Ireland needs new corporate culture

Addressing the Irish Stock Exchange Conference in Dublin, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD called for a new corporate culture to restore Ireland’s battered reputation overseas. Deputy Varadkar addressed the conference on the issue of corporate governance as an invited panellist.

“The reputational damage that has been done to Ireland by the activities of our banks, Government and State agencies has done real damage to Ireland’s reputation overseas. This damage comes at a cost. It is harder and more expensive for the Government to borrow money from the international capital markets. It is more difficult for Irish companies to secure credit from the banks, capital from investors and export credit insurance. And it is harder for Irish companies to sell their goods and services overseas.

“This reputational damage, however, does not have to be lasting damage. We are not alone. Other countries have endured reputational damage too. But it is up to us to put our house in order, to do it quickly and to show the world that Ireland is second to none when it comes to corporate governance, ethics and open Government.

“Yes, we need new laws. We need to restrict the practice whereby CEOs can graduate from management to become Chairman of the Board as occurred at FÁS and Anglo Irish Bank.
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Daft wage system needs reform

Minister Calleary’s reforms are a recipe for fudge

‘Daft’ laws which see hair stylists being paid 6c an hour more than barbers, which fix wage rates for hotel staff in Co. Dublin but not in the city centre, and which limit pay rates for beef butchers but not fishmongers, are being left intact as part of the Government’s much-hyped tinkering with minimum pay and condition orders, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has warned.

Deputy Varadkar was speaking today in a Dáil debate on the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill.

“Junior Minister Dara Calleary has flunked the challenge to reform the Labour Court’s outdated and cumbersome wage-setting system. This system sets minimum rates, terms, conditions and benefits in the hospitality, grocery, agricultural and security sectors (among others). But it is currently a recipe for chaos. The whole system is outmoded, unrepresentative, cumbersome and restrictive.

“It is costing us jobs in hotels, restaurants and the retail sector. It penalises honest employers and often prevents employees from working when they are willing to do so. You could not make up some of the rulings, which are just plain daft:

• The Hotel Employment Regulation Order applies to Co. Dublin but not to Dublin City, to Co. Cork and Co. Kerry but not in Cork city;

• One set of rules applies to hair salons in Cork, with another for Dublin, Dun Laoghaire and Bray. But there are no rules at all for the rest of the country;

• The Retail Employment Regulation Order applies to any shop that sells food items, but not to those that sell only bread, cakes, buns or beef, unless the beef is pressed. It applies to tobacconists but not off-licences;

• The Catering Order applies to pubs in some parts of the country but not others and only to those that sell food as well alcohol;

• Tailors, dressmakers and shirtmakers have different rates of pay;

• The minimum rate for cutting a man’s hair is 6c an hour less than for cutting a woman’s hair, but a unisex hairdresser gets the male rate for all customers.

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Fine Gael TD for Dublin West has welcomed confirmation that Fingal County Council and Castlethorn Construction have agreed terms for the sale of a secondary school site at Kellystown near Porterstown between Castleknock and Clonsilla. The site will be the permanent home for Luttrellstown Community College which is currently operating from temporary premises adjacent to Blanchardstown Hospital. The school will open to residents of Porterstown area.

Contracts are expected to be signed in the coming months. A planning application will follow and it is hoped that new state-of-art school buildings and community facilities will be on site for September 2011, once the issue of road access is addressed.

‘The rezoning of the Kellystown area was controversial. Fine Gael supported it as it was the only way to secure school sites and additional recreational facilities and open space for the area and strictly on the proviso that this would be provided before any new housing. I am pleased that progress is now being made.’

29 school prefabs have been rented out for at least ten years or more according to information revealed by local Fine Gael TD, Leo Varadkar.

Leo Varadkar received the information after Fine Gael Education Spokesman, Brian Hayes TD, tabled several Parliamentary Questions to the Department of Education on the issue.

“The juggernaut of waste from Fianna Fáil and the Department of Education trundles on and it is children, parents and teachers in Dublin 15 that are paying the price.

“Last year, the Fianna Fáil Government admitted that it failed to spend a huge chunk of money set aside for the School Building Programme and, as information Fine Gael has received shows, the Minister continues to squander scarce cash on renting prefabs. …[more]

Luttrellstown Community College is now up and running in temporary premises adjacent to Connolly Hospital. They have approx 60 children in First Year and will take 90 more in September. The school secured an entry in the Young Scientists Exhibition in the first year of its existence. This is a wonderful achievement.

