Concerns of fans travelling to Moscow must be addressed

I have written this week to the FAI and the Minister for Foreign Affairs regarding fans' concerns about safety for the Ireland v Russia European Qualifier on September 6th. 

After the worrying reports from fans who travelled to the game in Moscow in 2002, the Irish fans considering travelling for the upcoming game have legitimate concerns that must be addressed.

In response to the fans concerns which were brought to my attention, I have submitted a Parliamentary Question to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. In this, I asked what contact his department has had with the Russian authorities regarding security arrangements for the match and the travel advice the Department will be issuing to fans. I have also written to the FAI about their plans to assist travelling fans.

This is a crucial qualifier and all fans wishing to travel should be able to do so safe in the knowledge that there will be no repeat of the events of nine years ago.

The safety of our travelling fans is paramount and I have urged the Department of Foreign Affairs and the FAI to provide all necessary advice and assistance to those intending to travel.

Sinn Fein opposition to reversing minimum wage cut, a cynical exercise

Sinn Fein's decision to vote against measures to restore the minimum wage, suggests they care more about political grandstanding than they do about the incomes of those on low wages.

As a Labour TD, I am proud of the fact that last week, we delivered on one of our key pre-election pledges to reverse the €1 cut in the minimum wage, a cut introduced by the previous Fianna Fail led government.

The Social Welfare and Pensions Bill, which was brought through all stages in the Dail by Minister Joan Burton, has at its heart the restoration of the minimum wage to €8.65 per hour.

It is most disappointing that despite setting themselves up as champions of the disadvantaged, Sinn Fein has opposed this Bill. Many vulnerable workers rely on the minimum wage to protect them against exploitation and we are pleased that one of our first actions in government has been to reverse this shameful cut.

The position adopted by Sinn Fein can only be seen as cynical in the extreme and they are clearly more interested in playing party politics rather than standing up for the interests of ordinary workers who stand to benefit from the passage of this Bill. 

Lyons Welcomes Noonan comments on Anglo and INBS senior bondholders

Speaking in response to statements from the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan indicating that the Government will seek to impose losses on senior unsecured bondholders in Anglo and INBS, I have welcomed the comments as a significant development.


Minister Noonan's remarks that Anglo and Irish Nationwide are now just warehouses for bad debts will come as no surprise to the Irish public who have been left with the bill for the recklessness of these failed institutions.
Their toxic legacy and the mistake of the bank guarantee have also greatly complicated subsequent efforts to address the banking and fiscal crises we face.


Thankfully, the Minister has now signalled a change in approach that will hopefully lead to significant losses imposed on holders of unsecured, unguaranteed senior bonds.

I would urge the Minister to proceed with all haste on this issue and with Government efforts to secure a reduction on the interest rates paid on the bailout loans - to secure the greatest possible savings for the Irish people.

Lyons Welcomes Major Review of the Taxi Industry

Following the release today of the terms of reference for the taxi review by Minister Alan Kelly, I have welcomed this full-scale review to tackle the rogue elements of the industry - to protect customers and the vast majority of taxi drivers who do not engage in unacceptable or illegal practices.

The recent Prime Time programme showed that the current system of regulation and enforcement has been failing customers and impacting on the ability of legitimate drivers to make a decent living. This situation is not acceptable especially given that these problems have been growing for many years.

Today’s announcement of the broad terms of the review including, amongst other things, licensing arrangements, enforcement and safe working hours is very welcome.

The consultation phase on the recommendations of the review will also give all the stakeholders in the industry an opportunity to discuss these crucial issues.

The Minister is to be commended for his decisive action on this issue and his commitment to address the deficiencies in the system he inherited. I look forward to seeing the recommendations of this review and the subsequent changes to the system for the benefit of customers and taxi drivers alike.

Community and Family Training Agency Awards' Ceremony

Congratulations to all the participants who graduated from the recent CAFTA Home and Self Management Course (stage 2)! I was delighted to attend the event and meet all the participants. For more details of the courses CAFTA provide log on to http://www.cafta.ie/ or email me on john.lyons@oireachtas.ie if you have any further questions on training and education places available in the Dublin North-West area.

The aim of the course was to help towards the improvement of the well being of the individual, which will then impact on their immediate, and extended families and community. The course also aimed to build self esteem by building awareness of what is provided within the community and encouraging participation.


The sessions were delivered using training methods that include brainstorming, group discussion, small group discussions, feedback, presentations and syndicate work.

These participants are a great example of the brilliant work CAFTA do in Ballymun to empower individuals and to promote education and personal development to the ultimate benefit of the whole community.

Congratulations to everyone involved again!

Unemployment figures show urgent need to implement Jobs Initiative measures

Today’s unemployment figures showing an increase of 2,600 in the seasonally adjusted numbers of persons signing on in May, brings the unemployment rate up 0.1% to 14.8% and highlights the urgent need to implement the measures outlined in the Jobs Initiative- to get people back to work.


The figures are stark, 443,400 people are now on the live register with 80,968 of these being under 25 years of age. Thankfully the rate of increase in the numbers on the live register, from the huge increases of 2009 and 2010, has fallen dramatically. We are, however, now facing huge challenges of youth unemployment and increased numbers of job seekers classified as long term unemployed.

Both I and my Labour colleagues said that in Government we would prioritise job creation and this is exactly what we have done in the recently announced jobs initiative. In this we outlined stimulus measures to create employment in labour intensive areas such as tourism, infrastructure and retrofitting while providing extra training, education and internship places to get people back to work.

These measures should now be supported by all Deputies in the house to tackle what is a national crisis.

I intend to play my role in this regard by hiring an intern under the National Internship Scheme when it begins in July. I would urge all employers who are in a position to hire an intern, to do so, to give a job seeker the opportunity to develop their skills and gain experience in the workplace.

For too long there has been delay and inaction on the jobs crisis and with the jobs initiative we have made the first step in getting people back to work. It is the first of many steps to be taken but I will be working with my colleagues in Government over the coming years, to utilise every tool of the State to tackle this crisis and begin the process of recovery.

For more information on the Jobs Initiative and the National Internship Scheme and how it might help you in your case please send me an email to john.lyons@oireachtas.ie

Taking the 'Anti' out of Anti-Social Behaviour

Last week I had a visit from Transition Year students from St. Kevin's College, Ballygall who came into Leinster House to present their Young Social Innovators project to myself and some fellow Labour TDs, Kevin Humphreys, Derek Nolan and Robert Dowds.

 

Their project, entitled ‎'Taking the Anti out of Anti-Social Behaviour' was a great addition to the YSI competition this year and the students asked fantastic questions, as well as posing great ones to myself and other TDs after the presentation.

I've talked about Anti-Social Behaviour before, and the united community responses needed to combat it, particularly in the context of illegal dumping other issues. This project was a valuable addition to that discussion and I hope the school and the students concerned will continue to talk about this issue and log into solutions on the matter. I will certainly take into account their valuable work and their comments on my questions in my work on this problem over the coming weeks and months.

I know some pilot projects under way in Ballymun, such as the 'Easy Street' programme are innovative responses to the problem and I hope this model can be used across Dublin-North West and Dublin in general. My colleague and Councillor for Finglas and Ballymun Ward, Cllr Steve Wrenn, is attending a conference in the coming weeks in the UK on various responses to these problems in similar demographic areas and I know he will be reporting back to Dublin City Council and myself on some of their solutions to the problem.

Please contact me on 01 618 3280 or on john.lyons@oireachtas.ie if you want to discuss this issue in your area or talk about solutions underway to address anti-social behaviour.