BACK TO WORK FAMILY SUPPORT

The new Back to Work Family Dividend scheme aims to help families to move from social welfare into employment. It gives financial support to people with children who take Joan up employment or self- employment. If you qualify for the scheme Burton TD you will get a weekly payment for up to 2 years. You will be paid the equivalent of any Increases for Qualified Children that were being paid SCHOOL SINGS FOR on your jobseeker or one- JOBS RECOVERY IN parent family payment (up to UN LEADER a maximum of 4 children) for the first year in employment. FULL SWING In May I invited the choir of Scoil Bhríde Boys and Girls in Blanchardstown to play a Half that amount will be paid weekly for the second year. very special role in an event at Farmleigh – to welcome UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- Moon to Ireland. The choir gave a wonderful performance, and was conducted by The scheme became fully operational from Tuesday 6 May 2015. Contact your local social Summer 2015 principals John Kearns and Deirdre Kirwan. The students welcomed Ban Ki-Moon in welfare office to get more information on the scheme. They will explain how the application ten different languages from around the world, as well as Irish and English, and sang process works and give you the application form. a number of songs, including ‘Danny Boy’ and ‘Lean on Me’. In the space of a few short years, Ireland has gone from a state of mass unemployment to €91 MILLION TO FUND HOUSING ADAPTIONS a sustained Jobs recovery. Unemployment is falling at a rate that confounds the economists. It’s confounding some FOR OLDER PEOPLE AND DISABLED opposition TDs as well. I recently announced a €91million housing adaption fund to assist senior citizens and We have already hit our target of driving the jobless rate below 10%. I hope we can get to people with a disability. 9% by the end of the year. This fund will allow older people and people with a disability to extend their homes or to Employment in Ireland is now at 1.9million, with 110,300 more people at work than in provide aids to mobility within their home, including stair lifts and access ramps. These 2012. grants are to help people to continue independent living. And the Jobs recovery is fully underway locally as well.

CASTLEKNOCK COMMUNITY COLLEGE Joan In Blanchardstown, the Live Register numbers have fallen by 12.3% from May EXTENSION READY FOR STUDENTS 2014 to May of this year. The Navan Road office has recorded a 13.5% fall in the same period. The new Extension for Community College is completed and ready to Burton TD open for students this September. The Extension includes a Sports Hall, changing rooms In recent weeks I have devoted an immense amount of time and effort to meeting and ten new classrooms. It’s part of a greatly expanded programme of capital funding international and local companies who are interested in setting up or expanding their for schools in 15. The completion of this project is a major boost for the school operations in Dublin West. and the local community, and owes a great deal to parents, teachers and community Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection It is easy to see why. Dublin West is a super place for companies to locate, with a large representatives who campaigned for the new building. , Dublin 2 Email: joan.burton@.ie number of available sites, a good supply of skilled staff, and world class educational Phone: 01 618 4006 www.joanburton.ie @joanburton institutions nearby. The first to benefit from this jobs recovery will be construction workers, who have been badly hit by the recession. New sites are opening up all over the place, a welcome spurt in activity. Working with One of the most welcome features is that most of the new jobs are full time. your local This progress did not happen by accident. It is happening because of the sustained focus of Labour Ministers in Government to Labour Team lay down the conditions for a jobs rich recovery. I expect a lot of progress this year on better pay and living standards. We want to achieve full employment and to push ahead with social and affordable housing, as well as easing the burden of the USC on workers’ incomes. I will be calling round regularly this summer and look forward to meeting you then. Cllr. Mary McCamley Cllr. Brendan Carr With principal John Cronin and management of Castleknock Community College in the school’s Area Cabra/Finglas Area brand new Sports Hall Mobile: 087 6501441 Mobile: 087 207 5921 [email protected] [email protected] 0612 CONNOLLY HOSPITAL DUBLIN WEST SAYS YES TO APPROVAL FOR NEW UNITS AS HOSPITAL CELEBRATES ITS MARRIAGE EQUALITY 60TH BIRTHDAY Connolly Hospital celebrated its 60th birthday in April. I’m confident that it will continue to attract investment in new facilities in the coming years. I On May 23rd the magnificent new St Francis Hospice was officially opened and is now offering a full range of day and residential care services.

