Cork North Central TD and Minister for European Affairs and Data Protection, Dara Murphy, today (Thursday) welcomed the announcement by the Minister for the Environment, Alan Kelly TD, that a statutory committee has been appointed to review the Cork City boundary and examine whether local authority structures in Cork should be merged.

“Sinn Féin’s Education Spokesperson, Jonathan O’Brien, is on the record as having said that education cuts result in a demoralised profession and an erosion of the goodwill that is so essential to the learning environment in classrooms.

“The M7/M9 upgrade is badly needed to ease traffic congestion in Kildare”, according to Martin Heydon and Anthony Lawlor, Fine Gael TDs for Kildare South and North respectively. The Kildare Deputies were speaking ahead of their joint Topical Issues Debate on the proposed road upgrade, with Minister for Transport, Paschal Donohoe in the Dáil today (Thursday).

“Nicotine patches for pregnant women would help protect mothers and their babies from smoking related harm. We must examine the possibility of making the nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) freely available to pregnant women,” says Catherine Byrne, Fine Gael Dublin South Central TD.

Fine Gael TD for Carlow/Kilkenny, John Paul Phelan, today (Thursday) congratulated Kilkenny animation company Cartoon Saloon for its Oscar nomination for ‘Song of the Sea’.

“The news that US company ABEC Inc. plans to expand its global operations in Fermoy, Co. Cork with the creation of 100 jobs over the next two years is very much to be welcomed” says David Stanton, Fine Gael TD for Cork East.

“As we await an imminent decision from the Central Bank on new mortgage rules, I am hopeful that we will see some changes to the original proposal to ensure that mortgages remain accessible to first-time buyers” says Alan Farrell, Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal.

“Irish food and drink producers are leading the way on this country’s export success” according to Martin Heydon, Fine Gael TD for Kildare South and Chair of Fine Gael’s Internal Committee on Agriculture & Rural Affairs. Deputy Heydon was speaking after Bord Bia revealed that Irish food and drink exports reached an all-time high of €10.5 billion in 2014.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, TD, today drew attention to the need for everyone working in the Farming and Fishing industries to take all safety precautions during the current adverse weather conditions.

Fine Gael Parliamentary Party Chairman and Limerick TD, Dan Neville TD has called on the Ulster Bank to retain the ATM services at the Ulster Bank in Croom.