On Monday, March 1st I will be hosting a public meeting in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown at 8pm.

One of the key priorities for Fine Gael in Dublin West, and for me since my election in 2007 has been the proper regulation of Residential Management Companies. I am one of the few TDs who lives in a Management Company development, so I have a personal interest in it too. Despite the explosion of the number of apartment complexes over the past decade, especially in Dublin 15, there is no proper legislation or regulations which govern these companies.

For more details on the Bill, I have set up a set on this site giving more details and seeking your feedback.

Tánaiste’s lets 500 jobs slip by

It is critical that the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan T.D. salvages what represents a glaring missed opportunity in the form of the Ryanair offer to employ 500 workers at the former SR Technics site in North Dublin, according to James Reilly T.D. and Leo Varadkar T.D. Fine Gael Health and Enterprise, Trade and Employments Spokesmen. …[more]

Fingal County Council will be setting an example for the whole country if it approves a proposal to cut business rates and water charges at its Annual Budget meeting on January 7th according to Leo Varadkar TD, Fine Gael Spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment and local representative for the Dublin West constituency.

“Councillors will vote on a proposal from the County Manager to reduce business rates by 10.5% and water charges by 6%.  The proposal to cut local authority rates was first made by Cllr Kieran Dennison of Fine Gael who argued that rates should be cut in line with deflation.  When the recent revaluation of properties is taken into account, the County Manager is now proposing to do exactly that and will provide a €8 million boost to businesses throughout Dublin 15 and North County Dublin.

“Fingal County Council will be setting an example for the nation by cutting business rates and water charges.  Protecting jobs must be our number one priority and the best way to do this is to support private sector enterprises which provide 70% of all employment in the state.  By cutting rates and water charges, the council will be sending a clear signal to central government, the banks, landlords and semi-states and will put more pressure on them to reduce their prices and charges too.”

The decision of the Constituency Boundary Commission to redraw the constituency boundaries in North Dublin presents a real challenge for local politicians in Dublin West and Dublin North. The Commission decided to add an extra seat to Dublin West to make it a four seat constituency which was expected. However, in a surprising decision, twelve thousand people living in south-western side of Swords will now be added to the constituency. …[more]