Issues surrounding collapse of Setanta Insurance must be resolved

Fine Gael TD for Meath East and member of the Oireachtas Finance Committee, Regina Doherty, has today (Wednesday) called on the legal squabbling surrounding the collapsed Setanta Insurance to end in the interest of policy holders who have lost out. Deputy Doherty was speaking after the issue was discussed at the Oireachtas Finance Committee.

“Setanta claimants haven’t received a cent because of a legal wrangles, and that is not acceptable.

“The Insurance Compensation Fund, funded by a levy on insurance policies, should be the appropriate source of compensation. The fund pays 65% of the value of a claim. A further 35% should come from the liquidators once the liquidation process completes.

“Another potential source of compensation is the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland fund which is also funded by a levy. Its principal role is to compensate innocent victims of accidents caused by uninsured and unidentified vehicles. However, as the former customers of Setanta had insurance, they have been advised this source is not open to them. This is disputed by The ICF and is before the courts.

“The matter is further complicated by the fact that Setanta was registered in Malta and it’s liquidation law requires that no compensation be provided to anyone until all claims are settled, leading to further delays.

“Put simply, all of this means that the former Setanta policy holders loose out. They need action. The sensible solution is that they receive 65% of the values of their policies from the Insurance Compensation Fund, with the remaining 35% following once the liquidation process is complete.”

Meath Tús finding protected

Fine Gael TD for Meath East, Regina Doherty, has confirmed today (Wednesday) that there has been no reduction in Government funding to the Tús Programme in Meath, which is operated by Meath Partnership.

“Funding for the Tús Programme in Co. Meath has been protected by the Government and, in fact, will increase slightly this year.

“The programme is operated locally by the Meath Partnership and I understand that organisation has written to local groups suggesting that there are unsupported costs of €72,800 for 2015. This is difficult to fathom considering that Government funding has been protected.

“Of course it goes without saying that voluntary organisations should not be required to support the costs of work activation.

“Tús is a community work placement scheme providing short-term working opportunities for unemployed people. The work opportunities are to benefit the community and are provided by community and voluntary organisations in both urban and rural areas. The programme has been of great benefit in Co. Meath and long may it continue.”

Actions speak louder than apologies

“Today in Dáil Éireann Deputy Adams admitted that Sinn Fein failed victims of sexual abuse at the hands of republicans, he acknowledged Sinn Fein's failure to deal properly with the issue and he apologised. 

“Apologies are meaningless without the actions to back up the simple words. We all know that Sinn Fein in the past covered up the sexual abuse of children at the hands of some of its own members but by continuing to deny those victims credibility in their testimony, by casting doubt as to their integrity, Sinn Fein is re-traumatising not only the brave victims Mairia Cahill and Paudie McGahon, who have gone public, but also the many, many victims who are still afraid to.

“That failure is Deputy Adams’ alone. He has it within his gift today to provide the Gardaí with all the information they require today.

“Sinn Fein/IRA conducted a damage limitation exercise resulting in the investigation of over 40 cases of both sexual and physical abuse by the hands of republicans. He stated in a recent Dáil debate arising from the allegations made by Mairia Cahill, that Sinn Fein had no corporate way of verifying what happened in the past. Well he knows, as I know he already has all the information that Gardaí would need. 

“Sinn Fein staff were issued with instructions to prepare a media strategy in the event of the report being leaked.

“So, don't wait till the report is leaked, Deputy Adams. Do the decent thing, the right thing and give the report to the Gardaí and stop re-traumatising victims today.”

Gerry in Wonderland aims to divert attention from SF tax hikes

Fine Gael TD for Meath East, Regina Doherty, has rubbished Gerry Adams’s claim that working people earning between €30,000 and €70,000 have nothing to fear from Sinn Féin. 

“Sinn Féin’s latest attempt to divert attention away from their plans for massive tax hikes on working people is yet another example of Sinn Féin hypocrisy.

“On Sunday’s The Week in Politics Gerry Adams said that workers earning between €30,000 and €70,000 have nothing to fear from Sinn Féin. This is despite the fact that their tax plans would result in a 7% tax hike on working people.

“Gerry’s Adams’ latest musings strongly contrast the views of his finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty. He told the Oireachtas Finance Committee on 18^th November that some workers who earn between €32,000 and €70,000 are hard pressed ‘but a lot of them are not’.

“The fact is that Sinn Féin is determined to target middle income pay packets to fund their wild promises. 

“Gerry Adams also said he would take 200,000 people out of the USC net. This is a strange pledge considering his party voted against our tax and USC cuts in the Finance Bill that brought the number of people taken out of USC by the Government to 410,000.

