People Before Profit have warned against looming plans within Irish Water to cut jobs and implement ‘efficiencies’ and cost savings of €1.1bn which would include a reduction in staffing levels of 1,200-1,500 in the period 2014-2021.
Press Release
A special meeting of Dublin City Council was convened last night, Monday June 29th, to address the issue of the sudden closure Clerys department store in the city centre, and its impact on former employees there. Despite the objection of the city manager, the motion put by Clr Brid Smith of People Before Profit was passed unanimously by all councillors present. It states:
“This motion calls on Dublin City Council to refuse to grant any ‘change of use’ planning permission in respect of Clerys Store on O’Connell Street to Natrium unless this company meets with representatives of former Clerys workers to discuss saving their jobs or financial compensation by way of enhanced redundancy payments”
Cllr Brid Smith said, ‘The treatment of Clerys workers has been an absolute disgrace – vulture capitalism at its worst- and a result of the policy of successive governments to hand over so much of Dublin to property speculators. This motion is a gesture of solidarity with the Clerys workers and hopefully it will make it more difficult for these unscrupulous operators to walk away from their responsibilities to workers and small traders, who have also been treated outrageously’
Brid Smith went onto say, ‘The Clerys case is particularly appalling but it is not unique. There has been a pattern of this kind of behaviour at Vita Cortex, La Sensa, the Paris Bakery and elsewhere. Too many employers seem to believe their employees are just disposable items on a balance sheet who can be dumped on the scrapheap as surplus to requirements the moment it is convenient.
My motion is a small step towards stopping this injustice but what is really needed is trade union action to put some manners on these bosses and government legislation to outlaw these practices and guarantee workers some basic human rights’.
Press Release from Cllr Brid Smith:
An emergency motion on Clerys proposed by Cllr Brid Smith of People Before Profit has just been passed by the South Central Area Committee and will go to the full City Council Meeting on 6 July. It states:
“This area committee calls on Dublin City Council to refuse to grant any ‘change of use’ planning permission in respect of Clerys Store on O’Connell Street to Natrium unless this company meets with representatives of former Clerys workers to discuss saving their jobs or financial compensation by way of enhanced redundancy payments”
Cllr Brid Smith said, ‘The treatment of Clerys workers has been an absolute disgrace – vulture capitalism at its worst- and a result of the policy of successive governments to hand over so much of Dublin to property speculators. This motion is a gesture of solidarity with the Clerys workers and hopefully it will make more difficult for these unscrupulous operators to walk away from their responsibilities to their staff.’
Ends. Contact Brid Smith 0879090166
Childcare in Ireland is the most expensive in Europe, and worldwide second only to the USA, according to recent research from the OECD.
The government here spends just 0.2% of GDP in the development of children up to the age of 6, compared to an OECD average of 0.7%.
This means that typically already hard-pushed parents in Ireland pay 40% of the average wage in childcare costs, while in other OECD countries this falls to 12% thanks to government subsidies.
Another consequence is that childcare workers here are underpaid and overworked, with up to 25,000 people working in the sector on an average of less than €11 an hour – less than the minimum wage, according to figures from the Association of Childhood Professionals.
ESRI has recently warned that the high cost of childcare in this country is a major factor contributing to the large number of jobless households throughout the country.
Yet in spite of the official acknowledgement of the need for greater investment as far back as 2000 when the National Childhood Strategy was published, funding for childcare still needs to be increased fivefold if it’s to meet the standard of services to which successive governments have claimed they aspire.
This government’s cutbacks have hit the poorest the hardest.
People Before Profit calls for immediate investment in childcare services to help ordinary families already struggling under the unfair burden of austerity.
People Before Profit has condemned the decision of Finance Minister Michael Noonan not to sack Michael Geoghegan from the advisory board of NAMA.
In a statement, Brid Smith for People Before Profit said,
‘It is incredible that the world’s top organiser of tax dodging schemes should be acting as an advisor to NAMA.Read more »
Brid Smith has condemned the arrest of Paul Murphy as a travesty of justice.
Brid Smith who lives in Ballyfermot claims that Joan Burton’s visit was a provocation for many residents.
“Joan Burton has presided over decisions that have cut social welfare for young people, deprived single parents with children over 7 of One parent Allowance, and supported legislation which has cut the wages of public sector workers. Once her appearance in Tallaght was known, it was inevitable that there would be protests.Read more »
People before Profit Spokesperson, Brid Smith, has claimed that the government’s proposed measures on tackling alcohol misuse are ‘grossly inadequate’.
In a statement she said,
‘The most harmful drug in Ireland is not marijuana or even heroin. In terms of the numbers affected and damage to health it is alcohol.
‘An Analysis of Alcohol Consumption in Ireland in 2013 published by the Health Research Board showed that half of drinkers can be classified as harmful drinkers.Read more »
21 May 2013
Following a meeting with parents using Tallaght Hospital crèche Brid Smith, People Before Profit MEP candidate for Dublin is calling on Brain Hayes, Minister and Fine Gael TD for Dublin South West to intervene and stop the crèche closure.
Commenting today Brid Smith said: “I was invited to a meeting this morning with the parents of The Small World Creche in Tallaght Hospital. The parents I met this morning are nurses, radiographers physiotherapists and admin staff who all do vital work in the hospital. They are all worried sick about the future.Read more »