“We need some change and in order to effect that we need to amend the Constitution to remove article 40.3.3.”

The Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment has published its final report, calling for the removal of Article 40.3.3 of Bunreacht na hÉireann which puts the life of the unborn equal to the life of the mother.

Chairperson of the committee Catherine Noone said that after many years of public and political debate on the issue, the people will finally have their say.

She also pointed out that people under 52 years of age in this country have never had the opportunity to have a say on this matter.

The 40-page document suggests repealing the Eighth Amendment and allowing for terminations up to 12-weeks.

Socio-economic grounds

The committee became aware of the fact that the majority of terminations are for socio-economic reasons that are unrelated to foetal abnormality or to rape.

In addition, the Committee said that it is mindful of that group of women who, for financial, domestic reasons or immigration status cannot travel or procure abortion pills over the internet.

However, the Committee did not uphold the Citizens’ Assembly recommendation that termination of pregnancy should be lawful, up to 22 weeks gestation, on socio-economic grounds.

The Committee considered the distinction drawn by the Citizens’ Assembly as regards gestational limits
was unnecessary, and said that abortion after 12 weeks should not be provided for in this instance.

It also recommended that “the law should be amended to permit termination of pregnancy with no restriction as to reason provided that it is availed of through a GP-led service delivered in a clinical context as determined by law and licencing practice in Ireland with a gestational limit of 12 weeks.”

Regarding decriminalising terminations, the Committee suggested that “surgical terminations may only be legally carried out in a hospital setting” and “medical terminations may only be provided for through the licencing of medications for that purpose and prescribed by a qualified practitioner acting in good faith.”

It further recommended that where terminations occur in such circumstances, “no criminal sanctions should apply”, and “in cases where a woman procures or seeks to procure an abortion for herself, the law should provide that,
regardless of circumstances, she is not guilty of an offence.”

Cllr Mairéad Farrell has criticised the Minister for Transport’s ‘short-sighted’ decision to cut funding for the maintenance of national roads, saying that it will have a disproportionate impact on Galway’s six secondary national roads.

The Department of Transport revealed that the 2018 budget for maintenance of the national network will be 15% lower than this year’s budget, down to €22 million from €26 million.

Cllr Farrell said: “The budget for the maintenance of our roads across the state is approximately €100 million less than what is required. Now councils have been informed that the budget to maintain 5,000km of national and secondary roads is going to be cut.

“Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is obliged to honour existing funding commitments to motorway and bridge maintenance, which means that the bulk of cuts will come from the national road maintenance budget, which is expected to amount to a 30% drop in funding for road maintenance.”

NEW FIGURES released by the CSO show that the rate of lone parent families ‘at risk of poverty’ has increased from 36.2% to 40.2%.

However, the overall ‘at risk of poverty’ rate fell from 16.9% in 2015 to 16.5% in 2016.

Those most at risk of poverty in 2016 were those living in households where there was no person at work (42.1%) and those individuals who were unemployed (41.9%).

In 2016, one in five people in the state experienced two or more types of enforced deprivation.

This compares with 25.5% in 2015 and a low of 11.8% in 2007.

Most socio-demographic groups experienced a decline in 2016 deprivation rates year-on-year.

Those living in households with one adult and one or more children aged under 18 had the highest deprivation rate in 2016 at 50.1%.

Commenting on the release of these new stats, Gerry Reilly, Senior Statistician said that this household survey is the official source of data on household and individual income and also gives us important information such as the ‘at risk of poverty’ rate.

“Key findings show that in 2016, the nominal median annual equivalised disposable income was €20,597 representing an increase of 3.0% on the nominal 2015 value of €20,000.

“This change is statistically significant. In terms of income equality there was no statistically significant change in income distribution when compared to 2015,” he said.

The overall ‘at risk of poverty’ rate, which is the share of persons whose income was less than 60% of the national median income, was 16.5% compared with 16.9% in 2015.  Gerry Reilly said that this change is not statistically significant.

