Modern Irish Families Need to be Recognised in our Laws

I welcome the publication of the General Scheme of the Children and Family Relationships Bill by Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter.

The Children and Family Relationships Bill is a very important piece of legislation for 21^st Century Ireland, reflecting the reality of Irish families today.

Our laws at the moment are out of kilter with public opinion and the reality for many families. Children are being cared for in single-parent families, by civil partners, by families with a parent and step parent, and by extend family members and guardians.  This bill will modernise family law to recognise these and other family situations.   

It also updates our laws around custody and guardianship and the rights and responsibilities of children and parents in cases of surrogacy and IVF.    

As Co-Chair of Labour LGBT - an active section of the Party which has campaigned for LGBT rights for over a decade – I am pleased that the Bill will allow civil partners to jointly adopt a child for the first time and provide much-needed legal clarity for LGBT families and their children.

This legal certainty is particularly important in advance of the referendum on same-sex marriage due to take place in 2015. Events of recent days illustrate more than ever the need for a responsible debate based on the facts of Irish family life and the laws in relation to them.

I met Minister Shatter about progress on the Children and Family Relationships Bill late last year and it was encouraging to see the scope of his plans for the Bill. I am glad the heads of the Bill have now been published and that it will be considered by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, which will hold a public consultation.

I look forward to following the progress of the Bill during the public consultation and contributing to the debate on this Bill when it comes before the Dáil later in 2014.

€40m Sports Capital Grants Programme Officially Opens

Good news today if you're involved in a local sports club or team - Sports Capital Grants have now officially opened.

€40m will be made available by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport for grants to organisations around the country this year.

For the first time, all applications must be made online for this year's programme.

I wrote to sports clubs in Dublin North West in November and again in the last week to inform them they could pre-register.

Clubs can still register until 5pm Friday 7th February. 

Applications officially close at 5pm Friday 28th February. 


You can get more information about the process, register and submit your club's application on www.sportscapitalprogramme.ie

Please contact me on 01 618 3280 or email john.lyons@oir.ie if I can talk to you about how the grants process works.

Further roll out of book rental schemes good news for parents

John & Minister Quinn talking to students at St Joseph's JNS breakfast club in December

I  warmly welcome the announcement this morning by Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, that book rental schemes will be available to every primary school in the country by the start of the new school year.

In Budget 2014 it was announced that an extra €5 million will be provided for each of the next three years to invest in book rental schemes so that they are available in every primary school in Ireland.

Today’s announcement by Minister Quinn gives a clear timeline for the roll out of these extra book rental schemes and delivers on that commitment. Schools can apply for a grant to set up a book rental scheme by 31^st January, with funding to be delivered in May to allow schools to plan for the new school year.

A survey by the Department in October showed about 20% of primary schools do not currently have book rental schemes, despite the fact that such schemes can reduce the costs to parents by up to 80%, bringing the average cost per child from about €100 per year, down to about €20 per year.

The extra money announced in Budget 2014 will allow for a grant of €100 per child in each school which is not currently operating a book rental scheme – with the figure at €150 per child in DEIS disadvantaged schools. I know there are many DEIS schools in Dublin North West and it is positive that they will continue to benefit from this higher allocation.

Each year, €15 million is provided to schools to invest in school books which should be used to fund rental schemes and reduce the costs to parents. This funding has been protected since Labour entered Government, and we are now expanding it.

I invited Minister Quinn to the constituency to my former primary school, St Joseph’s NS, Poppintree before Christmas and he saw first-hand the value of the programmes his Department funds particularly for DEIS schools. 

Budget 2014 protected class sizes at primary and secondary level and introduced reforms to reduce the costs of school uniforms and expand breakfast clubs in disadvantaged schools. Today’s announcement about the further roll out of the book rental scheme will be welcomed by hard-pressed families around the country.