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Eamon Ryan Newsletter Summer 2010
Eamon Ryan Newsletter Summer 2010
Eamon Ryan Newsletter Summer 2010
Dear Constituents,
Welcome to my local newsletter, which I hope you will enjoy reading.
My first priority in Government is to help provide the new jobs that our country needs.
I am confident we will recover from the economic crisis but to make sure the recovery
lasts, we need to make it green. The two graphs on this page show how in my own areas
of responsibility in broadband and clean energy, we are making real progress.
You can hear more about the plan for economic recovery that I am implementing by
watching my recent speeches on www.youtube.com/MinisterEamonRyan.
I look forward to heaing any advice or support you can give to help make this recovery
happen.
Better Broadband
Source: Comreg
Since I entered Government, broadband Subscribers Broadband Narrowband
services in Ireland have improved
greatly. In 2007, we had 600,000
broadband subscribers. That figure has 1500000
now more than doubled to over 1.5
million people.
1000000
70% of Irish homes and over 86% of
small and medium businesses have a
broadband connection. Around 80 of
our second level schools will have high
500000
speed broadband when they return this
September and by 2012 every secondary
Competition
school in the country will have such
0
access.
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Win a Water Butt!
The cable operator UPC is investing in its network to deliver speeds of up to 100Mbps. Eircom recently Win a water butt for
announced that it will trial new Fibre to2000000
the Home Technology which will provide speeds of up to your garden. See back
Broadband Narrowband
150Mbps, starting in the Sandyford area. We need to continue the progress of the last three years and I
am committed to making it happen.
page for details.
1500000
Source: SEAI
Páipear Athchúrsáilte.
Recent Green Party Achievements in Government Delivering on
The Civil Partnership Act Debt Relief
The Green Party entered Government on a The Green Party insisted on
commitment to introduce legislation to address new provisions to help people
the rights of same sex couples. Therefore I manage their personal debt. We
am delighted that the Civil Partnership Bill established a group of experts
passed all stages in the Oireachtas on 8th July to work with the Government
2010. It provides legal recognition and protection for the thousands to come up with specific
of committed same sex relationships in the country and indeed to all recommendations on how the
cohabiting couples both gay and straight. This is a major step forward for banks can help people more.
equality in Ireland and I am proud to have been able to help deliver this.
The group recently published their interim report and we have already
begun to implement the first 40 recommendations, which include:
Reforming Planning Legislation • No penalty interest or arrears charges to apply
The Planning Act 2010 will change the way we design and build our
• If you agree a deal with your bank (longer maturity, interest only,
communities. It will put an end to the reckless planning decisions that
payment holiday) you do not lose your tracker mortgage
contributed to the property bubble and the subsequent economic
crisis. The Act will ensure transparency, openness and democratic • All lenders must develop a Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process
involvement in the planning process. We can now look forward to a (MARP) and a specialist unit in every lending institution to deal with
planning system that protects the environment, is community-focused those in arrears
and is truly sustainable. • Changes in Mortgage Interest Relief Schemes
Clampdown on Premium Rate I am pleased to be able to implement these measures and we will
continue to help people in difficulties out of debt.
Rip-offs You can find further details on www.finance.gov.ie and a further
We introduced a new law which regulates premium rate phone lines report will be published in September.
selling ring tones, sports results, traffic reports and other high rate
services. Failure to comply will result in fines, or operators having their
licences cancelled.
These schools have been in need of redevelopment for a number of years and
I have worked hard to ensure that they received these approvals. Even in these
difficult times we are still making education a priority.
I understand there are other schools in Dublin South who would also benefit
Tree Strategy for
from building improvements and I will continue to campaign on their behalf. Dun Laoghaire
Rathdown
Ballyroan Library Gets Funding for a Facelift
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
The Government has earmarked over €1m in funding to develop and refurbish are developing a Tree Strategy to highlight
Ballyroan library. the value of trees and to help improve
The library is a fantastic resource for the community, attracting people of all ages, the Councils approach to planting and
offering a range of services from books and newspapers to music, internet access, managing trees in the County.
archives and study areas. The funding will also help support local employment as You can view the strategy at www.
the library is redeveloped. dlrcoco.ie and if you would like to
contribute your own thoughts on how the
With the new Community Hall and Youth Centre reopened and the Pastoral Hall
completed, the residents of Ballyroan can now look forward to a range of much trees in your area could be better managed
needed local facilities that will help strengthen the community. then contact:
Mr. Chris O’Neill
Executive Parks Superintendent,
Parks & Landscape Services,
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council,
Marine Road,
Dún Laoghaire,
e-mail parks@dlrcoco.ie.
New Regulations to
Control Quad Biking
and Scrambling
Carrickmines Retail Park – The Real Story For some time there have been problems
Recent proposals by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Councillors to designate the Carrickmines with scrambling and quad biking in the
Retail Park as a ‘district centre’ would have allowed a further 25,000m2 of retail Dublin Mountains and other areas. The
development on the site. mountains are a resource for everyone
to enjoy. It is important that recreational
My colleague Minister Gormley issued a direction to the Council to reject this proposal activities are limited to those which do not
as it would contravene the Retail Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area. disturb or damage the local environment
and its wildlife.
There are already sufficient areas zoned as district centres such as Cornelscourt,
Dundrum, Stillorgan and the proposed site at Cherrywood. Another shopping centre Therefore I welcome my colleague
could cause job losses in these areas. Minister John Gormley’s new legislation to
control such activities in areas where the
Again this is clear evidence that some political partys have learned nothing from the protection of nature sites is required. The
bad planning mistakes of the past and are happy to continue to encourage developer- Dublin and Wicklow Mountains National
led building on green field sites. I welcome the Green Party’s intervention on this Park will be among the first areas in the
occasion and our new planning legislation which will ensure more sustainable planning country to ban these off road vehicles and
in the future. I will keep you informed of the progress
of this.
New iPhone App Helps Children with Autism
I visited Saplings School in Rathfarnham where I met with local Lisa Domican
who has worked to develop an iPhone Application to help communicate with
autistic children.
The Grace App has transformed the picture exchange communications tools
which are currently used by many parents and tutors of children with autism. It
can hold hundreds of images that can be customised for each child, it is small and
portable and it is simple to use.
For further information http://graceappforautismoniphone.blogspot.com/
Eamon Ryan and Lisa Domican at Saplings, Rathfarnham
0612