LABOUR NEWS Leixlip STAGG WELCOMES APPROVAL TO SIGN CONTRACT FOR FINAL PHASE OF LOWER LIFFEY VALLEY SEWERAGE SCHEME Deputy Emmet Stagg, Cllr. Colm Purcell and Cllr. Sean Purcell have welcomed the decision by the Minister for Environment to give approval to Kildare Co. Council to sign the contracts for the final phase of the Lower Liffey Valley Sewerage Scheme. The Final phase given the go ahead to sign the contracts will involve the upgrade and expansion of the actual Waste Water Treatment Plant at Leixlip at a cost of €29 Million. The Plant is currently operating at 80,000 population equivalent capacity and when the upgrade is EMMET STAGG TD completed will cater for 150,000 population equivalent. Previous work under the Scheme Chief Whip included New Pumping Stations and Network improvements at a cost of €10.4 Million. Lodge Park, Straffan, Co Kildare Tel: Dáil 01 6183013 / 618 3797 Email: [email protected] The work when completed will cater for predicted increases in wastewater flows from an expanding domestic, industrial and commercial population and we look forward to construction commencing in the near future. The upgrade will aso help to attract further Working with investment to the area and will assist Intel's plan's to be one of the 3 plant's to build the next generation of microchips (See Page 4 of this Leaflet) SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KILDARE TO BENEFIT FROM HIGH SPEED BROADBAND IN 2013 Deputy Emmet Stagg has welcomed the announcement by his colleagues Minister Pat Rabbitte and Minister Ruairi Quinn that all Secondary Schools in Kildare, Meath and Dublin will CLLR. COLM PURCELL have high speed (100 Mbps) broadband installed during 612 St. Mary’s Park, Leixlip 2013. Mobile: 087 2539493 Email: [email protected] This Investment will mean that students will have vastly enhanced access to new and innovative educational tools as the standard of connection to broadband is of a much higher standard than current domestic broadband connectivity, and it will allow students multiple applications to be accessed by students right across the school. The announcement was an important investment in Ireland's competitiveness and that the students will now be much better prepared for the digital economy when they seek work in years to come. CLLR. SEÁN PURCELL Deputy Stagg complimented Ministers Rabbitte and Quinn on moving forward on this 49 Ryeview, Leixlip important issue. Mobile: 087 7695234 Working for you EXIT FROM CHURCH OF OUR LADY'S NATIVITY REMAINS DANGEROUS The ongoing issue of the dangerous exit from the Church of Our Lady's Nativity Car Park has been raised by Cllr. Colm Purcell at recent Celbridge Area Committee meetings. This followed on from a meeting on site back in February when the Director of Services Michael O'Leary met with Deputy Emmet Stagg and Cllr. Colm Purcell to view the problem first hand. At present traffic exiting the car park to go left is forced onto the main line of traffic rather than having the opportunity to exit onto the slow lane. Cllr. Colm Purcell will raise this issue further at the next meeting of the Celbridge Area Committee given the danger posed to motorists by the current exit arrangements. The Exit that needs to be redesigned COPE BRIDGE ISSUE TO BE PURSUED The fact that Cope Bridge was not widened during the Celtic Tiger years is regretable but the issue remains high on the list of priorities of Cllr. Colm Purcell and Cllr. Sean Purcell. An application for funding is to be made to the National Transport Authority by Kildare Co. Council. Both Colm and Sean have also contacted Deputy Emmet Stagg with a view to securing a meeting with the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Aan Kelly T.D. At that meeting a case for funding will be presented to the Minister. In addition Kildare Co. Council are to contact Meath and Fingal Co. Council's to see whether they have any plans for the road that could affect the widening of the bridge. One Way traffic on Cope Bridge INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS AT REAR OF SALMON LEAP Cllr. Sean Purcell has expressed concerns over the large number of industrial buildings that are located to the rear of the Salmon Leap Inn. The buildings are unsightly and are not screened from public view. Fingal Co. Council is probably responsible for the structures