Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD has called for Sinn Féin’s “No Consent, No Sale” Bill, which would end the sell-off of family homes to vulture funds, to immediately proceed to Committee Stage after 6 months of blockage and frustration by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
Speaking today, Teachta Doherty said;
“Since coming to power Fine Gael has invited vulture funds into the Irish market to buy up distressed assets at knock-down prices. This has seen thousands of family homes sold off to vultures with no protections for distressed mortgage-holders.
“Vulture funds have no regard for the interests of distressed mortgage-holders, only for threatening them with repossession and making a profit for their shareholders. Recently, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Ed Sibley called out the banks for selling of distressed mortgages instead of putting customers first.
“My ‘No Consent, No Sale’ would make it illegal for banks to sell of the mortgages of distressed families without their consent. This is an important issue that affects thousands of families who need this legislation to pass into law.
"Fine Gael have been very clear that they do not support this legislation and have done all they can to stop it passing through the Dáil.
“Despite their support for the legislation at second stage in the Dáil, Fianna Fáil have aided the Government in blocking this Bill from proceeding at Committee Stage.
“The legal advice did not say that the legislation is unconstitutional and the preliminary view of the Bills Office was that there was no need for a money message.
“In July, Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath proposed sending the bill for independent analysis, effectively stalling its progress. Given it had already been subject to pre-legislative scrutiny, there was no need for an independent analysis before it proceeded to Committed stage. If the parties insisted on an independent impact assessment, it could have been undertaken in parallel with the Bill proceeding through Committee Stage, as happened with our Consumer Insurance Contracts Bill, which has since become law.
“Since July, and with the support of Fianna Fáil, the Government have put an impact assessment report for the Bill out to tender at a cost of as much as €144,000 to the taxpayer.
“Since then, there have been no bids from consultants, despite going out to tender twice, first in July and again in November.
“This means that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been successful in stalling this Bill so that it doesn’t become law before the dissolution of the Dáil.
“That is not acceptable. Thousands of families have seen their homes sold to vultures with no guarantee of protection. Thousands more face the same prospects and until this legislation is passed.
“I have written to the Chair of the Committee asking that the Bill proceed to Committee Stage immediately before it is too late to protect these families.”
In advance of a meeting between the Taoiseach and the Fianna Fáil leader this evening in relation to an extension of their Confidence and Supply arrangement, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald TD has said:
"Today's meeting between Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin is a sideshow, and it is meaningless to people faced with the reality of unaffordable housing and rising rents, those lying on hospital trolleys and those facing into a year of stress about making ends meet.
"Extending the life of an ineffective and out-of-touch government only serves the interests of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
"It will do nothing for the hundreds of thousands of workers and families that are suffering because of the failures of their coalition arrangement.
"It will do nothing to improve public services, it will do nothing to address the housing crisis and it will do nothing to fix serious problems in our health service.
"Frankly, I think enough is enough.
"We need to put people first.
"It is time to accept that this government has run out of road and it is time to call a General Election.
"Let's give the people a chance to say loud and clear that it is time to give workers and family a break, that it is time to cut rents and build homes, and that it is time to start planning for Irish Unity.
"It is time to give the people their say."
Speaking this evening, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said;
"Leo Varadkar is completely wrong and completely out of touch with where people are at in respect of Irish unity.
"These are two completely different issues.
"You don't build a United Ireland by denigrating the memory of those who fought for Irish freedom and independence by lionising the RIC and the Black and Tans who suppressed that desire and upheld British rule in this country.
"You do that by having an honest conversation with people and explaining that the men and women fought the RIC and the Black and Tans were fighting for the unity of all people of this island.
"He should stop messing and establish an all-Ireland forum immediately to start preparations for constitutional change."
Sinn Féin MLA Declan Kearney has welcomed an assurance that additional police patrols are to be deployed in the wake of a brutal assault in Randalstown.
The South Antrim MLA said:
“I have been in contact with the PSNI area commander and other local officers since a serious assault occurred in Randalstown last night.