“In addition, the percentage of people considered to be experiencing ‘enforced deprivation’, which is defined as not being able to afford two or more basics, such as going without heating in the past year, or being unable to afford items such as two pairs of strong shoes, a warm waterproof coat or a meal with meat, chicken fish every second day, was 21.0%, down from 25.5% in 2015.

“This change is statistically significant,” he added.

The  ‘consistent poverty rate’ which includes those persons who are defined as being both at risk of poverty and who are also experiencing enforced deprivation, was 8.3%, which was not a significant change on the 2015 figure of 8.7%. 

A Sinn Féin spokesperson commented: “This report found that there is an increased probability of being at risk of poverty as a result of the 2012 changes, many lone parents who lost the One Parent Family Payment remained unemployed, or were in low paid or part-time employment.

“The report went on to suggest that further supports, aimed at assisting lone parents to obtain full-time employment or increased hours of work, need to be put in place.”

Sean Kyne TD has welcomed €774,933 which has been allocated to Foróige to support an internationally recognised youth mentoring programme.

The funding will go to Foróige’s Big Brother Big Sister Programme – an internationally recognised, professionally-supported youth mentoring programme where volunteers support and mentor young people in communities throughout the country.

The Galway West TD said the funding of over three quarters of a million Euro from the Dormant Accounts Fund will help to maintain the Programme which has two strands – community-based and schools-based initiatives.

“I’m delighted to approve funding for this application from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs regarding Foróige’s Big Brother Big Sister Programme.

“Foroige is a long-established youth organisation which works with and for young people in communities across Ireland with youth clubs, youth cafés, support programmes, neighbourhood youth projects and the Big Brother Big Sister Programme,” he said.

The Fine Gael TD said that the funding is a great fit for the vision that his colleague Katherine Zappone has in the Department for Children.

“Minister Zappone has worked hard this year to secure extra funding for her Department and has overseen the roll-out of funding programmes for childcare providers as well as the Universal Childcare Subsidy and the Single Affordable Childcare Scheme which are benefiting families in all areas.#amme is an internationally recognised, professionally-supported youth mentoring programme through which volunteers support and mentor young people in communities throughout the country,” he added.

The biggest talking point in Galway right now has to be the prospect of a Gluas. Gluas, for anyone who has somehow avoided the moment’s water-cooler topic, is the name given to a proposed light rail system in the heart of Galway City. This huge preposition would solve the problems of traffic congestion in Galway and help cut back the cars on Ireland’s roads, eliminating more greenhouse gases.

The upcoming petition for the people of Galway isn’t the first we’ve seen of the Gluas; a local lobby group first put the idea forward in 2008 and again in 2015. Originally, 3 routes were proposed. Line 1 would start in Ballybrit, serving 8 destinations and end in Rahoon. Line 2 would run five stops Eyre Square to Barna. Line 3 would serve seven stops, beginning in Murrouh and ending at Taylors Hill. Once the Gluas was up and running, it was proposed that a fourth line be added, running from Eyre Square to Knocknacarra.

This cause is largely championed by one woman. Galway West TD, Catherine Connolly, is a firm believer in the advantages of the Gluas, and of the viability of one existing. Despite Minister Shane Ross describing the provision of a rail network in Galway as ‘excess of what is required’, Connolly is standing behind this ideal and has talked of the issue on Radió na Gaeltacha.

One point Connolly has made is that the government has now admitted that Ireland will fail to meet both its 2020 and its 2030 commitments in the Paris Agreements. She says that the Dáil’s excuses are ‘no longer acceptable given the challenges that we face with climate change. The provision of light-rail in the city is the clear and unambiguous solution and both community and business groups must come together to ensure the provision of light-rail in the city.’

As Galway City is predicted to grow in population to 124,000, it seems a solution to the environmental impact of its roads is needed . Both local community and government must face up to this problem.

GMIT today welcomed the publication of a report for the development of the college’s Mayo campus and ring-fenced funding of €750,000 for the campus in Castlebar in each of the next five years.

Minister Mitchell O’Connor announced that there will be funding of €750,000 for the Mayo campus for each of the next five years while the plan is being implemented.

