News | MATT CARTHY TD

Insurance companies pocketing taxpayers money while Government sit on their hands

Insurance companies pocketing taxpayers money while Government sit on their hands – claims Sinn Féin TD

Sinn Féin TD, Matt Carthy, has demanded that the Government fulfil its promise and pursue insurance companies that have pocketed taxpayers’ money that was paid to support businesses and their employees during the pandemic.

Echoing the call of his party Finance Spokesperson, Pearse Doherty, Deputy Carthy criticised the Minister for Finance for once again allowing taxpayers’ money to flow upwards towards shareholders and big industry, with insurers deducting State supports from COVID-19 payouts to their customers.

The Cavan Monaghan representative said:

“Once again this Government has failed to protect taxpayers’ money and instead taken the side of big business.

“Last year the Minister for State Seán Fleming warned that insurance companies who deducted state supports paid to businesses from valid claims under their insurance policies would not ‘be let off the hook’.

“The government has now rowed back on this promise – precisely by letting the insurance industry off the hook.

“This means that the taxpayer will have subsidised an insurance industry that has thrived during the pandemic, and its shareholders. This is completely unacceptable.

“In March 2020 Pearse Doherty wrote to the Government requesting that strict conditions be put on all financial support provided to businesses, so that taxpayers’ money did not find its way to shareholders and those who didn’t need it.

“The Minister has said that he cannot recover public money that has been unfairly clawed by insurers in this way on the grounds that it would be ‘retrospective’.

“This same excuse was made by Minister Donohoe who has refused to recover wage subsidy payments that were made to companies that paid dividends to their shareholders while receiving support.

“We all remember how the Minister for Finance retrospectively taxed those receiving the PUP and how the State pursued those taking a holiday during the pandemic. Once again it is one rule for ordinary workers and families and small businesses – another rule for big corporations.

“Financial support paid to employers and funded by the taxpayer was not made on the basis that it would subsidise the insurance industry and provide it with a windfall.

“Minister Fleming claimed he had no powers to pursue these insurers and recover this money.

“He must explain then why he and the Minister for Finance published insurance legislation in October that could have, but failed, to address this issue and provide for these powers.

“The Government must now take every action to recover this money which has unfairly been deducted from policyholders”.

ENDS

Mushroom sector faces crisis due to government ‘indifference’ on Horticultural Peat

Mushroom sector faces crisis due to government ‘indifference’ on Horticultural Peat –

Matt Carthy TD

The Sinn Féin spokesperson on Agriculture, Matt Carthy, TD has called on the Minister for Agriculture to immediately intervene to address the imminent crisis facing the Mushroom industry and the wider Horticulture sector.

Deputy Carthy was speaking a full month since cabinet was due to consider a government commissioned report on the future use of horticultural within the sector. That report has yet to be published despite being submitted to Minister of State Noonan in October.

Deputy Carthy has said that it is imperative that the Minister for Agriculture takes a leadership role to ensure that the report is published and that government outline its proposals to address the peat shortage.

Carthy said:

“For over two-years now Ministers, across a number of departments, have essentially dodged responsibility for what has become a very real and existential crisis in our mushroom sector.

“In November, the Leader of the Seanad, Senator Regina Doherty stated that the report from the Chairperson of the government’s own Working Group on the Future of Horticulture Peat was be brought to cabinet on December 7th –a full-month later and we have seen zero progress on the publication of this report.

“On the same day, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Senators made a farce of parliamentary procedure by bringing forward their own Private Members Bill which bizarrely failed to progress due to a lack of support from their own government.

“The inaction and indifference by government means that the mushroom sector, and those who work in it and the communities that depend on it, is facing an existential threat due to the shortage of Horticultural Peat. These are farmers and communities who needed a Minister, any Minister, to stand up for them.

“Minister of State Malcolm Noonan appears unconcerned while Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, up to this point has seemed to be entirely disinterested in an issue that will close farms.

“The reason why Mushroom farms are so prevalent in Counties like Monaghan is because holdings are small. They were unprofitable. Farmers did as they were asked – they diversified – and they turned small, unprofitable holdings into an economic driver of an entire region.

“Their sector needs peat.

