News Entries
O’ Donovan welcomes €200,000 funding of Innovative Limerick Business under the Rural Development Programme
Added January 17th, 2013
Fine Gael TD for Limerick Patrick O’ Donovan has welcomed the news that the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government , Phil Hogan has given sanction for West Limerick Resources Ltd to approve funding of €200,000 to Worldwide Automation Technical Support Ltd (W.A.T.S. Ltd) to assist in the development of a manufacturing facility in Killeedy, Ballagh, Co Limerick.
The proposed manufacturing facility will facilitate the manufacture of LCD screen recycling machines supporting the market requirement to remove hazardous waste materials from LCD flat panels and monitors. The technology is the first of its kind in the world and has been developed by ALR Innovations who have contracted the manufacture of the machines to W.A.T.S Ltd.
“This funding is very much welcome and I would like to wish W.A.T.S. Ltd every future success. Small companies like W.A.T.S. Ltd will play a huge part in this country’s economic recovery”.
“This government is committed to rural development and supporting people with business ideas, the Rural Development Programme ensures that people can avail of the resources available under the programme to develop their ideas and provide the rural economy with the stimulus necessary to support the development and maintenance of sustainable rural communities into the future”.
“If businesses like W.A.T.S. Ltd can be supported I have no doubt that they would make a significant impact and contribution to the rural economy of this country and particularly in Limerick”.
Govt prioritises children with €2.25m in capital funding for youth cafes and recreational facilities – O’ Donovan
Added January 17th, 2013
Youth groups in Limerick encouraged to apply for funding
Fine Gael Limerick TD, Patrick O’ Donovan, has welcomed the announcement of €2.25 in capital funding which is being made available to build and develop youth cafes and to support recreational facilities in Limerick and beyond.
Only last week the Limerick Youth Service was approved by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs for funding amounting to nearly €80,000 for the Rathkeale Youth Cafe. “I would like to congratulate every one involved in the project and wish them every future success”. O’ Donovan encouraged youth group and local organisations to apply for funding if they have not already done so.
“The Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald TD, is making €2.25 million available so that children across Ireland will have safe, drug and alcohol free places to play and to enable local communities to embark on youth projects which will deliver play facilities for our children.
“The funding will be made up of €500,000 for to youth cafes this year, for which applications have already being received and are currently being assessed. One and a half million euro will go towards youth capital projects next year, including further youth cafes, and €250,000 will be available for play and recreation initiatives. This funding will be accessible, in part, through local authorities with further details of the funding scheme for these projects being announced by the Department of Children & Youth Affairs in the coming weeks.
“I would encourage local groups, clubs and organisations in Limerick to apply for funding so that local children and young people can be given the chance to avail of a suitable place to play and an environment that facilitates growth development and physical activity.So many of our children are living increasingly sedentary lives with the result that obesity is on the rise. It is up to us to ensure that children are getting the physical exercise they need so that they are not beset with heart disease and other illnesses down the line.”
“This Government has put children front and centre of policy decisions. For the first time ever we have a Minister for Children who sole focus is on making Ireland a better place for our children to live. Our children’s emotional, social and physical wellbeing is dependent upon the decisions we make on their behalf. That is why a new National Play and Recreation Network was established earlier this year to oversee the delivery of local play and recreation services in communities like Limerick across the country. It is also why the Government is campaigning so hard for a Yes vote on Saturday in the Children’s Referendum.
“I would encourage everyone who cares about our children’s futures to ensure they go out to vote next weekend and for local clubs and organisations to ensure they avail of youth facility funding which will reap so many benefits for our children into the future.”
Vote Yes to protect vulnerable children – O’ Donovan
Added January 17th, 2013
On Saturday November 10th we are all being asked to vote on what will be a very important referendum for vulnerable children in this country. These are children who are frequently overlooked, and who, up to now, have been left with no voice. Children who aren’t being given a fair chance. We have ignored these children for too long; let’s show that every child matters by voting Yes to protect vulnerable children and support families on Saturday November 10th.
