KENNY WELCOMES MOVEMENT IN DEALING WITH UNFINISHED ESTATES
Posted on November 29, 2012 3:05 PM
Dublin Bay North Labour TD Seán Kenny has welcomed comments made by Minister for Housing and Planning, Jan O'Sullivan TD, that there has been a steady and quantifiable progress in tackling the issue of unfinished housing developments. "The 2012 National Housing Development Survey has been launched. This survey has been tracking the extent and condition of unfinished housing developments since 2010. Among the key findings of this year's survey are a decrease of 37% in the number of unfinished developments since 2010, and a 27% decrease in number of vacant units since 2010. The survey also finds that 296 developments...
KENNY WELCOMES MAY START DATE FOR BUILDING OF LUAS LINE LINK UP
Posted on November 27, 2012 5:17 PM
Dublin Bay North Labour Party T.D. and Oireachtas Transport Committee member, Seán Kenny, has welcomed the announcement that work will start on the new Luas BXD line in May of next year. "The Cabinet discussed the project's updated business plan today and have authorised the building work on the new Luas line to begin in May of next year. I understand that Minister Varadkar will now ask the National Transport Authority (NTA) and the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) to prepare for work to start in May 2013. "This is a very important step for the Luas BXD project, which will...
LOCAL AUTHORITIES MUST PRIORITISE INSPECTION OF OLDER SUB STANDARD PRIVATE RENTED DWELLINGS
Posted on November 22, 2012 2:28 PM
This Bill seeks to amend the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 and 2009 and Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. Its objective is to streamline and simplify those Acts and reduce delays in the dispute resolution service of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB). The Bill makes provision for the inclusion, within the remit of the Residential Tenancies Acts, of tenancies in the voluntary and co-operative housing sector. The issues of rent arrears and deposit retention are not addressed in the Bill (as published) but the Minister of State, Jan O'Sullivan, has signalled her intention to include these at a later stage...
TIME FOR BANKS WHO SOLD MORTGAGE PRODUCTS AND OTHER LOANS TO DEAL WITH REALITY - KENNY
Posted on November 22, 2012 12:03 PM
Dublin Bay North Labour TD, Seán Kenny, has welcomed reports that there is fresh hope of a deal for householders who are experiencing difficulties with mortgage debt, after it emerged that new lenders are taking over their loans. "The Irish Independent has reported that numerous banks are attempting to sell their Irish mortgages. If these reports are true, this could mean that mortgage holders could get a write-off deal on their debts, because the companies that buy up mortgage and consumer loan books are more likely to agree to write off debts, as they have bought the loan portfolios at...
KENNY WELCOMES ELECTION OF SIOBHAN MULLALLY TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE GROUP AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Posted on November 21, 2012 3:05 PM
Seán Kenny, the Dublin Bay North Labour Party TD and member of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, today welcomed the election of Professor Siobhan Mullally to the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA). "Professor Mullally was nominated by the Irish Government for election to GRETA following an open and transparent selection process. Professor Mullally is currently Professor of Law at University College Cork and has published extensively in the field of migration, gender and human rights law. "During her career, Professor Mullally has acted as a consultant and adviser on gender and...
LABOUR TD KENNY SAYS ABC REPORT MUST BE DEALT WITH AS A MATTER OF URGENCY
Posted on November 19, 2012 5:02 PM
Dublin Bay North Labour TD and member of the Oireachtas Justice Committee, has echoed calls for the Government to consider the report of the Expert Group on the X case as a matter of urgency. "The tragic case of Savita Halappanavar demonstrates why Labour has been right in consistently arguing that Irish society should tackle the difficult issue of abortion in a mature manner. "While we don't yet know the full circumstances of Savita's utterly tragic death, it underlines in the strongest possible way that the Government needs to act as soon as possible. Any delay in bringing this report...
KENNY WELCOMES KEY REPORT ON DEPOSIT PROTECTION
Posted on November 16, 2012 11:47 AM
Dublin Bay North Labour Party TD Seán Kenny has welcomed the publication of a key report on rent deposit protection "The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce a rent deposit scheme and legislation is currently before the Dáil to follow through on this important policy goal. The report examines the options for a deposit protection scheme. Over the coming weeks, the options in the report will be weighed up the best way to offer the greatest protection to tenants in this area will be decided at. This will be done at the least cost to the Exchequer. These...
KENNY WELCOMES COMMUNITY RATING PROTECTION IN HEALTH INSURANCE (AMENDMENT) BILL 2012
Posted on November 15, 2012 2:19 PM
The Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill provides for a permanent risk equalisation scheme for private health insurance in Ireland. It will replace the current interim scheme that expires on 31st December 2012. The Programme for Government 2011-2016 commits to introducing a system of risk equalisation for the current insurance market. It is also committed to introducing a system of universal health insurance by 2016, and states that exchequer funding for hospital care would go into a Hospital Insurance Fund, which would subsidise or pay insurance premiums for those who qualify for subsidy. The Programme stated that the Hospital Insurance Fund would...