“I welcome assurances provided to me that additional police patrols will be deployed in the area over the next few days.
“This was a particularly brutal assault in a very quiet neighbourhood of the town, during which the victim was reportedly attacked with a variety of weapons, including a sword.
“This type of criminal behaviour must not be tolerated in Randalstown or anywhere in South Antrim, and I appeal to anyone with information that may help police in their inquiries to ring 101 or contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111.”
Sinn Féin MLA Raymond McCartney has today welcomed the launch of a consultation into hate crime in the North of Ireland, the latest stage of the wide-ranging review.
The Foyle MLA said ensuring that hate crime laws are updated to ensure effectiveness must be a matter of urgency
Raymond McCartney MLA said:
"The launch of Judge Marrinan's consultation into hate crime, and the ongoing review into the issue, is an opportunity to bring forward stronger and more effective laws to tackle rising hate crime.
"Around eight incidents of hate crime are reported every day, primarily of a racist, homophobic and sectarian nature.
"There can be no tolerance for hate crime, which blights our society. We must afford adequate protections for those who fall victim, and we must strengthen the law to ensure it is sufficiently robust to deal with those who commit these horrific crimes.
"Sinn Féin has worked with Judge Marrinan and his team over recent months and have contributed to the review.
"We are eager to contribute to this consultation, and look forward to the content of Judge Marrinan's review."
Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey has said the Sinn Féin MP team met with political parties at Westminster this week to discuss the need for a referendum on Irish unity.
"There is an ongoing conversation on Irish unity among the political parties in Britain and we will continue to engage with all parties to further that campaign."
While welcoming the decision to defer the planned commemoration for the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police the Sinn Féin Louth TD Gerry Adams has called on the government to abandon any possibility of a commemoration.
Writing in his weekly Andersonstown News column this week, which will be published tomorrow, Mr. Adams accused the government of a “lack of respect for the courage and sacrifice of those who fought for Irish freedom” and described the government’s u-turn as “a great victory for people power. The widespread popular outrage at their stupidity and shoneenism is uplifting and proof yet again that the spirit of genuine patriotism and national pride is alive and well”.
The Louth TD said:
“No one should be surprised by the government’s attempt to hold this commemoration. It is symptomatic of an Irish establishment which is embarrassed by the revolutionary period in Irish history. Remember the disgraceful video used by the Government the launch the centenary of 1916 events. The 1916 leaders were not even mentioned.
"Last September the Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan attended a commemoration for RIC members who he said were murdered by the IRA during the Tan War. Minister Flanagan described the RIC as “doing their job. They were murdered in the line of duty. They were doing what police officers do. As they saw it they were protecting communities from harm. They were maintaining the rule of law. These are fundamental to police services everywhere.”
"The experience of families and communities across this island was very different. The RIC and DMP were not protecting communities from harm. They were inflicting harm. The rule of law these two paramilitary forces were maintaining was designed to defend British interests in Ireland.
"The RIC was intimately involved in the mass expulsion of millions during and after the Great Hunger. When families were being forcibly evicted from their homes during the Great Hunger. When the Dublin Lock-out took place in 1913 it was the Dublin Metropolitan Police that attacked striking workers.
"After the Easter Rising in 1916 the RIC and DMP enforced martial law and internment when it was introduced in May 1918.
"While there may have been some among them who wished to be police officers neither organisation was a police service. No doubt there were decent officers in their ranks and their families have the right pay tribute to them. But for the state to commemorate these organisations is wrong.
"The Taoiseach and Minister Flanagan’s disrespectful revisionism of the Irish people’s history of struggle for freedom does a grave disservice to those who were part of that struggle.
"Many of the events the government wants to commemorate this year, including Bloody Sunday at Croke Park, involved the RIC. It was an RIC squad which murdered Cork Lord Mayor Tomás MacCurtain. And it should not be forgotten that it was G Division of the RIC which was responsible for identifying the leaders of the 1916 who were to be court-martialled and executed. Are we now expected to be neutral about this? Or like Minister Flanagan to assert that, “They were doing what police officers do”.
