The 2024 Local Elections are fast approaching and things are heating across the county ahead of polling day on June 7.
Sinn Féin candidates call for new Primary Health Centre for Portlaoise
Sinn Fein is calling for a new Primary Health Centre to be built in Portlaoise to serve the growing population of the area.
Election candidates in the Portlaoise Municipal District, Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley and Maria McCormack, joined forces saying:
“This is a key demand for the party and is essential to improving healthcare for Portlaoise Town and the surrounding area.
“It would also ease the pressure on the General Hospital as some of the presentations to the acute services are due to a lack of primary community health services.
“Currently Portlaoise is one of the few towns of its size that doesn’t have such a service.
“The population of Portlaoise and its hinterland is now in the region of 30,000 and continuing to grow.
“There is a chronic shortage of GPs and doctors providing community services, with people waiting up to 2 weeks to get an appointment.
“Along with this being bad for patients, it’s also loading more pressure onto the emergency unit in Portlaoise Hospital as many people who have illnesses have no other way to get timely treatment.
“The number of GPs in the State fell from 4,583 in 2020 to 4,420 in 2022. This is in spite of the fact that our population is expanding rapidly.
“To address the shortfall Sinn Féin have put forward proposals to increase the number of doctors and this includes ramping up the number of training places GPs by 100 extra per year.
“We also want to increase the number of GPs that are employed on public only contracts and doctors employed directly by the HSE.
“Far more health services can and should be provided in community primary health care centres. Other countries have shown this is better for patients and is far more cost effective than people going to acute hospitals.
“Sinn Féin are advocating that such centres be staffed by multi-disciplinary teams and include nurses. occupational and physiotherapist’s, dental services, dietician’s etc.
“Brian Stanley TD has been raising this with HSE management and as Sinn Féin councillors we will be using all opportunities to support and campaign for it.
“HSE management say this is in their capital plan, but this much needed project now needs to become a reality.
“A proper public health system cannot function without such primary care centres.”
Labour candidate concerned with ‘auction politics’ of Government parties
Labour Party candidate in the Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick Municipal District, Bryan Corrigan has raised concerns about what he called “the auction politics” of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil with regard to recent greenway proposals.
“Reading about proposals for Greenways that may not be achievable or realistic economically in a local election year speaks for itself,” Mr Corrigan said.
The candidate cited a recent proposal for a proposed greenway between Portlaoise and Abbeyleix recently, saying:
“One needs to construct a bridge across the M7 four-lane motorway outside tougher wood Portlaoise.
“I struggle to reconcile the amount of waste, of both public funds and public buy-in it would take at a time when the cost of living is at an all-time high and people are so in need of a multitude of decent public services and affordable housing.
“This proposal was forwarded and supported recently in local government by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. It shows how out of touch the current local Government actually are with what is required.
“It is yet another example of a Fine Gael / Fianna Fáil Government flip-flopping before the local elections.”
Mr Corrigan said he is supportive of greenways “in general,” but added that such projects “need to be approached rationally and considerations should be given to their advantages and disadvantages.”
“One of the areas in Mountmellick and Borris-in-Ossory that would benefit from a Greenway was along the banks of the Erkina River between Donaghmore and the town of Durrow, passing outside Rathdowney.”
“Laois County Council will need to get serious about local flooding in his area, along with local buy. There is no reason why certain parts of over winter lands could not be purposefully flooded if the owner was correctly incentivised via local rates or otherwise.
“The time for posture is over. If elected, I will be asking the harder climate questions, correct Climate incentive policy is and should be local, achievable and properly incentivised.”
Mr Corrigan suggested Laois County Council could be promoting Miscanthus Grass to help battle flooding.
“Recent European studies have shown that this crop is acceptable to water logging over short periods,” he said.
“Combined with the correct Planning, Engineering, installation and planting along flood risk sections of the proposed Erkina River Greenway, the Miscanthus crop or similar would deliver 100% carbon sequestration when and if required.
“There is also a real case to be heard in that the growing of Miscanthus Grass does and can deliver good revenue on the land used to the land owner.
“There is a very heathy Miscanthus crop grown by farmers in Laois and Kilkenny and used for up to 10% plus of the bio-mass renewable power generation In the Edenderry power plant.
“The generation plant has instead opted for material from other external sources. It was considered more CO2 friendly and profitable to import biomass material from South America of all places.
“This has left a once small but very viable biomass sector in tatters.
“This is a further example of the government not being in touch with the people who are most affected by climate change in his area, an establishment which considers itself as untouchable and is an insult to the people of Mountmellick and Borris in Ossory
“While it is understandable to be concerned every five years on the onset of a local election both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are not being honest with people when it comes to doing more on climate change.
“It is self-evident that the current local political offering is simply out of its depth when it comes to either understanding of offering any solution on anything remotely positive on climate change.
“The labour party have ready proposals for deliverable change when it comes to climate change. It has the people, the experience and the knowledge base to deliver the measures needed to stop water flowing in through your front door.”
Labour candidate bemoans ‘delay in repairing street lights’
Labour candidate, Eoin Barry has highlighted what he called a “delay in repairing street lights in Newtown,” and called on this to be resolved as a matter of urgency.
“Since the first week in January several street lights close to Newtown school have not been working and this is causing safety issues,” Mr Barry said.
“Residents living in the area have told me they have reported the fault several times but still the issue has yet to be resolved.
“This is a very busy section of road, there are several houses there along with the entrance to miners walk.
“These lights need to be repaired as a matter of urgency and residents should be informed of what has caused the delay and when it will be addressed.
“In a country where our government has had several budget surpluses in recent years and where energy companies have made record profits we need basic services such as street lighting that work.”
SEE ALSO – Green Party confirm two more candidates to contest Local Elections in Laois