The Referendum is based on a number of simple principles; protecting children from abuse and neglect, supporting families through early intervention, and removing inequalities in adoption. In the words of Geoffrey Shannon, the Government’s Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, this Referendum won’t result in more children coming into the State care system, it will mean the right children come into the system.
Despite what some opponents may claim, those who don’t want children’s rights to be strengthened, there is nothing in this Referendum that is a threat to families. Article 41 of the Constitution deals with the rights of the family, and this Referendum does absolutely nothing to change that. Indeed, it will actually help to support families, because by underpinning early intervention we can address problems when they arise in families, helping to keep children in the home and out of care.
The Referendum clearly sets out how the State can intervene – only in ‘exceptional cases’ – when children are being abused or neglected. This isn’t a power grab on behalf of the State; it’s about using power ethically, justly and proportionately, to help protect the most vulnerable. Do you really think groups like Barnardos and the ISPCC would be supporting this Referendum if it gave the State too much power over the very children they are trying to protect?
At the moment, a child can be treated differently in adoption based on the marital status of their parents. So even if they have been abandoned, they can be denied the chance to be adopted in a safe and happy home. More than 2,000 children have been living with the same foster family for more than 5 years. Voting Yes will give many of these children a second chance to be adopted into a secure and loving environment.
As a country and as a society, we have been left shocked, appalled and ashamed by a series of reports detailing child protection failures over the two decades. By voting Yes to this Referendum, we can finally respond to these reports in a constructive way. It certainly won’t solve all of the problems revealed in these reports, and it won’t erase the past. But voting Yes will ensure that in the future, a more child centred approach will be taken, where children are listened to, and where their best interests are central to all decisions being taken about their welfare.
This Referendum underpins the Government’s wider Programme for Change for Children; it is just one of a series of steps being taken to overhaul our child protection services. Previously, an inconsistent and fragmented approach has been taken to child protection. Now, child and family services are being taken away from the HSE and will be the sole responsibility of the new Child and Family Support Agency. It will be up and running in the New Year. Despite our difficult economic circumstances, more than 80 extra social workers have been hired. Laws dealing with the reporting of abuse and the vetting of people working with children are also being strengthened. But none of these changes can have as far reaching and as a profound an effect as the Constitutional change proposed in this Referendum.
So if you believe vulnerable children should be protected from abuse and neglect; if you think families should be supported to help them cope when problems arise; and if you want every child to be given the same chance of living in a safe and loving home, then I am urging you to vote Yes on to the Children’s Referendum on Saturday November 10th.
Kilfinane National School raised in the Dáil
Added November 29th, 2012
Limerick Fine Gael TD, Patrick O’Donovan has raised the issue of Kilfinane National School in the Dáil, where he called on the Minister for Education to introduce stricter criteria for the selecting of contractors undertaking work in public buildings. Patrick O’Donovan said that the Government’s capital program had a commitment to provide an extra 80,000 new school places to accommodate new schools and extensions to existing ones, but that the recent developments in Kilfinane showed how weak the tendering process is.
Patrick O’Donovan asked that the Department of Education to introduce a more robust due diligence system of background checks to determine if contractors had previous issues with the management of pay of subcontractors. He also said that a level of retention should be kept back at the end of the project until the Department, or the relevant public body, had satisfied itself that those sub-contractors that had worked on the site had been paid and were up to date. The Limerick deputy also asked if the Government would consider special banking arranegements where payments relating to particular projects only could be paid from.
Patrick O’Donovan said that it was clear that this is not an isolated incident, and he knew of other Co. Limerick schools, and other public contracts where subcontractors had had issues like this, and where the same main contractors was still being considered, and in some cases awarded the lowest contract. Patrick O’Donovan told the Dáil that it is not the case that the cheapest is the best, and that the Department and other state agencies would have to give a greater role to local quantity surveyors.