"The Government must go beyond deferral and scrap any plan now or in the future to commemorate the role of the RIC and the DMP. The shallowness and opportunism of their position on these events has been exposed. So has the posturing of the Fianna Fáil Leader.
"The Government’s lack of respect for the courage and sacrifice of those who fought for Irish freedom has also been highlighted. Their U turn is a great victory for people power. The widespread popular outrage at their stupidity and shoneenism is uplifting and proof yet again that the spirit of genuine patriotism and national pride is alive and well.”
Note to Editor:
Gerry Adams full column will be published in the morning in the Andersonstown News and in his leargas blog: www.leargas.blogspot.com
Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew has welcomed another step forward in the campaign for truth about the killing of Aidan McAnespie by a British soldier in Aughnacloy in 1988.
The Fermanagh South Tyrone MP said:
"I welcome today's developments in the case of the killing of Aidan McAnespie in Aughnacloy with the development that the soldier accused of shooting hm has a case to answer.
"This is a step forward for the family in the campaign for the truth of what happened to Aidan.
"It also highlights the need for the legacy mechanisms agreed in the Stormont House Agreement to be implemented in full so all families bereaved by the conflict can get access to truth.
"We will continue to stand by the McAnespie family and all those campaigning for truth and justice."
Sinn Féin MLA Declan Kearney has welcomed news that illegal drugs worth almost £75,000 have been seized in Crumlin.
The South Antrim MLA said:
"News that almost £75,000 of illegal drugs have been seized by the PSNI in a search in Crumlin is to be welcomed.
"The fact that these drugs will now not find their way into the criminal supply chain is good news.
"Drugs and the associated criminality destroy our communities and have blighted many lives. Those involved in this activity must be put before the courts.
"I would encourage anyone with information on the supply of illegal drugs to bring it forward to the PSNI."
Sinn Féin Health spokesperson Louise O’Reilly TD has welcomed the fact that her request that the Minister for Health be summoned before an emergency meeting of the Joint Committee on Health on Wednesday 15th January regarding the hospital trolley crisis, has been accepted.
Speaking this morning, Teachta O’Reilly said:
“The scale of the ongoing overcrowding crisis is of huge concern to patients, healthcare workers, and the public.
“The public health system is currently crippled by a lack of capacity and staff, and hundreds of patients are struggling to access our hospitals daily.
“It has been clear that the planning of the Minister for Health and HSE Officials has failed, and the consequences are drastic with hundreds of patients stuck on trolleys for days and surgeries being cancelled at a number of hospitals across the State.
“The situation is putting the health and well being of patients and staff at risk.
“The response to the crisis by the Minister and the HSE has just not been good enough.
“As a result, last night, I contacted the Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health requesting that the Minister for Health and HSE Officials attend an emergency meeting of the Committee to discuss the hospital trolley crisis.
“I welcome the fact that the Committee meeting has now been scheduled for next Wednesday and the Minister and HSE Officials will be in attendance.
“I would urge any medical or healthcare professionals who have suggestions as to how to tackle the overcrowding crisis to reach out to me and the other members of the Health Committee in advance of the meeting with their suggestions.”
Sinn Féin spokesperson for Employment Affairs & Social Protection John Brady TD has said that his Bill to stop upcoming pension age increases will be debated in the Dáil in the coming weeks.
Deputy Brady said:
"Fine Gael plan to increase the pension age to 67 years in January 2021 and further again to 68 years in 2028 meaning that today's workers and especially those approaching retirement may not access their State Pension at 66 years, as is the situation currently. These increases will see Ireland have one of the highest pension ages in the world.