KENNY URGES COMPLETION OF TENANT PURCHASE APPLICATIONS
Posted on November 14, 2012 4:27 PM
Dublin Bay North TD, Seán Kenny, has urged tenants to complete any tenant purchase applications that they may have in progress. "The 1995 Tenant Purchase scheme has enabled 10,000 families to purchase their own home over the past 10 years. However, since 2008 applications to the scheme have dwindled significantly, with just 195 purchases made nationwide in 2010. This fall off in applications presents the Government with an opportunity to reform tenant purchase and introduce a more progressive system, without interfering with the plans of hundreds of families. "With that goal in mind Minister O'Sullivan is bringing the current Tenant...
KENNY WELCOMES ANNOUNCEMENT OF SHORTER RAIL JOURNEYS
Posted on November 13, 2012 4:18 PM
Seán Kenny, the Dublin Bay North Labour Party T.D. and Oireachtas Transport Committee member, has welcomed the news that Iarnrod Éireann is increasing the speed limit on sections of the network early in the New Year, as part of its efforts to get people out of their cars and on to public transport. "Changes to speed limits on railway lines between Dublin and the main towns and cities will mean a drop in journey times by up to 20 minutes. I understand that Dublin to Cork, Galway, Waterford, Limerick, Westport and Kerry will benefit from this change, which will allow...
LABOUR TD SEAN KENNY WELCOMES OPENING OF RAHENY COMMUNITY NURSING UNIT
Posted on November 13, 2012 12:28 PM
Dublin Bay North Labour TD Seán Kenny has welcomed the opening of the Raheny Community Nursing Unit (RCNU), a 100 bed facility to provide full time residential care for older persons. The new facility is located on the grounds of St Joseph's hospital in Raheny which came under the management of Beaumont Hospital in 2004. "The Raheny Community Nursing Unit is purpose built and will provide highest quality, person- centred care for residents in a warm and friendly home-like environment. Beaumont has engaged an experienced nursing and health and social care professional team working with its consultant geriatrician team at...
KENNY WELCOMES CREATION OF TECH JOBS AT OPENING OF LogMeIn's DUBLIN OFFICE
Posted on November 13, 2012 12:27 PM
Dublin Bay North Labour Party T.D., Sean Kenny, has welcomed the announcement that LogMeIn, Inc. a leading provider of cloud computing and mobile services has opened an office in Dublin. "Located on the Dublin quays, the new office will house a variety of European and international functions, including sales, customer support, marketing, finance and human resources. The company is actively recruiting for all these roles and has already more than 20 employees planned to start in the office within the next three months, with plans to nearly triple its staff within the year. "Cloud computing is a key sector of...
LABOUR TD KENNY WELCOMES REVISED BUS ROUTES
Posted on November 8, 2012 1:21 PM
Seán Kenny, the Dublin Bay North TD and member of the Oireachtas Transport Committee has welcomed newly announced revision of bus services across the North East area of Dublin. "These changes follow an intensive period of consultation and will better meet the needs of customers. They will be in place from Sunday 18th November and will significantly improve the public transport options our local communities." The changes will see Route 29a extended to Baldoyle while Route 31a will connect the Strand Road area in Sutton to Howth Harbour and Village, seven days a week." "Route 32/32a & 32b will be...
PEOPLE EARNING MASSIVE PENSIONS SHOULD FOLLOW SHEEHY'S LEAD AND TAKE REDUCTIONS - KENNY
Posted on November 8, 2012 10:50 AM
I want to speak tonight to re-iterate what the Government has been doing in the area of pensions, tax relief and public service pay, as I believe what is being done is being distorted by the opposition. With respect to what is termed "The raid on pensions" - this is a reference to the pension fund levy of 0.6% which will apply to the assets of pension funds for the period 2011 to 2014. The monies raised from the levy so far are €463m in 2011, and about €490m in 2012, are being used to fund the Government's Jobs Initiative....
LABOUR TD KENNY CALLS FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO PRIORY HALL
Posted on November 6, 2012 1:44 PM
Dublin Bay North Labour Party TD Seán Kenny has said that An Garda Síochána should consider a criminal investigation into what happened at Priory Hall. "It is my view that 256 lives were endangered at Priory Hall by building what can be shown to be a death trap and I also believe that the negligence involved in doing so requires a criminal investigation. The residents of Priory Hall are tired of waiting for answers, of waiting for others to do something for them." "They are still in limbo, and they are unlikely to ever return to Priory Hall because the...
KENNY WELCOMES FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL HUB
Posted on November 1, 2012 12:20 PM
Dublin Bay North Labour Party T.D. and member of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications and Transport, Seán Kenny, today welcomed the announcement that the Digital Hub will transition into Dublin City Council (DCC) as part of the Government programme to rationalise State Agencies. "Following detailed consideration in the first half of 2012, it was decided that the most appropriate arrangements in respect of the Digital Hub Development Agency, was that it would transition to the management of Dublin City Council, which is keen to develop Dublin as a hub for digital and green enterprises. It also has considerable experience in...
