Building on Recovery Infrastructure & Capital Investment 2016-2021’ for planning, design and construction of new Metro North, with construction expected to commence in 2021 with a view to delivering the project by 2026/2027.

“It is estimated that the project will cost in the region of €2.4 billion (excluding VAT). Capital funding of €13.7m has been provided by the NTA for the redevelopment of the Phoenix Park Tunnel. The Phoenix Park tunnel line will see new services operate from Newbridge and Hazelhatch to Grand Canal Dock, via the tunnel, Drumcondra, Connolly, Tara Street and Pearse Stations.”

He continued:

“The benefits for Dublin are obvious. Thousands of cars will essentially be removed from our streets, improving the environment of Dublin City. Jobs will also be created both during and after construction. A direct line to and from the Airport and additional services using the phoenix park tunnel, will improve the lives of commuters and tourists in Dublin overall. However, it is imperative that the Government commitments to these services are indeed fully implemented as the alternative of an increased population and underdeveloped transport infrastructure will strangle the city both socially and economically.”

Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis calls on the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner to allocate extra Gardaí to help tackle crime in the Finglas area.

Deputy Ellis said:

“The population in the Dublin North West constituency has increased since the last census but the number of Gardaí has decreased. This defies all logic. This decline of Gardaí in relation to the rise in population is very worrying.

“In 2011 Finglas station had 120 Gardaí while in June 2016 there were 103 serving Gardaí. There has been a number of serious anti-social incidents over the summer and a number of assaults and thefts, which seem to be higher than usual. This could be a direct result of a lower Garda presence in Finglas Station than there was five years ago.

Ellis continued;

“Not only that, but the community Garda numbers are down as well from 2011 in Finglas by five community Gardaí. In Santry this has dropped by two and Ballymun has seen a fall of seven. Community Gardaí  play a pivotal role in helping communities deal with issues and the cut in their number also effects the amount of crime in the community.

“The Dublin North West area is a great place to live and has a great community spirt, but lesser number of Gardaí will not help a community to thrive and it’s Minister Fitzgerald’s responsibility to provide basic staffing levels of Gardaí which allow them to do their jobs properly.“

Sinn Féin junior spokesperson on Housing, Dessie Ellis TD, has said that the government must take immediate action to address the worsening housing and homelessness crisis.

Figures recently published by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government show a record high of 6,525 people now in emergency accommodation.

Speaking today Deputy Ellis said:

“These figures are further evidence that the housing and homelessness crisis is getting steadily worse. The number of people in emergency accommodation has increased by 40% since last year.

“Worse still, there are now 2,348 children in emergency accommodation and 1,130 families. This is year-on-year increase of 70 and 72% respectively.

“These are damning figures. While the government’s Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness contains initiatives to provide supports for families with children in emergency accommodation, how these supports will be funded is not clear.

“Though the plan was launched with much fanfare in July, it needs to be implemented with immediate effect as the crisis continues to spiral out of control with every passing month. Our most vulnerable citizens deserve to have their right to housing met.”

Sinn Féin TD for Dublin North West, Dessie Ellis, said that “Greyhound waste management company is leading Minister Coveney and their customers on a merry dance in relation to their price plans”.

Deputy Ellis highlighted the fact that some customers will have to pay twice in one calendar year for a yearly contract with Greyhound, going against the agreement to postpone proposed bin hikes in June.

Deputy Ellis said:

“In a reply to a Parliamentary Question that I asked last month, the Minister said that Greyhound’s approach is “out of step with the arrangements made by other collectors in the industry”. The Minister also said that he was “informed that a large number of customers have already been in contact with the company to indicate that they wish to retain their current price plan arrangements”.

“While this is true, it denies the reality for the majority of their customers. in terms of fees. The company in question is crediting customer accounts for fees pre-paid for the period after 1 July 2016, while at the same time requesting customers to enter a new annual contract from 1st  August 2016.

“By crediting customers again on August 1st, Greyhound are not charging extra, but the result of this is that customers will have to pay twice in one calendar year for a yearly contract.

“So in reality, any customer who paid their yearly charge last January now needs to enter another yearly contact in August, and pay now to continue their current plan – which they are compelled to honour until August 2017. More importantly it places a burden on those who can’t afford to pay.

“With no option for instalments or no bin waiver, many people including pensioners who have budgeted and paid their waste charges for the year last January, now have to find another sum of money to stay on their existing plan and cannot shop around for a better price.

“As the Minister said in his answer to me, this approach is out of step with other collectors. I would contend therefore that it is out of step with the spirt of the agreement entered into with the Minister himself.

