Monthly Archives: October 2013

Mitchell O’Connor asks Dun Laoghaire for its views on Irish Rail services

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Dun Laoghaire Deputy asks local commuters to engage with survey so that experiences can be recorded

Fine Gael Dun Laoghaire Deputy, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has called on the people of Dun Laoghaire to make their views known on the service provided by Irish Rail through her online survey launched today (Wednesday).

The survey was the brainchild of Deputy Mitchell O’Connor’s Party colleague, Simon Harris TD, who has been inundated with complaints following a reduction in services being provided by Irish Rail.

“Last month, Irish Rail dramatically scaled back the number of carriages on its trains in a bid to reduce costs and streamline services. It was initially envisaged that the reduction in carriages would be applied only to off-peak services, however, anecdotal evidence suggests that that is not the case and that reduced capacity trains are being run during peak times of 7am-9am and 4.30pm-7pm. This is resulting in massive overcrowding of trains at best and passengers unable to board trains at worst.

“People pay a lot of money to travel by train in this country and have a right to expect a reliable service in return. I appreciate the fact that Irish Rail is attempting to make savings but biting the hand that feeds you in order to do that makes little or no sense.

“Deputy Harris and I plan to seek a meeting with the Chief Executive of Irish Rail to relay the concerns of the commuter classes with him. I would encourage all those who use the Dun Laoghaire line to engage with this survey so that their concerns can also be expressed to management.”

The survey can be accessed here: surveymonkey.com/s/QZWCYFR
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New education provision contains anomalies which need to be addressed

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Section 30 of Teaching Council Act may see some schools disadvantaged

Fine Gael Dun Laoghaire Deputy, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has called for anomalies which may arise following the implementation of Section 30 of the Teaching Council Act 2001, which is due to be commenced at the beginning of next month, to be addressed so that colleges of further education, senior colleges and those teaching at ITs are not disadvantaged.

“Section 30 of the Act, which will come onto force on 1st November, will compel all those who are delivering education programmes, who are employed in State-funded teaching positions, to be registered with the Teaching Council. While this is designed to meet the Department of Education’s objective of ensuring that a registered and fully qualified graduate teaching profession is in place, a number of colleges could be negatively impacted unless a degree of flexibility is introduced into the system.

“One of these anomalies centres on the fact that there is currently no provision in some of the new Education and Training Boards to employ someone whose Teaching Council registration is pending; a situation which is causing serious difficulty for some institutions. While the supervision and substitution scheme can be used to provide some cover for short-term absences, it is only a temporary solution and certainly not an ideal one.

“On another issue, Minister of State at the Department of Education, Ciarán Cannon TD, has confirmed to me, on Minister Quinn’s behalf, that a provision may be introduced to forgo the requirement for industry specialists, in certain roles, to register with the Teaching Council under section 30 of the Act. I have no doubt that this fact will be welcomed by colleges of further education and senior colleges especially, as these institutions by their very nature, offer specialist classes, such as theatrical make-up and cloud computing, which are better suited being taught by industry experts who are more appropriately competent in these areas. I await further developments on this.

“Consideration must also be given to the fact that those who are qualified to work in third level institutions, such as Institutes of Technology (IT), do not require Teaching Council registration. This means that, after 1st November, they will no longer be eligible for employment in further education colleges once Section 30 has been commenced.

“I agree with Minister Cannon that we must be able to stand over the quality of education being delivered in our schools and colleges but I am calling for some degree of flexibility so that students are not disadvantaged and we can ensure the most appropriate professionals are properly trained and teaching our students to an acceptable level. A further circular is due to be published shortly containing the procedures for people and schools upon the commencement of section 30. It is my firm hope that these issues will be addressed at that time.”

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Below cost selling of alcohol harming hospitality industry

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Fine Gael TD for Dun Laoghaire, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has today (Wednesday) called for the issue of below cost selling on alcohol to be addressed as a matter of priority, as it is harming the hospitality industry and encouraging more people to drink in the home.

“The issue of below cost selling is becoming more and more damaging to the hospitality industry as restaurants and pubs are experiencing a significant shift of customers away from their doors. With supermarkets being able to buy in bulk, they can offer significant reductions on beer and wine which people are purchasing and drinking in their homes.

“Two worrying aspects of this for me are that, not only are pubs and restaurants unable to keep up with below cost retailers due to the increased excise tax introduced last year, but the rise in alcohol consumption in the home is cause for concern from a health point of view.

“I am concerned for the future of small struggling retailers who will simply not be able to keep up with this unfair competition between them and the supermarkets and I am urging the Minister for Finance to consider introducing measures to make ban the below cost selling of alcohol to ensure a level playing field for those competing in this sector.”

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