As you know a site for the new school has been identified in the Kellystown/Porterstown area and we are delighted to advise you that terms have been agreed for sale of the land to the council. We are optimistic that contracts will be signed soon and this will allow for a new state-of-the-art secondary school to be built for the area.

The rezoning of the Kellystown area was controversial. Fine Gael supported it as it was the only way to secure school sites and additional open space for the area and strictly on the proviso that this would be provided before any new housing.

Last year, I became the first TD publish details of my expenses and indeed expenditure on my website. There is a public perception that expenses and allowances are some sort of tax free add-on to politician’s salaries. That is not true. While I am sure that there are some people who profit from the current expenses regime, there are probably many more that are left short.

Last April, the Oireachtas gave Brian Lenihan the power to impose a new system of expenses and allowances. He has waited too long. A new, transparent and audited system of expenses and allowances is long overdue. No change, no matter how radical will satisfy the cynics or critics. But a new system will at least allow us to stand over the system and to know in our hearts that nobody is profiting from it.

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Edit to add: Fingal County Council are regularly updating their website with the latest information. Please go to their Emergency Information Page for more information or check their Twitter account.

Update from Fingal County Council @ 12 Noon

Water levels in reservoirs serving North Fingal/Balbriggan area and Malahide/Portmarnock have recovered and water supply is expected to return to these areas by lunchtime or early afternoon today Tuesday 12th January.

Fingal County Council is mobilising water tankers and opening standpipes to other locations around the county still affected by disruption to their water supply due to low pressure and burst and broken pipes as ground thaws. We appreciate customers continuing patience as it may take until lunchtime to have all tankers fully loaded and in place. Tankers will remain in place until late evening.

Tankers Locations are as follows:

Castleknock -College Road alternating between Georgian Village Estate (entrance) and Laurel Lodge Estate (entrance) every 2 hours

Hartstown Shopping Centre

Alternating between Roselawn Shopping Centre & Carpenterstown Shopping Centre every 2 hours

Balseskin Refugee Centre, St. Margarets, Co. Dublin (adjacent to Charlestown/Meakstown residents also)
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Live Register figures for 2009 show 36% Increase. 141% Increase over past 2 years.

The latest live register figures (January 12th 2010) show that during the course of 2009, the number of people signing on at the Blanchardstown Social Welfare Office for the dole increased by 2,182 or 36% to 8,280.

Speaking on the matter, local Fine Gael TD Leo Varadkar said “The figures for 2009 are particularly stark, as they represent the second year in a row of massive growth of unemployment in Dublin 15. In just two years, the numbers signing on at the Blanchardstown Social Welfare Office have jumped by a massive 141% from 3,436 in December 2007. This is a phenomenal increase, and would be much more but for the fact that hundreds upon hundreds of people have emigrated from these shores in 2009.” …[more]

FÁS should be overhauled, given a new slimmed-down remit and rebranded after further revelations about wrongdoing in the State agency were revealed in 22 audit reports released to Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD. Deputy Varadkar had received the 22 audit reports and was speaking as their contents were made available to the public.*

“These damaging revelations only serve to further damage FÁS’s reputation, and further undermine trust in senior management. It’s becoming impossible for frontline FÁS staff to do the job it was set up for: train people and help them find work. But with unemployment at 12.5% and 426,000 people on the live register, Ireland urgently needs an effective training agency.

“Given that the drip-feed of revelations looks set to continue, it’s time to draw a line under the sorry saga of FÁS and give the agency a complete overhaul. This must include:

 

• Transforming FAS into a slimmed-down agency with a tighter remit for these straitened economic times;

 

• Refocusing FÁS as a buyer of training services, instead of a provider;

 

• Rebranding the agency with a new remit and a stronger focus on training;

 

• Transferring control of Community Employment Schemes to local authorities;

 

• Retaining the apprentice system but developing closer links with the further education sector;

 

• Making training centres autonomous.

 

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Life on the opposition benches can be a remarkably frustrating place.  You can have all the good ideas in the world, but unless the government agrees to implement them, they just end up on a shelf somewhere gathering dust. Unfortunately, the Irish experience is that if an idea comes from the opposition benches, the government will ignore it.

That’s why I am particularly pleased with a small victory I’ve had in the area of the Small Claims Court. Last May, I launched an eighteen point plan to support the small businesses in Ireland (A Fresh Start for Small Business). One of the simpler proposals was to give small businesses access to the small claims court to chase up debtors. Currently, only consumers can use the small claims court procedure, and there is a limit of €2,000 in the claims which the court can process. …[more]