“Sinn Féin is promising wonderland but we don’t have to fall through the rabbit hole to find out what happens in Gerry Adam’s nonsensical world. We just have to look to Northern Ireland where Sinn Féin is implementing wide-ranging cuts.

“Sinn Féin’s reckless policies will put the economic recovery at risk. Gerry Adam’s admitted as much yesterday when he said their policies could cost jobs. Fine Gael in Government is determined to secure the recovery by aiming to achieve full employment by 2018 and making work pay by reducing tax and USC for low and middle income earners.”

Adams admits his policies will threaten Irish jobs

“Gerry Adams has admitted his own policies will threaten Irish jobs", says Regina Doherty, Fine Gael TD for Meath East.

“It was laughable to hear Sinn Féin call themselves pro business at their Ard Fheis this weekend. We have known for a long time that Sinn Féin are a high tax, high spend party that would damage job creation. We now have the bizarre situation of Gerry Adams effectively admitting that his own policies will damage Ireland's job creation prospects. 

"When asked on RTÉ Radio's This Week show today if his policies would impact on the decisions of multinationals to locate in Ireland, he responded 'they may...' before attempting to justify the same dangerous policies. In a pathetic attempt to avert fears, all he could offer was a hope that wealthy patriotic individuals would continue to invest in Ireland.

"Adams needs to get real. This is no joking matter. 174,000 people are directly employed by multinationals in Ireland, with over 100,000 indirect jobs also dependent on foreign direct investment (FDI). Sinn Féin's fantasy economics cannot be allowed to put these, and future jobs, at risk.

"The reason Adams was the question is that it is patently clear to most right thinking people that Sinn Féin's proposal to raise the top rate of income tax would seriously endanger investment in this country and put jobs at risk. Their proposal to increase employers’ PRSI  is literally a tax on jobs.  A wealth tax will result in money, investment and jobs leaving the country.

"Thanks to the sacrifices of the Irish people, and the prudent management of the economy in recent years, this country has regained stability and is experiencing economic growth once more. The recovery is still fragile and we cannot throw it all away on a party whose own leader admits their policies may affect FDI to this country.

“Sinn Féin’s's most recent alternative budget proposed an incredible 1.6 billion in new taxes on work, enterprise and entrepreneurship. Contrast this with the approach of the Government over the last few years. The Action Plan for Jobs has seen over 90,000 additional jobs created and the Live Register has been cut by one third. We have a plan to continue to reduce tax on work in a sustainable way. People have a little more in their pockets after the last Budget and the economy is feeling the benefit with retails sales on the up.

"This week we heard that Sinn Féin's own business backers in the United States have expressed concern at their economic policies. It is surprising now to hear Gerry Adams agree with them. How can people possibly have faith in his party? The truth is they would put our hard won economic recovery in severe jeopardy."

Wind farm incidents raise serious safety concerns

Fine Gael TD for Meath East, Regina Doherty, has said today (Thursday) that two serious incidents in the last week involving wind turbines raises legitimate safety concerns about the structures.

“In the last number of days an 80 metre wind turbine collapsed in Northern Ireland while a 30 metre blade fell from a turbine in Co. Kerry. Nobody was injured in these incidents but it does raise legitimate questions about the safety of these structures and how close to houses they should be located.

“I raise these concerns because in North County Meath a planning application has been lodged for 46 turbines with a maximum height of 169 metres.

“It is proposed that this development would be located in what is a rural, but highly residential area. I have been very clear about my feelings on the current planning regulations and the inadequacy of the current planning guidelines related to wind farms.

“I urge the Minister for Environment to urgently publish and implement the long-planned new guidelines related to wind turbines and apply these guidelines to present applications such as the one in North Meath.

“The size of wind turbines has increased threefold and it is accepted that the planning guidelines as they stand are not fit for purpose.”

Rise in number of planning permissions approved will relieve housing shortage

“The number of planning permission applications approved has increased by 52% since this time last year. It will take some time for the effect of these approvals to filter through the housing sector but there is no doubt that this is good news”, says Regina Doherty, Fine Gael TD for Meath East.

“Living on the commuter belt of County Meath, there is a big demand for housing but very few new builds. The number of planning permission applications had fallen dramatically in recent years with only 9,000 houses built in 2013 compared to 90,000 at the height of the boom.

“We need 30,000 houses per year so it is very encouraging to see such a sharp rise in the number of applications made this year.