The announcement was made alongside the publication of the report by the Working Group, Developing a Sustainable Plan for the Mayo Campus of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.

President of GMIT, Dr Fergal Barry says: “The report’s aim, which sets out a plan to ensure a sustainable future for GMIT’s Mayo campus, is fully supported by the Institute and each recommendation will be implemented in full. The success of our Mayo campus is integral to the future of GMIT and its position as a driver of regional development.”

“The publication of this report and adoption of the recommendations is good news for our Mayo campus, for GMIT, for Castlebar town and for our region”.

“As an Institute we also look forward to the roll-out by government of a revised state funding model for Higher Education that will address the anomalies in the funding model and that will recognise the costs associated with the operation of all of our other campuses that are an equally integral part of our multi-campus provision serving the needs of our region.”

“This report is published against the backdrop of much improved admission figures for the present academic year across GMIT, with over 2,000 first year students welcomed in September.”

As recognised in the report, new courses such as the Mayo-based Early Childhood Education and Care helped drive this rise in interest, with over 500 applications for this course alone. The development of new programmes, which appeal to a wide range of potential students and serve the requirements of the local economy, is endorsed by the report and remains a key priority for the Institute. GMIT continues to create innovative courses, as shown by the ten most recent additions, which will be rolled out for the 2018-’19 academic year.” adds Dr Barry.

A spokesperson for the HEA says: “The HEA welcomes the announcement from the Minister today on the additional recurrent and capital investment to be provided to GMIT to facilitate the delivery of the sustainability plan for its Mayo campus. The HEA played a key role in producing this plan, chairing the Working Group, and we would like to thank all the other members of this Group who worked tirelessly to set out and agree a future path. We were struck by the commitment of campus staff, students and the wide range of stakeholders in the county and the region we met and the constructive way in which they contributed to finding a sustainable way forward.”

“Harnessing this continuing commitment will now be central to the plan’s ultimate success. We would also like to thank GMIT, and in particular its Governing Body, who were highly supportive throughout the process and who have made considerable commitments to support the campus’ future development. The Mayo campus is a critical piece of regional higher education infrastructure and we look forward to see it continue to serve its pivotal role in driving regional skills and growth.” added the spokesperson.

The Working Group’s recommendations will be implemented over the next five years, over the period 2018-2022, with a review of progress at the end of year two. There will also be formal progress reports to be submitted to the GMIT Governing Body and the HEA every four months.

Recommendations outlined in the report, to ensure the future of the GMIT Castlebar campus is secured, are as follows:

• The appointment of a dedicated permanent head of Mayo campus at vice-president to lead the practical delivery of this plan. (Recommendation 1)
• Establishment of a sub-committee of the GMIT governing body to oversee the development of the Mayo campus.
• Greater Mayo representation on the governing body should be facilitated where possible and within relevant policy and legislative frameworks
• Appointment of an interim independent external facilitator to work with the executive board, campus and other stakeholders to oversee the transition to the new structural and operational arrangements
• New programme development to be aligned with institute and campus strategies, the regional skills audit and market research including engagement with regional employers and representative groups
• The potential for development of new apprenticeship proposals (e.g. digital media, sales skills) should be investigated
• International and postgraduate offerings to be further developed to diversify the campus income base
• A mapping exercise should be undertaken with further education to build and communicate new progression pathways
• The Mayo Campus should continue its development as a centre of excellence for lifelong learning within GMIT.

The GMIT Working Group was chaired by the HEA and comprised representatives of GMIT, the Department of Education and Skills and the HEA. The brief of the working group was to formulate a plan towards a sustainable future and growth options for GMIT Mayo Campus, Castlebar.

The Working Group engaged extensively with the local community and business interests, staff and students of GMIT, the executive and board of GMIT, local public representatives, and other stakeholders. This included a number of meetings and open fora.

To inform the work of the Group, a base of information was gathered including an analysis of labour market needs in the region, student supply and demand, the role of the further education sector and the impact of the campus on the local and regional economy. The views of external stakeholders were sought in relation to these matters and 23 submissions were received and considered by the Working Group.