Residents of Tolka Valley View are hosting a fundraiser this Friday 25th May in Bottom of the Hill pub, Finglas Village. All funds raised are going towards improvements in the estate, including improving some security issues.

It starts at 8pm and there will be live entertainment on the night. You can contact Elaine Burnett (from Respond Housing Assocation) on 087 211 2853 if you would like more information about the event.

6,000 New Springboard Places to Help People Get Back to Work

The Minister for Education and Skills today announced the details of 6,000 additional part–time higher education places under the Springboard programme for those who are unemployed and seeking to re-train or up-skill.

Since its launch as part of the Government’s Jobs Initiative last May, Springboard has already supported 5,000 people who had previously worked in areas such as construction and manufacturing to re- train to work in areas with high potential for job growth.  

Now with this announcement, a further 6,000 places will be provided to meet identified skills needs in areas such as ICT, Medical Devices, Entrepreneurship and the Green Economy. 

Courses are free, part-time, and are at certificate, degree and postgraduate level. 36 institutes of technology, universities and privately-run higher education colleges around the country will be offering 220 Springboard courses. A number of courses are starting in June but the majority will start in September. Most Springboard courses are one-year-or-less in duration.

You can view the full list of Springboard 2012 courses by clicking here. 

Eligibility:

To be eligible for a place on a Springboard course a person must be unemployed and actively seeking employment. The eligibility criteria for Springboard 2012 have been expanded to include people who were previously self-employed and people in receipt of an extended number of social welfare payments. Full details of eligible social welfare payments and other eligibility criteria are available on www.springboardcourses.ie

While participation on a Springboard course will not confer any entitlement to receive an income support payment from the Department of Social Protection, participants who are in receipt of a Department of Social Protection income support payment may be able to retain such payments subject to continuing to meet the eligibility conditions.

Policy Responses to Unemployment:

Springboard as an excellent example of a targeted policy response to the unemployment challenge. To add to the work being done in Springboard, I have been examining further policy responses, such as a youth guarantee, in recent meetings of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Education and Social Protection.

These meetings with employers, unions and academics have looked at the issues of youth and long term unemployment and a report by the committee will issue soon with recommendations to inform Government policy.  

One of the main points to come from the meetings was the need to activate every organ of the state to tackle unemployment. The state needs to be proactive and I believe Springboard provides a practical example of this as the Department has identified the skills needed and then provided the training places to meet them.

This form of state activation sets the standard of how we should respond to the unemployment crisis and I look forward to further similar policy responses that help get people back to work.

If you have any queries about the Springboard Programme or any other issue, please feel free to get in touch on 618 3280 or john.lyons@oir.ie

Tánaiste Canvasses for Yes vote in Dublin North West

Last Friday 4th of May, I welcomed the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore to Ballymun and Finglas as part of the Stability Treaty referendum campaign.


The visit, which was the Tánaiste's first visit to a constituency as part of the campaign, included discussions with local students, business people and residents on the importance of a Yes vote for the country.

The first part of the visit was to my old school Trinity Comprehensive, Ballymun to speak to staff and students about the importance of a Yes vote for Ireland's future.

In a questions and answers session with students, the Tánaiste said ‘voting Yes to stability is vital to Ireland's recovery and with this Ireland can have a bright future’. I also spoke to students and stating that  'voting Yes will ultimately help our economic recovery'.

The Tánaiste also praised the high standard of the questions from the students and the engagement they showed in linking the Treaty to their own lives and situations as students.

Next up was a visit to Nightline Courier Services, a local business based on the Jamestown Road which employs over 500 people nationally.

The Tánaiste and I met with staff and toured the facility with the business owners.  Nightline recently celebrated its 20th anniversary as a company and is the largest Irish-owned courier service, delivering both nationally and internationally.  Nightline CEO John Tuohy commented that ‘a Yes vote is a vote for business and investor confidence'. He also wished the Tánaiste and I well in our campaign in the coming weeks.

The final call was a canvass in Poppintree, Ballymum where the Tánaiste engaged with local residents about the importance of a Yes vote for the euro in their pockets.


The Tánaiste talked to people on the doors about why this Treaty matters to their lives. ‘The Euro is our currency and we need a stable euro for economic growth. 
A Yes vote also gives us an insurance policy where we could access emergency funds should we ever need them. Only a Yes vote gives us this certainty, a no vote is a step in the dark.'

It was an honour to welcome the Tánaiste to the constituency to start off his campaign for a Yes vote. We received a great reception and it was a very encouraging start to my campaign to secure a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum on Thursday May 31st.

If you would like more information on the Stability Treaty Referendum you can visit www.stabilitytreaty.ie

You can also call me on 01 618 3280 or email john.lyons@oir.ie if you have any specific questions on the importance of the Treaty. You can see more images of the Tánaiste's visit to Dublin North West and other campaign images here.

Ballymun Regeneration Update

Click on the image below to see my latest leaflet on the Ballymun Regeneration Programme. It includes information on an increase in the Social Regeneration budget to €8.5 million and clarification that all those housed in the old blocks in Ballymun will be rehoused within BRL's budget allocation.

Please get in touch with me on john.lyons@oir.ie or 01 618 3280 if I can answer any questions or provide further information.

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