“The government set up a working group, it commissioned a report, it granted an extension to that report, it has now considered that report – it must publish that report immediately.

“Apparently, that report found that emergency legislation was needed prior to the end of 2021.

“At present, there is no sustainable alternative to peat. I expect it will come and government and the sector must intensify efforts to find it. But the government cannot wish alternatives into existence.

“In the meantime, we need a realistic approach from government that will support the sector while ensuring the highest global standards in environmental protection. Otherwise, we will see the further importation of huge shipments of peat from the far side of Europe. There is no justification for that situation just as there was no justification for the previous exportation of peat from Ireland by a state-owned company Bord na Mona.

“As a matter of priority, the Minister for Agriculture needs to show leadership on this issue. He must force his government colleagues to take action, publish the report of the working group and bring forward proposals to avert this crisis”.

ENDS

65th anniversary of Feargal Ó hAnnluain marked at his graveside

65^th anniversary of Feargal Ó hAnnluain marked at his graveside – Matt Carthy TD

In recognition of the ongoing Covid-19 situation, it was a small gathering that met at the graveside of Feargal Ó hAnnluain at Latlurcan, Monaghan on New Years Day to mark the 65^th anniversary of his death in 1957.

Feargal ÓhAnnlauin was just twenty years old when he partook in an IRA attack on Brookeborough RUC barracks on New Years Eve 1956. Both Feargal and his comrade, Seán Sabhat from County Limerick, were fatally wounded during the encounter. Both have been fondly remembered in ballads and through commemorations every year since.

The small contingent that marked the anniversary this year included Feargal’s sister Pádraigín Uí Mhurchadha along with her children and grandchildren. Personal friends of the family also in attendance included former Dáil Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and local Sinn Féin Councillor, Seán Conlon, who officiated the proceedings.

Following a short prayer, local Sinn Féin TD, Matt Carthy spoke on behalf of those present by commending the Ó hAnnluain and Ó Mhurchadha family for the dignified manner in which they have paid tribute to Feargal over the past six and a half decades.

Deputy Carthy remarked that Feargal Ó hAnnluain remains a household main in Co Monaghan homes and among republicans all over Ireland. Feargal’s loss of life, alongside Seán Sabhat, had reawakened a new generation of Irish people to the injustice of partition at a time when governments in Dublin, Stormont and London were content to allow the oppression of nationalists in the six counties to remain hidden from view, he said.

The Sinn Féin TD said that Feargal’s anniversary, falling as it did on New Years Day, provided an apt opportunity to remember him and all of those who have given their lives in the pursuit of the Irish Republic – but also to look to the future. He said that 2022 will be another pivotal year in undoing the divisions of our country and to advance the planning and preparation of a United Ireland.

The ceremony concluded with the laying of a wreath by the namesake and grand-nephew of Feargal Ó hAnnluain, Feargal Mac Giola Chomhghail.

ENDS

Christmas break is crucial to address mitigation measures in schools

Christmas break is crucial to address mitigation measures in schools – Matt Carthy TD

Cavan Monaghan Sinn Féin TD, Matt Carthy, has said that government must use the opportunity over the Christmas break to ensure children are returning to school buildings in January with all of the mitigation measures necessary to keep schools open and functioning well.

Speaking as schools began the Christmas holiday period, Deputy Carthy said:

“Reopening schools in January is vital.

“The government have a chance over the Christmas break to get this right, to make sure that children are returning to school buildings in January with all of the mitigation measures necessary to allow schools to reopen and stay open.

“We need to be throwing the kitchen sink at this, and this hasn’t been the approach from Government so far. This is far too important to get wrong.

“HEPA filtration has a key role to play in our schools, and while the Government have finally began to acknowledge this, they have been too slow and unhelpful in actual delivery.

“Putting HEPA in competition with other desperately needed projects within a school is wrong, particularly so when school budgets are already overstretched with additional heating costs, and kids are freezing in their classrooms with the windows open.

“The work involved applying for the minor works grant is enormous for school principals. In the last week and a half of term, the Department of Education has dropped one final Christmas present of significant additional administration on the desks of school leaders, who are already under incredible pressure.

“HEPA filtration would be much better centrally procured and then distributed by need.