“According to the CSO, in the third quarter of 2014, planning permissions were granted for 2,144 dwellings, compared with 1,409 units for the same period in 2013, an increase of 52.2%.

“The Government has committed in the Construction 2020 Strategy to supplying 35,000 additional social housing units at a cost of €3.8 billion over the next 6 years. This will create 29,000 jobs in construction and it will reform the way in which social housing is delivered and managed in Ireland.

“There is a shortage of available housing in this country and this is being felt most acutely in areas like my own constituency of County Meath. Plans are in place to address this shortage and it is very positive to see that things are moving in the right direction. I expect further progress to be made in 2015 and I am hopeful that this time next year we will see an even greater increase in the number of planning permission applications that have been approved.”

Neglect of patient safety cannot continue

Fine Gael TD for Meath East Regina Doherty has said today (Thursday) the shocking HIQA Report on the Redwood Extended Care Facility demonstrates the urgent need for Safeguarding legislation for vulnerable adults. HIQA found 772 incidents of physical restraint within an 11 month period at Redwood.

“Legislation would provide for clear powers of investigation and prosecution to deal with these horrible revelations. It would result in clear demarcation of roles for statutory agencies and clear definitions of offences relating to the abuse of vulnerable adults.

“The well-being and interests of residents would also be well-served by enhanced and complimentary legislation that enshrines in law the safeguarding of vulnerable adults, a number of whom are in receipt of care services. The legislation would be similar to that in respect of child protection.
“HIQA raised this issue with the Department of Health and at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children of which I am a member, and they believe the development of more effective legislation and underpinning national policies would go some way in addressing this issue.

“Clearly something is very very wrong and we need to act now.  We will not tolerate the revelations contained in the HIQA report, which are compounded by Tuesday’s Prime Time programme. We are clearly failing patients.

“Inspectors found that there was a significant denial of residents’ civil, legal and human rights and a lack of adequate safeguards to ensure that the deprivation of and restriction of resident liberty was lawful and/or in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law.

“They found that residents did not have freedom to exercise choice and control in their daily lives and saw residents who were subjected to a locked door policy, and the nurse manager informed inspectors that this was for their own safety or the safety of others.

“Inspectors read records where up to eight staff were involved in the restraint of residents and inspectors observed an incident where a resident was restrained and there were 13 staff members present for the intervention.

“HIQA needs more power and patients’ safety needs to covered by legislation because the HSE Patient Safety department are sadly lacking.

“This needs to happen urgently”

Medical card changes will be more sensitive to need

Fine Gael TD for Meath East, Regina Doherty, has said that the reforms to the medical card system will result in a medical card system which is more sensitive to the health and financial issues faced by people and their families.

“The reforms introduced today will lead to a fairer, more sensitive medical card system. It will ensure that people with serious illnesses will get access to the care that they need.

“This reformed medical card system will still use income as its main criteria, however it will show greater flexibility to people with a serious and financially onerous medical condition who would not normally qualify for a medical card. People with a serious illness who hold a discretionary card will retain their card up to the introduction of these reforms. 

“Importantly from now on, people with terminal illnesses will no longer face the prospect of having their medical cards reviewed. 

“The medical card scheme had, in the last fifteen years in particular, become too inflexible. The HSE will now to develop a more simplem single, integrated process for people to apply for a medical card, a GP visit card, the Long-Term Illness scheme, and the Drugs Payment Scheme. I welcome that access points are being established in health offices around the country to help people to apply for a medical card. 

“These reforms will help make the system more accessible and understandable to people. Most importantly, it will result in a medical card system which is more sensitive to the health and financial issues faced by individuals and their families.”

Tax relief to help elderly people remain in their homes

Fine Gael TD for Meath East, Regina Doherty, has welcomed the introduction of a new tax relief to help elderly people remain in their homes in their later years. Deputy Doherty was speaking after Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan TD, introduced an amendment to the Finance Act this week to assist families to care for elderly relatives at home by employing a nurse or carer. 

“A new tax relief introduced this week by Minister Noonan will be extremely welcome for elderly people who wish to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. 

“Often elderly people need extra support and care in order to stay in their own homes. The new tax relief will assist families financially to look after their elderly relatives at home by employing a nurse or carer. The amendment to the Finance Act will raise the level of tax relief available to employ a professional nurse or carer in the home from €50,000 to €75,000 per annum. This will make a big difference to families. 

“Older people do better at home. They retain their independence and are more comfortable in their own surroundings. Of course it is not always possible for people to remain in their own homes for as long as they wish for medical and other reasons. However this new tax relief aims to help people with the financial costs involved in staying at home where they need additional support.”