He said in this case it was important that the pupils, who had waited long enough, could enjoy their future in the school and that the parents, managers and staff could be sure that this was the case. He added that the State also had a duty to protect sub-contractors from events like this and he would be pursuing the matter with the Government.
Leaving Cert is too important to let ‘one bad day’ affect students’ futures – O’Donovan
Added November 21st, 2012
Leaving Cert is too important to let ‘one bad day’ affect students’ futures – O’Donovan
Minister urged to follow example he set with Junior Cert by scrapping ‘rote learning’ approach for Leaving Cert
Fine Gael Limerick TD, Patrick O’Donovan, has asked the Minister for Education, Ruari Quinn TD, to look at taking the ‘high stakes’ element out of the Leaving Cert, as he has already done for Junior Cert students.
Speaking in the Dáil today, Deputy O’Donovan said: ‘I would ask if the Minister, given the move away from ‘high stakes’ state exams, where rote learning was examined by the State, has given consideration to a similar move away from rote learning in the Leaving Cert? Having studied hard for years, a student could just have a bad day’.
“Given that educationalists routinely say that rote learning is to be avoided at primary level and that we are moving away from it at Junior Cert level, surely this must be the time for the Leaving Cert to be looked at?
“The students that are currently in 5th class will be the first to go through the new Junior Cert system and I would urge the Minister to look at Leaving Cert reform with them in mind. At the very least, this type of change should be looked at by the Department of Education and the National Council for Curriculum Assessment.”
O’ Donovan welcomes €200,000 funding for the restoration of Coote Memorial Hall, Kilmallock
Added November 20th, 2012
Limerick Fine Gael TD Patrick O’ Donovan has today welcomed the decision of Phil Hogan, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to give sanction for Ballyhoura Development Ltd to approve funding of €200,000 for the restoration of Coote Memorial Hall, at Kilmallock, Co Limerick under the Village and Countryside Renewal measure of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013.
“I am delighted that the Minster has sanctioned Ballyhoura Development Ltd to approve the funding for this restoration. Coote Memorial Hall is a historically significant building in the town of Kilmallock and with the total project cost estimated to be over €260,000, it is clear to see that this project will have an immense benefit to Kilmallock.”
“There is no doubt that the sanctioning of funding today will ensure that Coote Hall will be developed and utilised by the whole community, and will be an important community resource for Kilmallock and the wider Ballyhoura area”.
“Following the Ministers decision today the project will now go back to the Board of Ballyhoura Development Ltd for the final approval on the project. This is in line with the EU’s “bottom-up” approach to rural development.”
O’Donovan welcomes Rural Development Commission.
Added November 5th, 2012
Fine Gael TD for Limerick, Patrick O’Donovan has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan TD that Pat Spillane will be the Chairman of the new Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA).
Patrick O’Donovan had proposed at a meeting of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party that a commission be established under an independent chairperson to examine the needs of rural communities and the barriers to industrial and economic activity.
Patrick O’Donovan said that the initiative was badly needed in rural area because unemployment has increased more in rural areas particularly in small towns since the economic crisis began, with a large portion of the figure being related to the collapse of the building industry.
The new Commission will involve 3 stages including; a nationwide consultation of rural stakeholders including employers, unions, farm bodies, community organisation and the public sector, research and analysis of economic factors affecting rural areas and the preparation of a report supporting the medium-term economic development of the Rural Areas for the period to 2025
Patrick O’Donovan welcomed the appointment of Pat Spillane as the Commission chairman, saying that “It is clear that Pat Spillane, has over many years both through his involvement in the GAA, his business background, and his work with young people in education, developed a deep knowledge and understanding or rural people which will be a major asset to this commission.”
The Commission will undertake seventeen public meetings in the first three months of 2013, and Patrick O’Donovan said he would be encouraging people with positive ideas on the future development of rural areas to get involved, to attend the meetings and to have their opinions listened to.
The Minister will announce the membership of the Commission later in the week. The membership will represent a broad set of people from different backgrounds, with significant experience and expertise in the Rural Economy with public and private sectors, bringing practical, government and research experience with them to the Commission.
