Martin Heydon, TD

“The Live Register has fallen for the 32nd consecutive month and now stands at 10.1%, but the real good news is the drop by almost 10% in the long-term unemployed and a decrease of just under 20% in the number of people under 25 who are signing on”, says Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Fine Gael TD for Laois/Offaly and Chair of the Oireachtas Jobs Committee.

Fine Gael TD for Limerick, Party Chairperson and founder of the Irish Suicidology Association, Dan Neville, this week in Dáil Éireann raised the very important issue of Lyme disease with the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar TD.

Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, has advised Billy Kelleher TD to consider his own party’s lack of focus on drugs, before throwing cheap shots at Government policy and trying to politicise an area involving the most vulnerable patients.

Fine Gael Waterford Minister Paudie Coffey has today (Monday) met with residents of Blenheim Estate in Waterford City to discuss septic tank issues that are affecting homes in the area.

Speaking at the British Irish Chamber of Commerce Conference last Friday, Brian Hayes, Fine Gael MEP for Dublin said that Britain and Ireland could lead the way in Europe with the formation of a British-Irish Competitiveness Council.

“Meath community groups should apply for funding to upgrade their energy systems, now that €13 million has been made available”, says Fine Gael Meath West TD, Ray Butler.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, today announced that his Department will hold a series of 14 regional Information Meetings in relation to CAP implementation from Monday 9th March to Tuesday 31st March.

Fine Gael TD for Donegal, Dinny McGinley has welcomed the announcement that the Department of Justice and the Department of the Environment are to come together to continue a scheme to promote social inclusion and equality for women.

Fine Gael TD for Clare and Chairman of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee, Pat Breen, has welcomed the launch of Global Irish, the first clear statement of the Government’s policy on the diaspora by the Minister for the Diaspora, Jimmy Deenihan, alongside an Taoiseach, Enda Kenny.