Funding of €300,000 will be given to the ten county and city councils along the West coast, it has been announced.

Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development Seán Kyne confirmed the funding, whereby the 10 local authorities will each receive 30,000 each to designate an ‘Atlantic Economic Corridor officer’.

They will work to develop the AEC and support the AEC Taskforce and sub groups.

“The overarching objective of the AEC initiative is to maximise the infrastructure, talent and enterprise assets along the western seaboard and to combine the economic hubs, clusters and catchments of an area to attract investment, improve competitiveness, support job creation and contribute to an improved quality of life,” said the Galway West TD and Minister of State.

“Working with my colleague, Minister Michael Ring TD, I am delighted to be able to support the city and county councils to designate an Atlantic Economic Corridor Officer.”

He explained that the concept of an AEC Officer is based on the appointments of Broadband Officers in every city and county council in the country, funding his Department has provided as part of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce.

Each Broadband Officer is a dedicated point of contact for phone coverage and broadband issues and the officers have been welcomed by the Taskforce stakeholders.

University Hospital Galway today is serverely overcrowded today, with forty-four people are waiting on trolleys.

Many hospitals around the country are experiencing similar overcrowding, including  St Lukes Hospital, Kilkenny, also with 44 people on trolleys, and University Hospital Limerick where 49 are waiting on trolleys.

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the number of people on trolleys in hospitals across the state  is 578.

An allocation of €67,663 in funding has been made available for an anti-dumping initiative in County Galway this year, it has been announced.

Sean Cannery TD said that applications are now open for community groups to apply for funding under the Anti-Dumping Initiative 2018.

The initiative has an increased funding allocation of €2 million nationally.

Galway County Council Council has responsibility for the control of litter and the enforcement of the litter laws in the County.

Report littering and illegal dumping to the Environment Section, Galway County Council on (091) 509 510 or email
environment@galwaycoco.ie.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was challenged in the Dáil today over Merlin Park and the promised elective hospital for Galway.

Galway West TD Catherine Connolly asked the Taoiseach about the new hospital, and criticised the length of time it is taking to resolve issues in relation to Merlin Park.

“My specific question Taoiseach, is can you stand here in the Dáil over a situation where six months later, the two main orthopedic theatres in Merlin Park remain closed?

“We are still looking at a tender process for modular theatres – and tied in with that, you’ve made an announcement on Friday in relation to an elective hospital. Is that elective hospital based on the options appraisal that’s still underway and won’t report til May, or has it been picked out of the sky?” asked Deputy Connolly.

The Taoiseach said that those matters were discussed in the Programme for Government.

“I did give a detailed response to deputies on the question of Merlin Park specifically last week, on questions of promised legislation so I’d refer deputies to that answer,” he said.

On 7 February, Varadkar gave the following response to a question put to him by Roscommon-Galway TD Eugene Murphy.

“I sought information from the Minister for Health. He assures me that the HSE is committed to ensuring that a full elective orthopaedic service is restored in Merlin Park.

“In September 2017, the leaks in the roof of the building which houses the orthopaedic theatres occurred, necessitating the closure of both. There has been a full repair to the membrane of the roof which is required to secure the integrity of the building and these works are now complete.

“The theatres, notwithstanding the roof repair, date from the 1950s and do not meet current clinical standards. An independent clinical assessment has been undertaken to assess the feasibility of returning these theatres to use.

“The Saolta University Health Care Group management team has advised that the best way to restore effective capacity at Merlin Park is through the provision of two modular theatres on the Merlin Park site. The tender process for these modular units is at its final stages and it is expected that a contract will be awarded in coming weeks,” said an Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Midlands North-West MEP Matt Carthy has called on MEPs and national parliamentarians from across the EU to work together to pressure the Commission and the Council to improve public transparency and accountability.

Carthy was addressing MEPs and representatives from the Commission and national parliaments at a conference on the European Semester in Brussels yesterday, Monday.

Addressing the representatives, the Sinn Féin MEP said: “All of us who were members of the European Parliament’s Panama Papers inquiry into corporate tax avoidance experienced the obstacles put up by the Commission and the Council when it came to MEPs having access to relevant documents, particularly from the Council’s Code of Conduct group on tax issues.

“Time and time again we were met with stalling, foot-dragging and redactions. There is a real sense of frustration among MEPs about this as these obstacles keep us from doing our job of representing our constituents effectively.

“It’s not only the PANA committee that has experienced this problem. MEPs working on dangerous EU trade deals such as CETA, TTIP & Mercosur, on environmental regulation – on practically all of our work as legislators – have experienced this secrecy in the institutions.”