O’Donovan welcomes measures to stop the spread of Ash Disease
Added October 30th, 2012
Fine Gael TD for Limerick, Patrick O’Donovan has welcomed the announcement of measures from Minister of State with responsibility for forestry, at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Shane McEntee TD, to prohibit the importation into Ireland of plant material from ash dieback infected areas. These measures, introduced by Ministerial Order, take effect immediately. They have been introduced in conjunction with similar measures taken by Northern Ireland authorities to keep Ireland free of Chalara fraxinea, ash dieback disease. The measures will make it an offence to import ash plants and seed from areas within the EU that are known to have the disease.
Minister McEntee said “This is a very aggressive disease in ash trees and we must do everything possible to keep it out and it is for these reasons that new legal measures are now in place. This follows on from a voluntary import ban from continental Europe by the forest nurseries”; he added “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the contractors and owners of the ash plants from the infected batch and for all those who gave their time to co-operate on the task of ensuring a quick destruction of the disease on the infected site and on the other 10 sites where the same batch was planted out.”
Patrick O’Donovan said that Ireland’s forestry industry is of major importance to the overall economy of the State and measures like this needed to be introduced to protect the investment that has been made both by people from all over the country who depend on the forestry industry and the many associated services for the income. The matter had been raised at the recent British Irish Parliamentary Assembly which Deputy O’Donovan is a member of, and it was agreed that every effort should be made by authorities north and south of the border to ensure that the disease was contained and dealt with.
O’Donovan calls for Oireachtas investigation into Waterford Pilot Training College
Added October 30th, 2012
Fine Gael TD for Limerick, Patrick O’Donovan, has called for an investigation by the Oireachtas Committee on Transport into the events leading up to the closure of the Pilot Training College in Waterford.
Deputy O’Donovan, who is a member of the Committee, called for the investigation to take place during this week’s Committee meeting. 350 students were affected by the collapse of the training courses run by the college in the United States.
“We must do all we can to prevent a situation like this occurring again. I believe that a full and forensic investigation will bring clarity to what has occurred here and hopefully help prevent a recurrence of this situation.”
“The situation that unfolded during the summer is highly unsatisfactory and a lot of issues remain unresolved. We need to look at why fees continued to be taken from trainees in the months before the Florida Institute of Technology ended its deal with the Waterford based college.”
“The investigation should also address whether the Minister for Transport can make an offer of alternative training or compensation to the students involved.”
I believe that on conclusion of an investigation, which should have a fixed time frame, that the Committee could be able to bring forward recommendations to Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar to ensure that situations like this do not happen again.”
O’Donovan welcomes Minister Shatter’s commitment to publish DNA database legislation
Added October 30th, 2012
Fine Gael Limerick TD, Patrick O’Donovan, has welcomed confirmation by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter TD that legislation on the establishment of a DNA database will be published before the end of this year. DNA databases have proven an invaluable tool in the fight against crime in countries where they are in operation.
“I welcome Minister Shatter’s commitment to establishing a DNA database. This will make a significant contribution to the fight against crime by giving the Gardai access to intelligence and technology that has never before been available in this country.
“Provision will be made in the legislation for the taking of samples from offenders jailed for serious offences, listed sex offenders and from suspects detained in Garda custody connected with serious crimes. DNA profiling will be used in crimes such as murder, rape, drugs crime, burglary, theft and criminal assault.
“Despite pressure on budgets and requirements for savings in the upcoming budget, Minister Shatter recognises the importance of modern technology in combating criminal activity in relation to drugs, dissident republican activity, terrorism and burglary. The database will serve as a vital tool against repeat offenders with DNA profiles assisting the Gardaí in their prosecution.
“This proposal has been put on the long finger for over twelve years. Minister Shatter is finally taking action on this and I commend him for that. I look forward to the publication of the legislation and I am confident that when enacted it will contribute greatly to the work of the Garda Siochána in detecting crime.”