“The fact is, that schools’ ability to function well has been undermined, because principals are being pulled from pillar to post – with substitution, with HEPA filtration, and with contact tracing.

“Contact tracing must be led by public health. Sinn Féin rightly argued for school-specific contact tracing teams. When these were secured, we could see that these were reasonably successful.

“Then in September out of nowhere, and even though we were dealing with new variants, these teams were taken away, in fact any and all contact tracing was taken away. We have paid the price for that.

“When schools ring the HSE, they can’t get them, they can’t get a call back. The new plan for antigen testing passed the buck for contact tracing entirely onto principals and parents.

“The school community feel as though they’ve been taken for fools, being asked to believe that transmission doesn’t occur in schools.

“The Government cannot continue on the basis that schools are immune, but instead acknowledge that covid can enter schools, acknowledge that schools are incredibly important, and do everything in their power over this Christmas break to mitigate this”.

ENDS

Carthy challenges Tánaiste on Broadband Plan failures

Carthy challenges Tánaiste on Broadband Plan failures

Cavan Monaghan Sinn Féin TD, Matt Carthy, has challenged government on the failures within the rollout of the National Broadband Plan which will cost Irish taxpayers up to €3Billion but which is drastically beyond schedule.

Almost half of Co. Monaghan homes and businesses are to be connected to the plan. But, last week it emerged that the investors behind the project drew down substantial monies from the public purse, before a single home was connected.

In the Dáil, Deputy Carthy challenged Fine Gael leader, Leo Varadkar.

He told the Tánaiste:

“In November 2019, your Government signed the contract for the national broadband plan, despite several warnings that it was a bad deal for the taxpayer.

“Indeed, the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform warned that the consortium could recoup all of its money by 2028 and then sell up shop. Nevertheless, the taxpayer agreed to fork out €2.7 billion for a network that we will never own.

“The broadband plan is now way behind schedule. Its target for homes connected by next January has been cut in half.

“Today, we have learned that David McCourt and other investors were paid out €50 million in 2020 before a single home was even connected, with the taxpayer paying them €43 million.

“Will the Tánaiste tell us how the investors were able to suck out money before a single home was connected? I ask him to confirm that the Government will publish the criteria linking State payments to the milestones reached.”

Speaking afterwards, Deputy Carthy said that he will continue to pursue this matter. “It is not acceptable” he said “that Fine Gael agreed to expend €3Billion of the Irish people’s money on a network we will never own, while thousands of homes in counties like Monaghan continue to have no sense as to when they will actually be connected to high-speed broadband as promised”.

ENDS

Unfair of government to force administrative burden of procuring HEPA on schools

Unfair of government to force administrative burden of procuring HEPA on schools – Matt Carthy TD

Cavan Monaghan Sinn Féin TD, Matt Carthy, has said that this week’s government announcement allowing schools to purchase HEPA filtration devices via minor works grant funding is an unfair approach that will add hugely to the workload of school leaders in the days leading up to Christmas.

He has supported the calls on the Education Minister to centrally procure and distribute these devices to schools that need them.

Deputy Carthy said:

“The government have finally been forced to listen to parents, teachers, school leaders and the opposition, and are finally moving in the right direction on ventilation in schools.

“However, the manner in which this funding has been presented is incredibly inefficient and the Department of Education has dropped a Christmas present of additional administration on the desks of school leaders who are already under severe pressure.

“Instead of government admitting that they were wrong to dismiss the importance of HEPA filtration, they have couched this announcement in terms of a minor works grant, which will add significantly to the workload of school leaders.

“In almost every school across the country, there are many projects that could benefit from funding under the minor works grant. It is unfair to have to put principals in a situation where they must choose between replacing broken sports equipment or fixing a leak, or purchasing HEPA filtration devices.

“School leaders will also have to jump through significant hoops if they decide to purchase HEPA filtration. The guidance produced by the Department on the type of filtration to buy is incredibly technical and unclear.

“This is the last thing school leaders needed to land on their desk before the Christmas break. HEPA filtration would be much better centrally procured by the Department and distributed to schools who need them. This would likely be more cost efficient also. I cannot see why the Department have not done this.

