15 | April | 2009 | Dominick Donnelly

Archive for April 15th, 2009

Greens urge homeowners and farmers to sell energy back to ESB

Published April 15, 2009 Energy Leave a Comment

27^th February 2009

Every farm and house in South Cork can become a mini power plant

The Green Party’s candidate for the Carrigaline area of Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly urged homeowners and farmers that produce their own electricity to sign up to a new scheme that will pay them for any spare energy they generate.

Under a programme announced today by the Green Party’s Energy Minister Eamon Ryan, there will be incentives for small-scale generation of electricity for domestic users with wind and water turbines, solar panels and combined heat and power units.

The first 4,000 people to sign up to the scheme with the ESB will get a guaranteed price of 19 cents per kWh. Non ESB customers will get 10c per kWh.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “Every farm and house in the region, particularly in rural areas, can now become a mini power plant. This long-demanded Green policy will help people to lower their energy costs and to fight climate change.

“The rules have changed. Before, you received your power from a central source and paid for it. Now you can generate for yourself and be paid for the excess you don’t use. We can use our abundant natural resources to bolster the economy, create skilled, lasting, green-collar jobs and reduce carbon emissions at the same time. This type of long-term investment with a guaranteed return, represents the best value for spending and lending.

“By generating power at home from clean, renewable sources, we will improve our energy independence and keep more money in Ireland. We do not want to be dependent on Russia, Saudi Arabia or even Britain for our energy needs; we can supply our own,” concluded Cllr. Donnelly.

Cllr. Donnelly welcomes €1.4 million to ensure safety of South Cork water supplies

Published April 15, 2009 Environment , Water Leave a Comment

23 February 2009

Green Party Local Election candidate Cllr. Dominick Donnelly has welcomed €1,424,000 to improve water quality in local group water schemes in South Cork. The Rural Water Programme for 2009 allocates funding from the Department of Environment to prevent pollution, improve sewerage schemes and upgrade existing water supplies.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “Despite cutbacks the Green Party managed to increase water funding by 19 per cent in Budget 2009. This is to ensure the future security of our vital water supplies.

“It’s very easy to take for granted the clean, reliable water supply from our taps, but as the people in Galway well know, if anything goes wrong it can be disastrous for the whole community.

“I warmly welcome this funding, particularly for the community owned group water schemes, which provide water for homes, farms and local businesses. This funding will also help keep our rivers and lakes pollution-free.”

Rural Water programme 2009 provides:

· €100 million for upgrading rural water supplies

· €67 million to improve water quality in group schemes with private sources, such as rivers, lakes and boreholes

· €5 million for new group water schemes and for extensions of existing schemes to cater for growing rural communities

· €29 million for improvements to smaller public water and sewerage schemes

· €40 million will be spent on new water treatment facilities

We can all help our economy recover, says Cllr. Donnelly

Published April 15, 2009 Economy Leave a Comment

23^rd February 2009

How we spend our money can have a positive effect

Commenting on the recent turmoil in our economic situation, Green Party candidate for Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council in the local elections, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly said: “With all the doom and gloom around about the economy, it is hard for us to see what effect we can all have on the economy. However we can all have a positive effect by spending our money wisely. The biggest weekly expenditure most of us have is on groceries. What food we buy and where we buy it can have a huge effect. We should be buying Irish made food in Irish owned shops who pay their taxes to the Irish Government.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued: “I illustrate what I mean with two simple examples. Ten or fifteen years ago there was one main Irish brand of crisps, with a few smaller competitors. Then a large company from outside Ireland came into the Irish market with huge celebrity endorsed marketing campaigns, and took a significant share of the Irish crisp market. The result of this was that at least one Irish crisp factory closed, and the number employed in the Irish crisp industry reduced significantly. If we had continued buying the Irish made crisps, this would not have happened. We eat a lot of crisps, but we should make sure they are Irish crisps. Another example of buying non-Irish product is yoghurts. In any supermarket or grocery shop, there are huge numbers of different brands of yoghurt on the shelves. Most of these are Irish, but many are not. The only reason people buy the non-Irish brands is a matter of lifestyle choice. Is this a good enough reason not to be supporting the Irish dairy industry, and supporting jobs in the Irish dairy industry? The same arguments can be applied across most product ranges sold in grocery shops and supermarkets.”

“We can all make a difference and create jobs and wealth in the Irish economy by thinking a bit more carefully about what products we buy with our hard earned money, and also in what shops we buy them. We should be buying Irish made goods as locally as possible, in Irish owned shops, and we should stop our hard earned money flowing out of the Irish economy, as much as we possibly can. If we all do this, it will make a huge difference.” Cllr. Donnelly concluded.