I Plans for a three-storey children's unit are moving ahead, and an application for planning approval will be presented during the summer. This unit will include a dedicated children’s emergency department, and will complement the services at the National Children’s Hospital at St James’s.

I The Government has also approved funding for a new 100 bed unit for elderly residents, replacing the older unit at Woodlands. It will offer a valuable and improved service for elderly people in Blanchardstown and the wider Dublin West area.

Meeting new apprentices in ESB, some of the 1,000 apprenticeships created so far this year, further I A proposal to relocate the famous Rotunda Maternity Hospital to Connolly is under sign of a real recovery. examination by an independent expert panel as part of a review of maternity services.

COLLEGE PARK €1.5BN JOBS INVESTMENT I Roselawn Health Centre is to get a €1 million renovation to enable it to We have seen a €1.5billion investment in the College Park industrial estate in recent expand and develop its community services. The refurbished Centre will months by several major US companies: continue GP services but will now offer physiotherapy, occupational Alexion : 800 construction jobs therapy, dental, speech & language treatments.

Alexion Pharma company has announced 200 new jobs and 800 construction jobs in a I €450m expansion at its Blanchardstown site ’s long awaited Health Centre is now under construction at Blackcourt Road. This €8 million project should be up and running by Mallinckrodt: 300 construction jobs March 2016. It will provide accommodation for two GPs and two dental Mallinckrodt, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has announced a €45million practices. There will be a special focus here on children’s health, including a investment to expand its manufacturing facility in . This will provide 300 jobs child and adolescent mental health team. during the two-year construction phase and 45 skilled full-time positions once the A wonderful welcome for the Yes Equality bus in Blanchardstown during the referendum campaign construction is completed. These additional facilities are vital as Dublin West’s population continues to expand. They Bristol Myers-Squibb: 400 manufacturing jobs show the commitment of the to devote the resources from economic recovery I was delighted that Dublin West was one of the constituencies with a YES vote of more to improving all public services with a special emphasis on public health care. than 70% in last week’s referendum on Marriage Equality. The US medical company will create 400 manufacturing jobs and 1,000 construction jobs with the building of a state-of-the-art, large-scale biologics manufacturing facility in a The turnout of voters reached a level usually seen at a general election. Young voters site in Cruiserath. showed a strong commitment to the issue. And I am proud that local Labour Party members put in a huge effort and mounted a thorough door to door canvass. Planning approval has recently been granted by County Council for the development. In addition, a very successful Labour party public meeting was held early on in the campaign in Carpenterstown. The people of Dublin West responded generously to the many personal stories from gay and lesbian people and their families, and the size of the YES vote testifies to that generosity. Ireland has become a ‘rainbow nation’ of inclusion and diversity. I am proud the Labour Party played such a leading role in putting the matter before the people and campaigning for such a landslide victory. Thanks to everyone in Dublin West who took part in the campaign, shared their stories, and voted in the referendum. NEW LAW TO PROTECT WORKERS The new Industrial Relations Amendment Bill will provide important legal protection for workers, by bringing in Registered Employment Agreements (REAs). It means that rules about pay and working conditions of workers can be enforced. This protection will be extended to all groups of workers in Aer Lingus. Labour Minister , the Minister for Business and Employment, is pioneering this very welcome legislation, which will benefit young workers in particular. With Julie O’Neill of Alexion and Martin Shanahan, head of the IDA, at the announcement of 1,000 jobs for Dublin West. Attending the official opening of St. Francis’ Hospice in Blanchardstown For more information, log on to joanburton.ie.