“Sinn Féin will be challenging the Minister for Education to reconsider this and to centrally procure.”

ENDS

Pressure must be exerted on Cabinet Ministers to ensure communities concerns on North South Interconnector are heeded

“Pressure must be exerted on Cabinet Ministers to ensure communities concerns on North South Interconnector are heeded” – Matt Carthy TD

Cavan Monaghan Dáil Deputy, Matt Carthy, has said that the last chance for community concerns on the North South Interconnector to be heeded is for Cabinet Ministers from Cavan/ Monaghan and Meath to bring them to the heart of government.

This week, Deputy Carthy said that Ministers Heather Humphreys and Helen McEntee must demand that government deliver a full independent examination of undergrounding the Interconnector. Those Ministers, he said, cannot remain silent on this matter considering that the issue is heading to a protracted conflict between landowners and communities with EirGrid.

The Sinn Féin Agriculture Spokesperson also accused Fianna Fáil Oireachtas members of ‘going into hiding’ since their fanfare announcement last March that there would be a review of the project. It has since been evident that the review does not have the capacity to amend or alter existing proposals to deliver the Interconnector via pylon-supported overhead powerlines.

Carthy reiterated this week that his party remains committed to ensuring that the North South Interconnector is undergrounded. He said that this was the only mechanism by which the project could be finalised in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Carthy said:

“The only way that the North South Interconnector can be delivered in a cost-effective and timely manner is by ensuring that it is undergrounded. The previous report commissioned by the then government in 2018 confirmed that undergrounding is a ‘credible option’.

“For our part, we in Sinn Féin are committed to securing the Interconnector through that means. In every year since 2007 our Ard Fheis has passed motions in that vein. In the Dáil myself and the Sinn Féin Energy Spokesperson, Darren O’Rourke, raise the matter at every opportunity. Personally, in the last year alone, I have challenged the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister responsible, Eamon Ryan, Department Officials and EirGrid directly in the Dáil chamber and in Oireachtas committees. I have pursued every development on this issue as doggedly, as promised, as my predecessor Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. Previously, as MEP I facilitated a delegation of campaigners to Brussels to raise the lack of ‘public acceptance’ for the current proposals with the European Commission and to visit the headquarters for the AllegRo project, an Interconnector very similar to this but which is being undergrounded.

“I will continue to challenge those who believe that the communities affected by the proposed pylon-supported overhead Interconnector can be ignored. So too will my Sinn Féin colleagues on Monaghan County Council, in the Dáil and in the Assembly. Our mood has certainly not mellowed and there is zero basis for the question to be even asked. There may be some in the party that hold a view that the ends are as important as the means, but their position has been rejected by our party membership and leadership at every turn.

“There is no question regarding Sinn Féin’s bone-fides on this issue.

“It is time that pressure be applied where it can make a difference – at those in government in this state who can direct EirGrid to deliver the North South Interconnector in line with the wishes of the communities who live alongside the proposed route.

Fianna Fáil

“I can understand the embarrassed silence of Fianna Fáil Oireachtas members since the ‘review’ they announced last March turned into a sham with a predetermined outcome. But, just as they were happy to grab the headlines they should have the integrity to acknowledge that they were duped. Instead, they have essentially gone into hiding.

“The so-called ‘review’ will not be what was promised, it is just an appraisal of previous ‘reviews’. The Minister responsible has accepted this and EirGrid have said that they are proceeding as planned regardless that the ‘review’ hasn’t even started.

“Has the mood of our local Fianna Fáil Oireachtas members mellowed? Between them they have hardly uttered a word in either the Dáil or the Seanad since last March’s announcement. Under the current government arrangements, Fianna Fáil will hold the office of Taoiseach for just twelve more months. If they fail in the interim to secure an adequate examination of the undergrounding option for the interconnector, as they previously promised, then they will have failed in representing the people of this region.

FG Government Ministers

“The communities affected by the current North South Interconnector plans are represented by two senior government Ministers, Heather Humphreys and Helen McEntee.

“As far back as 2013, Minister Humphreys told an Oireachtas committee that ‘It has been established that the North-South interconnector can go underground’. When did her mood mellow?