"At the moment, those obliged by contract to retire at 65 years are forced on to a jobseekers payment for one year before accessing their State Pension at 66 years. From next year, retirees will be forced on to a jobseekers payment for two years. This is a ridiculous and unacceptable situation for people who have worked hard and paid their taxes, in some cases, for a lifetime.
"This will see Ireland have a pension age that is well ahead of the majority of our EU counterparts. Our nearest neighbours England do not plan to move their pension age to 68 years until 2046, eighteen years after Ireland.
"Sinn Féin have consistently called on the Government to suspend these pension age increases. They were agreed behind closed doors without any debate or vote and therefore, they should not go ahead.
"Our Bill calling on the Government to establish a Pension Age Task Force will look at pension age and make recommendations based on evidence rather than cost saving measures. This Bill will be debated in the Dáil in the coming weeks.
"Nobody due to retire should be forced on to a jobseekers payment. I hope that all parties and none will support this Sinn Féin Bill."
Sinn Féin TD for Sligo-Leitrim Martin Kenny has welcomed the decision by the Minister for Justice to postpone a commemoration of the RIC and DMP in Dublin Castle next week.
Deputy Kenny said:
"I welcome the fact that this commemoration will not go ahead. However, I note the tone of the Minister for Justice's statement and the use of the word "postpone", which suggests that this event will take place at a time in the future.
"He organised it without using the agreed channel of the All Party Consultation Group on Commemorations and he is clearly out of step with public opinion on this issue.
"The RIC and the Black and Tans were a repressive force in this country and the people of this nation do not want to commemorate or honour them. It is an embarrassment to suggest that we should.
"If anyone who had an ancestor in one of these repressive forces wants to remember them or pay their respects in any personal way, it is totally appropriate for them to do so. However, the RIC and the DMP served the British on this island and if they are to be commemorated as a force, then the British can do it.
"Charlie Flanagan should be aware that if he wants to commemorate them, he is not doing in my name or in the name of the Irish people."
Following a number of suicides recently in the Belfast area, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson for mental health and chair of the All-Party Group on Suicide Prevention, Órlaithí Flynn MLA said today:
“I want to send my condolences and thoughts to the families at this difficult time. We know that suicide is preventable and we know the devastation it has within communities.
"Sustained funding is needed to implement the Suicide Prevention Strategy – Protect Life 2 – to tackle the mental health and suicide crisis. Parties collectively secured the Department of Health's publication of the strategy and we need to build on this progress.
"All Departments have signed up to their role in tackling the suicide and mental health crisis through the Protect Life 2 strategy, their actions need to match their commitments.
“We need to see mental health given parity of esteem with physical health, not seen as a Cinderella service or side-lined, if we are going to tackle the mental health crisis.
“I will be meeting with the Department of Health and the BHSCT alongside John Finucane, Gerry Kelly and Carál Ní Chuilín as part of our on-going work on suicide prevention.
"We will be insisting on the need for a more immediate implementation of Protect Life 2 strategy.
“I will also be raising the current crisis in the next meeting of the All-Party Group on Suicide Prevention on Thursday the 16th January at AMH New Horizons office in Enniskillen, from 11:30am to 2pm. For those who wish to attend please get in touch.”
Sinn Féin has selected John Gormley for co-option to replace Deirdre Hargey as Councillor for the Botanic area on Belfast City Council.
Speaking after being selected at a selection convention in South Belfast, John Gormley said:
“I am proud and honoured to have been selected for co-option to the Belfast City Council to replace Deirdre Hargey, who is taking on the role of MLA for South Belfast.
“I have worked closely with Deirdre over many years and know the great work she has done for the people of Botanic and wider South Belfast.
“Having been active in community politics for a number of years, I will continue to stand up for the people of South Belfast and play my part in building the new Belfast for all.”
Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald TD, speaking following the announcement of a deferral of the government's planned commemoration of the Royal Irish Constabulary, has said that "deferring this is a step in the right direction, but it's not enough. This event needs to be cancelled".
