WALL JACK ATHY NEWS 2286_a4 31/10/2012 13:06 Page 1 Jack KILDARE SOUTH Wall ATHY NEWS TD PERSONAL INSOLVENCY BILL WELCOME BOOST ON THE JOBS Minister for Justice Alan Shatter published the long- FRONT FOR KILDARE awaited Personal Insolvency Bill at the end of June. The recent announcement of up to 1300 jobs by the Kerry Group, 400 of which will start immediately is very much welcomed. The jobs will The bill is aimed at reforming insolvency laws, some of be based at Millenium Park in Naas and I hope that the benefit of this which have been in place for over a century. The Personal much needed employment will be felt throughout Kildare. It is very Insolvency Bill 2012 provides new and more flexible important that a world renowned, Irish born company like the Kerry options to address the circumstances of insolvent Group has chosen Kildare as its long term technology base. The focus debtors which is in line with the commitments in the of this Government must continue to be on job creation and this is a Programme for Government and the EU-IMF Programme very welcome development of Financial Support for Ireland. The Bill includes a number of new non-judicial debt WARMER HOME SCHEME resolution processes including: This scheme is available to homes which meet the following I a debt relief notice to allow for the write-off of criteria: qualifying debt up to €20,000, subject to a three year I Owner occupied non-Local Authority homes supervision period; I I a debt settlement arrangement for the agreed Constructed before 2002 settlement of unsecured debt over 5 years; I The owner is in receipt of one of the following: I a personal insolvency arrangement for the agreed I Fuel Allowance as part of the National Fuel Scheme settlement of secured debt up to €3 million (though I Job Seekers Allowance for over six months and with this cap can be increased) and unsecured debt over 6 years. children under 7 years of age I The Bill also provides for automatic discharge from Family Income support bankruptcy, subject to certain conditions, after three The service involves the installation of standard energy efficiency years, compared to 12 years at present. measures appropriate to the eligible household subject to SEAI I believe that this Bill will assist many struggling families survey, budget allocation and available capacity. The service is in Ireland. For households struggling with unsustainable provided at no cost to the household and debt, it will provide certainty and relief as they seek to the measures currently available deal with the difficult situation in which they find under this scheme are: themselves. I Attic insulation. By providing citizens with a suite of options to address I Draught proofing. their debts, this legislation is part of the wide-ranging I Lagging jackets. efforts being made by this Government to get Ireland back on track, and builds on the recent announcement of I Low energy light bulbs. Mortgage to Rent Scheme. I Cavity wall insulation. If anyone wishes to have more information on the I Energy advice. options available to them, please feel free to contact my For further details, please contact office in the strictest confidence, where they will be Jack’s office at 059 86 32874 or 059 given information on this matter. I am hoping the Bill will 86 33156. come into effect early next year. Contact Jack Wall TD Email: [email protected] facebook.com/kildaresouthlabour Phone: 059 86 32874/33156 For Local and National News, visit our website Fax: 059 86 33157 www.kildaresouth.com @kildarelabour WALL JACK ATHY NEWS 2286_a4 31/10/2012 13:06 Page 2 TRAFFIC LIGHTS – EMILY SQUARE, ATHY A report was read stating that the improvements made to the Emily Square traffic signals junction have increased the green time allocated to the N78 approaches from both Kilcullen and Kilkenny. It was acknowledged that a period of 2-3 weeks was required so that the public could become accustomed to any changes to the signals. Following a review of the changes to the signals, it was confirmed that the revised arrangements have reduced the journey time for traffic from the Kilkenny direction. Monitoring of the junction would continue and further changes to the timings may occur over the next few months. Cllrs queried if the mentioned improved travel times from the Kilkenny side could be clarified to the committee. Members, requested confirmation as to the timeframe for the introduction of the scoot system, stating that previous commitment had been given for this. It was requested that this item remain on the agenda. The following was the reply to the meeting above: 1. There are no outstanding civil engineering works remaining at Emily Square and the junction functions as part of an Urban Traffic Control signal. 2. The improvements made to the traffic signals forms part of our planning of junction timings for the junction. We had to change the sequence of the lights to increase the safety for vulnerable road users. 3. A network cannot be deemed to be "working under SCOOT" until a number of lights are linked. The plan was to install new traffic signals at the N78/Stradbally Road and N78/White's Castle. These would link with the existing pedestrian light at the Post Office, the proposed crossing on the N78 at Meeting Lane and Emily Square. 4. There is no funding available to install the new lights at the 3 locations above (Meeting Lane, Stradbally, White's Castle). 5. In the absence of linking with signals, the junction at Emily Square is optimised for different flows changes during the day. 6. The Traffic Management Centre staff will try to quantify the improved travel time from the Kilkenny side. This information will be circulated to the members when it is available. A further meeting will be held with members to clarify the changes in the lights and the data requested on the Kilkenny road. If you would like to discuss the above , please contact Jack’s office or any of the Cllrs. PEDESTRIAN CROSSING COMPLETED AT FORTBARRINGTON ROAD. There was an agreed welcome recently to the switching on of the Pedestrian lights on the Fortbarrington road, providing a safe crossing for all using this busy road. ATHY’S BARROW ABSTRACTION Treatment plant at Srowland will be commissioned in August / September of 2013 Also rising mains to (a) Ardcscull Reservoir (b) Old Kilcullen Reservoir will also be complete at this time Following this KCC will supply River Barrow water to most of South Kildare. The Ardscul Reservoir will supply Athy town - existing wells be decommissioned over time or may be used as standby. Mid-south Kildare will be supplied from Old Kilcullen Reservoir where it will mix with existing Ballymore supply. Working with PQ Parliamentary Question Jack Wall TD Have you got a question for this Cllr Aoife Breslin Government or one of Phone: 086 2797694 ? its Departments? Then Email [email protected] Jack Wall, your T.D., can Facebook: Aoife Breslin ask it upon your behalf. Send your details to Cllr James Mahon [email protected] Phone: 085 1397807 Email:[email protected] It will take about 4 Facebook: jamesmahonathy working days and we Twitter:@prusslestown will get the answer back Jack Wall TD to you after that time. Leas Cathoirleach Phone: 059 86 32874/33156 Thomas Redmond Fax: 059 86 33157 Phone: 087 7704087 Important numbers for you to keep Twitter: @Thomas_Redmond Email: [email protected] Kildare County Council 045 980200 Facebook: CllrThomasRedmond For Local and National News, visit our www.thomasredmond.ie Kildare County Council Housing 045 980705 website www.kildaresouth.com Kildare County Council Planning 045 980845 facebook.com/kildaresouthlabour Cllr Mark Wall Kildare County Council Finance 045 980653 (Cathaoirleach Athy Town Council) @kildarelabour Phone: 083 3341488 Kildare County Council Roads 045 980421 Email: [email protected] Kildare County Council Dog Pound 059 86 23388 Facebook: Mark Wall To report any public lights out 1850 372772 Twitter @markwall1 To report illegal dumping 1800 243 143 0612.