“The truth is that those with a voice at the cabinet table have a unique position to ensure that the concerns of those they represent are heeded. There is no evidence that Ministers Humphreys or McEntee have done so. They must answer the question, ‘why not’?

“Sinn Féin have never considered this a party political issue. We have worked with representatives of every hue to secure the just outcome sought by landowners and communities along the route of the Interconnector. I firmly believe that an earlier political intervention would have resulted in the commenced construction of the interconnector via underground technology.

“Even now, such an intervention will result in the development in a much more cost-effective and timely manner. If government and EirGrid persist with the pig-headed determination to ignore the voices and concerns of our local communities then there will be a protracted confrontation that could lead to several years of delay and substantial over-runs in costs.

“Those with political power today who remain silent today will be responsible for such a scenario, a scenario that can be avoided by the acceptance of the principle of ‘public acceptance’.

“Pressure must be exerted on those who are best placed to ensure that the voices of our communities are heard – namely those cabinet Ministers and the representatives that keep them in power”.

ENDS

Carthy tells Taoiseach that reductions in LEADER funding will impact rural communities

Carthy tells Taoiseach that reductions in LEADER funding will impact rural communities

Cavan Monaghan Sinn Féin TD has challenged the Taoiseach to address falling levels of LEADER funding.

Speaking in the Dáil on a debate on the National Economic and Social Council Deputy Carthy called for recognition for the vital role the LEADER programme has played in rural development and for the €180million allocation to the programme over the next CAP cycle to be increased to €300million.

He said:

“A report from earlier this year from the NESC highlighted the LEADER programme as a crucial programme for addressing and developing the rural economy. In fact, in the Taoiseach’s remarks yesterday, he made a similar point and he was right.

“The difficulty, though, is that the LEADER programme has been hollowed out in recent years.

“In the 2007 to 2013 programme, the allocation to LEADER represented €60 million per year.

“Between 2014 and 2020, it was nearly halved to €35 million per year.

“The proposed funding for the next round will see, in real terms, a reduction of somewhere between 6% and 10%.

“Does the Taoiseach acknowledge and accept that the LEADER programme is crucially important for regional and rural development? There is not a community that has failed to benefit from it in recent decades.

“The €180 million that has been allocated to the programme needs to be €300 million in order for LEADER projects to deliver the type of investment that those communities need. I ask the Taoiseach to ensure that that money is provided to the programme”.

ENDS

“Out-of-touch government doing nothing to address rising Energy and Fuel costs”

“Out-of-touch government doing nothing to address rising Energy and Fuel costs” – Matt Carthy TD

Cavan Monaghan Sinn Féin TD, Matt Carthy, has called on the government to wake up to crisis caused by rising energy and fuel costs by delivering a financial package to support workers and families.

Deputy Carthy criticised the government parties for voting against a Sinn Féin amendment to the Finance Bill that would have required them to explore measures to reduce the cost of household energy bills for struggling families. He also criticised the Taoiseach for repeatedly stating what, in his view, government can’t do rather than bringing forward proposals that will help those who are struggling with increased bills.

During a debate on economic recovery with the Taoiseach last week Deputy Carthy told the Dáil:

“We cannot talk about economic recovery without talking about a cost-of-living crisis facing many families and workers across an array of areas, whether it be the huge rents and mortgages costs, the insurance costs that are still crippling people or childcare costs.

“In particular, the issue that comes up time and again is the cost of home heating and motor fuel, which is putting people over the edge. I know people who are missing meals in order to be able to travel to work. Regardless of what you might talk about, whether it is the fuel allowance or anything else, the vast majority of people who are getting up in the morning to travel to work have had no support from the Government.

“I acknowledge that the Government is not responsible for the global issues that have led to the high cost of fuel, but it has done nothing to help. In fact, its response in the budget was to increase those costs further through the carbon tax. Has the Taoiseach spoken to the European Commission with regard to reducing the VAT rate on motor fuel and home heating costs? That needs to be done and it needs to happen quickly”.

In his response An Taoiseach simply said that he cannot bring VAT rates to zero (under EU rules), but repeatedly failed to answer Carthy’s question as to what government will do.