Teachta McDonald said:
"Over the past number of days we have gotten a flavour of the extent of Fine Gael's revisionism, during which they have repeatedly defended their decision to commemorate the DMP and the RIC.
"These forces were part of the British apparatus of occupation and acted to suppress the democratic demand for independence as expressed overwhelming by the people in the 1918 General Election.
"For any Irish government for advocate commemorating these organisations is shameful and it has rightly drawn much criticism.
"Deferral of this planned commemoration is a step in the right direction, but it's not enough. This event needs to be cancelled."
Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson has urged groups to take part in a consultation process that will help shape the future EU programme ‘PEACE Plus’ that will run from 2021-2027.
Speaking after the launch of the survey Martina Anderson MEP said:
“I would encourage groups to take part in a new survey with the survey and information events which will setting out funding and delivery of new PEACE Plus Programme.
“Sinn Féin have worked tirelessly in the European Parliament, and elsewhere, to ensure that EU funding streams to the north are protected.
“In 2016, Sinn Féin convinced 541 MEPs of the need to protect PEACE funding, regardless of the outcome of Brexit.
“The new PEACE Plus programme has the potential to mitigate some of the impact that Brexit and the border has on our border communities, but this fund is not a miracle cure.
“The reality of Brexit will still mean that the north will be cut off from other vital European funding programmes worth hundreds of millions of euro.
“On the 31st of January, the north will be dragged out of the EU. Sinn Féin will continue fighting to ensure that the budget for this PEACE Plus Programme, and the regulations, covering it are secured.”
Sinn Féin Louth TD Gerry Adams has described the government’s health strategy as “a shambles which is failing patients.”
The Louth TD described the record numbers of patients on hospital waiting lists and on trolleys and in wards waiting on admission as “a scandal” and “evidence that after 9 years of Fine Gael governments there has been an absolute failure to get to grips with the crisis in the health service.”
Teachta Adams pointed to the growing numbers of over 75’s forced to spend more than 24 hours on trolleys.
Gerry Adams said:
“In a PQ response from the Department of Health it was revealed that between January and November of last year, 349 citizens aged over 75 years spent more than 24 hours on a hospital trolley in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. In November alone the figure was 53.
"The most recent figures from the outpatient waiting lists reveal that over half a million citizens are waiting appointments. Last November Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda had 12,829 citizens awaiting their first appointment and of these over two thirds have been waiting for more than three months. Louth County Hospital has 2133 patients on its waiting list. Over half of these have been waiting for more than three months.
"This week there were record numbers of patients in our overcrowded Accident and Emergency departments across the State. The hard work of a dedicated staff cannot compensate for the lack of adequate staffing levels and capacity within our acute hospital system. According to the INMO there are 411 fewer inpatient beds in our hospitals today than a decade ago, despite a larger, older population.
"This crisis in waiting lists and trolley numbers did not happen out of the blue or because of the latest flu outbreak. It is part and parcel of the absence of a coherent government health strategy, and inadequate resources. Last year there were almost one hundred and twenty thousand patients stuck in overcrowded Emergency departments.
"Behind these statistics are citizens, human beings, who are often frightened and concerned about their health and yet are forced to endure lengthy waits for hospital appointments or on hospital trolleys.
"While Minister Harris in Health, like Minister Murphy in Housing, are responsible for the crises in these two essential public services, both Ministers are implementing government policy – housing and health policies that are supported by Fianna Fáil.
"Urgent action is needed by Minister Harris to end the trolley crisis. This requires a crisis intervention package of measures, including increasing staff and bed capacity, lifting the recruitment embargo on frontline staff, expanding community care and moving ahead speedily with the Sláintecare reforms.”
Sinn Féin Leas Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill has extended condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of BBC radio presenter Stephen Clements.
Michelle O’Neill said:
“I am deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Stephen Clements today.
“His radio shows on BBC Radio Ulster and Q Radio brought his legion of listeners joy through his music and humour.
“I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his wife, children and family, and his colleagues at this very sad and difficult time.”