and Kildare Co. Council planning section are currently checking whether they were subject to a Part 8 Public Consultation. Aerial View of Leixlip Water Works STAGG RAISES REDUCED AMBULANCE COVER IN NORTH KILDARE WITH MINISTER - MINISTER CONCEDES IF HEALTH RISK IS ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGE IT MUST BE ADDRESSED Deputy Emmet Stagg raised with the Minister for Health under the Topical Issues Debate in the Dail on January 16th, the appalling decision to reduce Ambulance Cover in North Kildare whereby on Thursday's from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. there is no direct dispatch of an Ambulance from the Maynooth Ambulance Base, and instead Ambulances have to be sought from Athy, Naas, Dublin or Cavan in case of an emergency. In his address Deputy Stagg pointed out the importance of early treatment and praised paramedical staff on the work they do. Of 86 Ambulance Stations throughout the State agreement on rostering had been reached in 30 Stations. 25 of these stations had dispatch from them 24 hours a day for 365 days a year. For some reason Maynooth and 4 others do not have dispatch for 12 hours per week which equated to 26 days per year, almost a month each year. The Maynooth Ambulance Base stated Deputy Stagg covered a population of 60,369 people, including Leixlip and Deputy Stagg stated that lives were being put at risk. He asked that the matter be reconsidered and questioned how savings could be made through the changes. Minister White responding to Deputy Stagg gave a Civil Service stock answer which was rejected by Deputy Stagg. He rejected an assertion that Athy, Naas, Cavan and Dublin were adjacent to Maynooth if there was an emergency. He again questioned the savings and stated that he had fought for the establishment of an ambulance service in Maynooth and would not allow it to be whittled down. Minister White further responding stated he would ascertain the level of savings but also stated 'Our primary concern is to ensure the health and well-being of the population, including access to emergency care if needed. If it can be demonstrated there is some risk associated with this change, that must be addressed.' Deputy Stagg stated that of course there is a risk and indicated that he would now contact the 28 Doctors in North Kildare and Paramedical Staff for evidence of where lives had been put at risk since the reduction in dispatch hours on Thursdays. He will present this evidence to Minister White and demand the re-opening of Maynooth Ambulance Base on a full 24 hour basis, 365 days a year. Full transcript of the debate is on www.labour.ie/emmetstagg - under local news. STAGG WELCOMES BORD PLEANALA GO AHEAD FOR INTEL EXPANSION Deputy Emmet Stagg has welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanala to grant planning permission to Intel for a major expansion of their facililty at Leixlip, Co. Kildare. The new plant would be used to build a new generation of faster and more powerful microchips with total floor area for the expanded facility of 162,536 sqm. Intel have invested €7.5 Billion at its Leixlip Plant since they first set up their base in Leixlip in 1989 and their last major investment was the €1.6 Billion investment in their Fab 24 plant in 2006. There are over 4,500 people presently working for Intel in Ireland. The grant of planning permission gives Intel Ireland the final piece of the jigsaw in their quest to be selected as one of the three locations to build the next generation of chips. The chips are likely to be manufactured in Arizona and Oregon in the States and Intel in Israel are also pushing to be selected as the third location. Deputy Stagg stated that 3,500 constructions jobs over a two year period and 800 new permanent posts at the high tech campus in Leixlip could now become a reality if Intel Ireland can get the final go ahead from the US to be one of the 3 plants to build the next generation of microchips. Leixlip Labour Advice Service Emmet Stagg TD Emmet is available to the people of Leixlip every Monday at 2.30pm in The Ryevale Tavern (Except Bank Holiday Weekends) He can also be contacted by phone at 618 3013 / 618 3797 or by email at [email protected] Working with CLLR. COLM PURCELL CLLR. SEÁN PURCELL 087 2539493 49 Ryeview, Leixlip [email protected] 087 7695234 Working for you 0612.