Speaking afterwards Deputy Carthy said:

“The government has failed to get a grip on the soaring cost of energy and needs to wake up.

“There have been over 35 price hikes announced by energy suppliers since the start of the year. In the twelve months to October energy prices rose by 25 percent:

“The cost of home heating oil, the main fuel source for home heating in 37 percent of homes, rose by a staggering 71 percent.

“Motor fuel costs are reaching record high levels.

“Where other governments throughout Europe have acted, this government is asleep at the wheel. They have done nothing to support families and workers affected – in fact they have made matters worse through their carbon tax hikes.

“In Spain, VAT on electricity bills has been slashed by 11 percent.

“In the Czech Republic, VAT on gas and electricity has been removed entirely for the rest of the year.

“In Italy, the government has rolled out a €5.3 billion package to slash VAT, remove electricity and gas charges and expand the social bonus that discounts the cost of gas and electricity.

“In contrast, this government has failed to act, even as winter begins to bite and energy prices soar.

“Last week, government parties voted against a Sinn Féin amendment to urgently examine measures to reduce domestic energy bills for households.

“Refusal to act will come at a great cost for workers and families struggling to light and heat their homes this winter.

“Sinn Féin has called on the government to take every action possible to reduce energy costs for households – including negotiations with the Commission to remove VAT on domestic energy bills.

“They rejected these proposals out of hand.

“We have called on the government to explore discount schemes on domestic energy bills that operate in other jurisdictions to protect low and middle-income households from energy price hikes – these too were rejected out of hand.

“Sinn Féin have called for the government to expand the eligibility criteria for the fuel allowance to ensure it can be accessed by more households – this too was rejected by government.

“Unless this out-of-touch government wakes up to the energy crisis, many workers and families will struggle this winter.

“It is for this reason that Sinn Féin is calling for a financial package to be brought forward without delay.”

ENDS

Report from Public Accounts Committee exposes ‘disastrous’ JobPath scheme

Report from Public Accounts Committee exposes ‘disastrous’ JobPath scheme – Matt Carthy TD

Cavan Monaghan Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy has said that the findings of the report published by the Public Accounts Committee report on the JobPath scheme proves that privatisation of community employment services undermines their quality.

Carthy, who is a member of PAC, said that the all-party report concludes that the JobPath model has failed to deliver sustainable, quality employment for jobseekers and has not delivered value for money for the taxpayer. The report, he said, should serve as a warning to the government that they must abandon plans to privatise community Local Employment Services and Jobs Clubs.

Deputy Carthy said:

“It is clear that the decision by Fine Gael privatise employment services through JobPath has been a disaster. This approach has only served to hollow out services and undermines the quality of supports for people who need the services.

“The Public Accounts Committee’s report is very clear on the poor record of JobPath. 283,826 people used the service, with only 22,000 securing a sustainable job. That is a success rate of just 7.7%. In total, €247m was spent on JobPath, which means each job sourced cost the state €11,227.

“All of these came with a human impact, particularly for those people who felt forced to take up jobs in sectors that were totally unsuitable for them just to meet the JobPath system’s requirements.

“Government must learn from the failure of JobPath and ensure that future attempts to privatise our community employment services do not proceed. Our communities deserve better than these flawed, box ticking exercises.

“Lessons must be learnt from this disastrous scheme. Unfortunately, the Government ignore the reality staring them in the face. They have been repeatedly warned of the ineffectiveness of the Scheme and the blatant waste of taxpayers’ money since 2015.

“In 2019, a Sinn Féin Motion was passed in the Dáil calling for an immediate end to referrals to JobPath and for resources to instead be directed at ramping up community based, not-for-profit employment services, something the Government now intend to erode even further by tendering out Local Employment Services and Job Clubs.

“Government failed to listen and now the Public Accounts Committee have confirmed that this scheme did not represent value for money.

“Last week the Dáil approved another Sinn Féin motion calling for a halt to the tendering process that will endanger our existing community, not for profit Local Employment Services. Minister Heather Humphreys has indicated that she will ignore this resolution.

“If the Minister and government refuse to change tact then it is highly probable that in a short number of years they will be proven to have failed taxpayers and jobseekers once again.”

ENDS