Tuesday Dec 13th Sneem- Community Services Building at Seaview from 11am

Tuesday Dec 13th Killorglin- Killorglin Family Resource Centre from 2pm

Wednesday Dec 14th - Caherciveen constituency office from7-9pm

* Social Gathering on Wednesday 14th at Josephines Corner House , a Christmas Thank you to all in the C/civeen area who were so helpful during #GE16.

* Social Gathering on Thursday 15th at Sneem House in Sneem for all from Sneem and Caherdaniel/ Castlecove area who were so helpful during #GE16

My notices of motion for the meeting are as follows;

*That we write to the relevant bodies to ascertain why the proposed changes to auditing requirements that were mooted to facilitate voluntary and community organisations have not been introduced. It is grossly unfair and expensive to insist that clubs, societies and voluntary community groups should have to undertake the full costs of fully audited accounts by professional financial advisers when most of the areas covered are no- applicable.

*That we write to Customs and Excise seeking clarification around how they have applied duty rates to specific champagnes/ sparkling wines. It was the case that the duty was determined by the bars of pressure per bottle. This was clearly indicated on the label. Drinks with less than 2.5 bars of pressure were assigned the lower rate and those above were levied at the higher rate. Recently importers and distributors have been told that it will be determined by the kind of cork used on the bottle. This has immediately hit several distributors who have seen a significant decrease in competitiveness and has resulted in a loss of business for them. Given the importance of the hospitality industry to our county fairness needs to be established here.

At the first Global Medical Cannabis Summit held in Dublin in September. Pictured with Vera Twomey Medical Cannabis campaigner on behalf of her daughter who has Dravet Syndrome and Deputy Gino Kenny who successfully brought a bill before the Dail recently to ensure that Medical Cannabis will be made available as a prescribed medication .

On the decision of Deputy Tom Fleming not to run for re-election on this occasion.

Deputy Tom Fleming epitomizes the best of politics, serving the people of Kerry and focusing on the issues.

Tom is a thoroughly decent gentleman, who has never sought personal acclaim.

Norma would like to wish him well in all that he decides to do.

Ráiteas ón gComhairleoir Norma Moriarty (Fianna Fáil)

 Ar chinneadh Teachta Dála Tom Fleming maidir leis an toghcháin:

Rinne an Teachta Dála Tom Fleming sár oibre leis na blianta do mhúintir Chiarraí, ag tabhairt faoi na rudaí tabhachtacha agus ag dul i ngleic leis na ceisteanna tabhachtacha a bhí os a chomhair i gCiarraí.

Is fear uasal é nach raibh riamh ag iarraidh moladh a fháil dó féin go pearsanta agus guíonn Norma gach ráth air pé rud a dheanann sé sa todchaí.

Fitzgerald comments prove Fine Gael is in Denial on Rural Crime – Moriarty

Fianna Fáil general election candidate in Kerry Norma Moriarty has said comments made by the Justice Minister on the closure of rural garda stations are proof that Fine Gael simply doesn’t appreciate the problem of crime in rural communities.

“The closure of garda stations in communities across Kerry has caused a real sense of isolation and vulnerability,” said Councillor Moriarty.

“I’m really disappointed to see the Justice Minister completely rule out any reopening of rural garda stations closed by Fine Gael and Labour over the last five years.  These closures have seriously impacted garda visibility and left communities more exposed to criminals.

“In Kerry Fine Gael and Labour have presided over the closure of garda stations in Ballylongford , Moyvane, Clochan, Camp, Fenit, Abbeydorney, Beaufort, Lauragh, Kilgarvan, Brosna, Valentia Island and Ballinskelligs.  This has led to a growing sense of isolation in many communities.

“Figures from the Central Statistics Office show there were 327 burglaries recorded in the Kerry Garda Division in the first nine months of last year – that’s up 43% on the same period in 2013.  Even the criminals believe Fine Gael is soft on crime.

“It is very worrying to see the Justice Minister seeking to play down the issue of rural crime.  Frances Fitzgerald is denying the impact of Garda station closures on soaring crime rates and community decline and instead she reverts to Alan Shatter's discredited promises of 'smart policing'.

“Fianna Fáil has a ‘7 Point Plan’ to ensure communities can live in security and without fear.  We want to tackle rural crime with initiatives to strengthen the Gardaí while making it tougher for criminal gangs to target communities.  We are committed to strengthening the Garda force to at least 14,000 nationally and introducing tougher sentencing for those who are convicted of burglary offences.

“The fact is that since 139 Garda stations were closed by Fine Gael, burglaries and other crimes have soared around the country.  Dismantling the community Garda infrastructure in this country was a short-sighted and dangerous decision.  It saved virtually no money and removed gardaí from communities across the country.  The sooner Fine Gael accepts this mistake, the sooner we can have a proper discussion about how to try and fix it.”

“Unfortunately the Government has decided against pursuing the ambitious childcare policies that we are
advocating for. The expansion of the early childcare care and education scheme is not what is seems and parents in Kerry
should not be fooled.  The announcements are not a full solution to childcare affordability.  The free preschool scheme only covers 3 hours per day for 38 weeks, which means that parents working longer than 15 hours per week (or during the summer) have to pay for other childcare arrangements.

"These measures will do nothing to reduce the childcare bills for parents of toddlers (under 3), who will have to continue to struggle with upwards of €800 per month for a full time day care place, without any respite from the government.

"While the government announced that children from ages 3 to 5 and a half year will be eligible to participate on the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme, it appears that in reality this measure will do little to significantly expand the provision of preschool actually undertaken. Unless Parents are willing to hold their child back starting school until they are over 5 years of age, they will not experience any extra benefit from this announcement today.

"For lots of different reasons, most parents will choose to place their child in primary school, as more hours per day of childcare are provided in school than in preschool. Since most children who begin school between ages 4 to 4 and a half they will only avail of 2 extra months preschool (for 15 hours per week or total 120 hours). This is a drop in the ocean for parents working full time and will do very little to reduce their childcare bills.

“The Government has allocated €47m for the expansion of the ECCE scheme, but a full expansion of the scheme would actually cost €180m. Most people will look at announcement and see it for what it is - a token gesture aimed at buying off voters.

“Fianna Fáil is the only party to address the issue of childcare affordability head on and the only party with proposals for directly helping struggling families with the costs of childcare. The Government's spin disintegrates under basic scrutiny and a lot of parents are going to be very angry that they have been misled in this way.”

“Deadlines have been extended in the past where there have been significant volumes of calls.  The number of people trying to get in touch with Irish Water about the water grant is now impacting on their IT system.

“I know older people in particular have been confused about the application process which requires people to have their Water Point Reference Number and Irish Water account number among seven different pieces of information.  It’s quite an onerous process for some people to get through.

“This water grant is a gimmick and the whole government approach to Irish Water, water charges and the grant has been a fiasco from the outset.

“It’s clear the Government’s disastrous handling of Irish water has completely undermined their entire water policy.  The water grant is a gimmick to try to win over public support for water charges but the Government has even managed to bungle this as well.”