Cllr. Donnelly welcomes An Bord Pleanála’s decision on Dublin incinerator

Published April 15, 2009 Cork Harbour , Environment , Incineration Leave a Comment

16^th February 2009

Hopefully the same arguments will be used in the Ringaskiddy incinerator case

Commenting on the recent decision by An Bord Pleanála to reject planning permission for an incinerator in Rathcoole in Co. Dublin, Green Party candidate for Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council in the local elections, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly said: “I welcome the decision by An Bord Pleanála to reject planning permission for the Rathcoole incinerator, and I hope that this is an indication that there has been a change in the mindset in the board. The two Ringaskiddy incinerators are before the board for decision at the moment, and this recent decision gives cause for optimism that they will reject the Ringaskiddy incinerators also.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued: “The most interesting aspect of this decision is that all three reasons given by the board for the rejection all apply equally to Ringaskiddy. First of all the incinerator is not part of the local authority’s waste management plan, and this was made clear in Cork County Council’s own report on this proposal. The second reason the board rejected the incinerator in Rathcoole was to do with traffic on the N7, adjacent to the proposed site. With the Port of Cork already having been refused planning in Ringaskiddy due to lack of capacity on the N28 and in the Jack Lynch Tunnel, hopefully An Bord Pleanála will use the same argument to reject Indaver. The third reason for the board’s rejection was that the proposal wanted to build the incinerator in a quarry, and that because of this the board were not convinced that the emissions from the incinerator would not pose a threat to the surrounding population. With Cork Harbour being effectively a basin, and it being prone to thermal inversions (localised fog) in which the emissions would remain locally, this argument applies equally to Ringaskiddy. There have been about three thermal inversions in Cork Harbour in the last week alone, which, if the incinerators were in operation, would have caused the harbour communities to be polluted with their emissions.”

“I hope that this is the beginning of the end for Indaver’s ridiculous plans to build two incinerators in Cork Harbour. It has been a long hard battle for the harbour communities, particularly those of us directly involved with CHASE, but there are signs that all the toil and perseverance has been worthwhile to preserve Cork Harbour as a wonderful place to live” Cllr. Donnelly concluded.

Cllr Dominick Donnelly welcomes reduced spending limits in upcoming elections

Published April 15, 2009 Local Elections Leave a Comment

10 February 2009

Lower campaign spending is sensible and makes for better politics

The Green Party’s candidate for the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, has welcomed the introduction for the first time ever of limits on the amount of money that candidates can spend in the forthcoming local election campaign. He also welcomed the announcement today by Green Minister for Local Government John Gormley that there will be a new 60 day time period during which the limits apply, which is twice as long as the period that applied during the 2007 Dáil election campaign.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “Lower spending by candidates during the forthcoming election campaign is a no brainer. In a time of deep economic turmoil, less spending equals less financial waste. It also makes for better politics, by levelling the playing field for all election candidates and reducing the influence of vested interest in the political system. The days of candidates spending nearly €40,000 to get elected to local councils is over. The limits are not unreasonably restrictive but they will curb the excesses seen in recent elections.

“Candidates standing for election on Friday 5 June in the Carrigaline area of Cork County Council will be able to spend a maximum of €15,000, although I expect that most will spend considerably less than that.

“I also welcome the publication of a study which presents options on: the establishment of an Electoral Commission in Ireland that will take over the functions of the Standards in Public Office Commission; organising the electoral register; constituency revisions; the funding of the political system; how elections and referenda are run; the modernisation of electoral law; the registration of political parties; and research and awareness activities.

“The announcements made today are sensible, progressive and important components of the Green Party’s ongoing programme of political reform. I look forward to the forthcoming publication of John Gormley’s white paper on local government reform, which will redefine how politics operates in our communities, and will bring power closer to the people. One of the founding principles of the Green Party is that political, social and economic decisions should be taken at the lowest effective level. We are making good progress towards the realisation of that principle,” Cllr. Donnelly concluded.

Green Party welcomes progress on Star of the Sea National School, Passage West

Published April 15, 2009 Education , Passage West Leave a Comment

9^th February 2009

Commenting on the announcement recently by the Minister for Education, Batt O’Keeffe, that work is to start later in the year to build a new national school in Passage West, local Green Party Town Councillor, and candidate for the county council in the local elections, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly said: “It is absolutely wonderful that the new school for Passage West is finally going to be built. It has taken ten years of battling for this community to get this far, and the Minister’s announcement is to be applauded. However most of the applause should be given to the staff, parents and students of Star of the Sea National School, who have not stilted in their campaign to have proper school facilities for the children of Passage West.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued: “I, along with my party colleague Senator Dan Boyle, have taken part in many meetings and protests over the years to try to progress the funding of this absolutely essential piece of local infrastructure. It is terrific that soon the children of Passage West will not have to go to school in prefabs, but will have a proper school building with proper space and facilities in which to learn. As a teacher myself, I applaud the work that has been done over the years by the Prinicipal of Star of the Sea, Brendan McCormack, and his staff, for the superb work they have done in maintaining an excellent standard of education in very difficult circumstances.”

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