Time to remove “demand test” from Government’s refurbishment scheme The construction industry will tell Government it must do far more to bring vacant property back into use when it meets with Minister Darragh O’Brien later today to discuss the current housing emergency, says Denis Naughten TD. “This is the very point that I have been making for some years,” …
Just 1 in 90 vacant homes available to rent in the middle of housing emergency – Naughten
Denis Naughten has told the Dáil that there is a fundamental flaw in our housing policy when there are 90,000 empty homes across the country in the middle of a housing crisis yet there are just 1,043 available to rent according to daft.ie. Using his constituency of Roscommon Galway as an example he pointed out: “County Roscommon has 4,090 vacant …
Data centres pushing up electricity costs for families – Naughten
Irish families are paying for some of the most expensive electricity in Europe in part due to the fact that they are subsidising the supply of electricity to data centres, a practice which must be stopped by the Government, says Denis Naughten TD. Addressing the issue in the Dáil last Thursday he told the Minister for Finance that Irish …
Update on autism education provision locally
There is currently a very serious shortage of autism school places for local children. I’ve worked in the past with a number of local primary and post-primary schools to establish specialist classes to meet the needs of local students, rather than forcing them to travel long distances to avail of an education. The ASD issue has been highlighted …
Children being abandoned on waiting lists in Roscommon & Galway
Last week I raised the appalling waiting list for local children in the Dáil. This is what I said: There are 436 children awaiting physiotherapy appointments in County Galway, some of whom have been waiting 176 weeks for such appointments. There are 95 children awaiting these appointments in County Roscommon. On speech and language waiting lists, 971 children were awaiting …
Government has to stop families being charged for data centre electricity
Our electricity prices are among the most expensive in Europe, with Irish families paying, on average, €180 extra for electricity annually. This is partly as a result of Irish families being forced to subsidise the cost of electricity, grid connections and backup supplies for existing and already planned speculative data centres. The Government decided in 2018 to stop the …
Minister considering proposal to prevent sex offenders changing name – Naughten
Denis Naughten TD has welcomed confirmation from the Minister for Justice that she is considering the need for new legislation following his call for sex offenders to be refused the right to change their name by deed poll. Speaking in the Dáil previously Denis Naughten warned that the key weakness in the Sex Offenders Amendment Bill was that it failed …
People with a disability coping with a 9 year lockdown – Naughten
Local TD Denis Naughten has told the Dáil that people with a disability have effectively been coping with a 9-year lockdown because of the failure by successive Governments to put transport supports in place to allow them to access work and other community activities. “Nine years ago in 2013 the Government suspended the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant for …
Trinity must engage with Government & public on future science gallery – Naughten
Denis Naughten TD has called on Trinity College to actively engage with both the Government and the public on its proposed new science gallery model following the gallery’s closure at the end of last month. “Earlier this week the Minister for Further and Higher Education; Research; Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD, told me that not only is public funding …
Record €4m allocated to 54 local sports projects – Naughten
Local TD Denis Naughten has welcomed the allocation of €4,050,393 to 54 local sporting organisations across County Roscommon & East Galway stating “this investment will improve local sports facilities and ensure far greater levels of participation in sport”. “This is a historic allocation of funding under the Sports Capital Programme to Roscommon and East Galway and comes on top of …