“What have Greyhound to do to force the Minister to act to stamp out these sharp and customer unfriendly practices? It’s time the Minister called Greyhound to heel and force them to engage properly in the agreement agreed in June. “

Responding to a report from property website daft.ie today which showed a national increase in rents of 3.9% Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis TD urged the government to look again at introducing rent certainty to alleviate pressure on struggling households.
Teachta Ellis said;
“The consequences of these continuous rent increases are not trivial and it affects everyone dependent on the private rental sector for accommodation. This includes middle income working families who cannot afford to save to buy a home, low income families that are paying up to 60% of their disposable income on rent and the students whose number is on the increase every year, with fewer properties available to meet this growth.
“Sinn Féin brought forward a Bill that would have provided rent certainty for landlords and tenants alike and this was rejected by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. This Bill would have linked rent increases and decreases to the Consumer Price Index which would have provided some stability for the market. The government’s housing action plan offers little hope for those in the private rental sector other than a vague pledge to commission a white paper included in the plan.
“The situation is such that many parents have to decide between paying rent and covering increasing back to school costs. In some cases families are being made homeless because of an inability to pay the rising rents or to secure rental accommodation. With 2,000 children now in emergency accommodation it is clear that household poverty is increasing. The government must recognise that rent certainty is key to alleviating pressure on these households.”

Fingal County Council is about to commence the Social Housing Assessment 2016.
This is an important process, which when completed , will provide the Council with a comprehensive and up to date Assessment of the Housing Needs of our applicants.
Letters in respect of the Assessment will be issued to the relevant applicants early next week.
All applicants must complete the accompanying Assessment Form and return same to our offices in Swords, Blanchardstown and Balbriggan by August 19th 2016.
Forms can be posted or can be placed in the drop boxes specifically made available for the Social Housing Assessment.
Reminder letters will issue to those who have not returned their forms by the aforementioned date.
The Council is required to return this data by 12 October to the Dept., of the Environment , Community & Local Government.

Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis has said that it is time for the Minister to act against errant practises in bin companies since the price freeze last month.

The Dublin North West TD said:

“The insistence by Greyhound waste collection company on customers having to front load their credit by the 1st of August is another way to force people into the pay-by-weight scheme. This goes against the spirt of the agreement with the Minister. It’s now time for a legislative response to bring errant companies into line or the majority of financially pressured people will be in a position that they are unable to afford a bin service.

“I said that the announcement last month from the Minister and the Irish Waste Management Association does not go far enough with a price freeze for a year and now we have some companies trying to introduce the previous price structure through the back door. By crediting customers again on August 1stGreyhound are not charging extra but the result of this is that customers will have to pay twice for yearly contract. If you paid in January under this situation you have to find another yearly fee seven months into the year. More importantly it places a burden on those who can’t afford to pay.

“With no option for instalments or no bin waiver, many people including pensioners who have budgeted and paid their waste charges for the year last January now have to find another sum of money to stay on their existing plan. The failure to do this will result in the customer being put on the pay-by-weight, which is considerably more expensive. As the Minister said in his answer to me, this approach is out of step with other collectors and therefore out of step with the spirt of the agreement entered into with the Minister himself.”

Sinn Fein’s Dessie Ellis spoke in the Dáil last night and addressed the launch of the government’s action plan which he said falls well short of addressing the needs of the families that are affected most by the housing crisis. The Dublin North West TD said, “There will be no solution to the housing crisis without a social aspect; there will be no solution without state intervention. The action plan for housing and homelessness launched yesterday is a case in point. There are some good points but the plan is very conservative in its outlook and where time is taken to expand on plans they do not add up or are vague or misleading. There are a number of great initiatives in the action plan for supports for families with children in emergency accommodation such as dedicated child support workers; home school community liaison; access to free public transport for school journeys and joined up supports between education, health and TULSA for homeless families among others. Important interventions to safeguard families in emergency accommodation but it is not clear how this will be funded, will the relevant departments and bodies be expected to source this funding from their own budgets or will it be provided from somewhere else. You know as well as I do that funding will be the difference here.”
Deputy Ellis continued “The plan also allows for streamlining planning processes for larger private housing developments. The proposal is for developments with over 100 houses are referred straight to an Bord Pleanála therefore bypassing the local council process which was valuable for community input. Given that big developments will have the biggest impact on a local community removing the local consultation part of the planning process would be a retrograde step. Part of the local accountability in planning comes after pre-planning consultations at local level and often will enhance or community proof big developments. Something has to be done as in the month of June once again our homeless families’ numbers have increased; at the end of the month we had 1078 families homeless that includes 2206 children. This problem is getting worse by the week and this government is not dealing with the issues and the plan launched yesterday is not going to solve this problem in the short, medium or long term.”