Deputy Noel Coonan expressed deep regret at announcement that Taro Pharmaceuticals is to cease operations in Roscrea

Deputy Noel Coonan said the announcement by Taro Pharmaceuticals that it has ceased operations in Roscrea brings final closure to what was once the flagship of employment in the Mid West region. The Fine Gael TD said it is another psychological blow for the town.

“After a number of fake dawns, the once great Antigen factory will grind to a halt. The former Antigen, now Taro Pharmaceuticals, had historically provided meaningful employment in Roscrea for many decades but now the locks and bolts will be chained on the gates. It’s a sad day for the town of Roscrea and for all those who worked there,” said the Fine Gael TD.

Deputy Coonan said the closure of Taro Pharmaceuticals brings to mind the comments of Denis Brosnan, Chairman of the Mid West Task Force when he recently said that the Government and State Agencies such as the IDA and Enterprise Ireland have failed the Mid West Region.

“This is certainly true of Roscrea and I’m calling on the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan TD to direct the necessary resources and expertise towards Roscrea in an attempt to stop the hemorrhaging of jobs. In Roscrea over the last two years jobseekers payments are up by 987 or 100%. The time for talking has long since passed. It’s time for action,” said Deputy Coonan.
“For too long the Government, through the State Agencies, failed to deliver infrastructural development to North Tipperary and in particular to the Roscrea region. Numerous areas are still without high speed internet access despite the riches of the Celtic Tiger era. This lack of competitiveness and infrastructural shortfall exists as a result of flawed Government policy. It is a major hindrance in attracting companies to the area and an issue I am continually highlighting this issue to the Minister of Communications.
“The highly skilled employees who worked in Taro Pharmaceuticals will now become another number on the dole queue. My heart goes out to all who have been let go and their families. It is shocking that this Government, the Greens and the Independents who support it are willing to bail out the banks and prey on the little people,” concluded Deputy Coonan.
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Noel Coonan TD

COMMENTS BY Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan that he anticipates a demand for high-speed broadband were “really maddening”, according to Fine Gael’s Noel Coonan.

The North-Tipperary TD said it was especially maddening for his region of the midwest “which has the highest unemployment in the country”. In the three years he had been a TD, “I have heard the Minister pontificate about what he is doing in terms of broadband and set targets which he has consistently failed to meet.”

Mr Ryan insisted that “any independent analysis of what has happened in the past 2½-three years since I have been in office” showed “that broadband numbers have gone from 600,000 to 1.4 million or so. That is a fact.”

Mr Coonan had asked about progress in the “one-stop shop” for broadband structures and the Minister said the context for the proposal “is the anticipated increase in demand for high-speed broadband into the future”.

Mr Coonan found the comment “maddening” and pointed out that the IDA and Shannon Development “have stated clearly that the most significant barrier to job creation in the midwest is the lack of a high-speed broadband system. It is simply not there. The networks have been in the ground for years and it is frustrating for people. When will we see those networks connected and a one-stop shop?”

The Minister “could have given this answer last September. I do not want to listen to the same story from the Minister next September.”

Mr Ryan said the competition he was “pursuing” between the cable, fixed-line, mobile, WiMax and satellite providers “is the best way to drive down prices and drive up speeds. That has been shown in market after market and it is working here.”

He added: “The likes of the cable company investing in new cable networks will give 50 megabit download speeds. WiMax deployment here is ahead of any other European country.” But Mr Coonan said “the Minister did not give us targets or dates” and added that “broadband penetration in Ireland is the second-worst in the EU for firms and small businesses”.

MARIE O’ HALLORAN – Irish Times

Deputy Coonan Pushes Government Minister to Provide for Mid West in Dáil Debate

Speaking during the Mid West Task Force debate in the Dáil last Thursday, Deputy Noel Coonan told Minister Willie O’Dea it is the Government’s responsibility to stimulate employment yet there has not been a penny of foreign direct investment in North Tipperary over the last 25 years.

The Fine Gael Deputy said the current situation at Templemore Garda College as a clear example of poor governance and a worsening situation in the constituency. He asked Minister O’Dea why the Government will not lift the moratorium on recruitment applied to the Garda Síochána at a time when crime is rampant and there’s a need for a significant increase in the number of community Gardaí.

Deputy Coonan said: “The Government’s decision to ban recruitment has seen student intake in the Garda College decline from approximately 1,000 a year to 100 last year with no further influx likely to take place while the ban is in place. Crime is rampant in the country yet 714 members of Garda Síochána voluntarily retired from force during 2009.

“Most recent CSO figures show a 51% increase in aggravated burglaries in the three months to the end of September 2009 and a 25% increase in non-aggravated burglaries in the same period. This week Fine Gael’s Private Member’s Motion focuses on Gangland Crime and we are calling on the Government to bring forward measures and incentives to facilitate a significant increase in the number of community Gardaí.”

Voicing unemployment concerns in the region, Deputy Coonan continued: “On 28 July last the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Mary Coughlan launched the interim report of the Mid-West Task Force. At that launch, she stated she would waste no time in consulting with her colleagues with a view to evaluate, consider and implement the task force report.”

The Mid West Task Force was set up by Tanaiste Mary Coughlan TD in February 2009 to make recommendations to address the impact of the serious economic downturn in the region.

“Almost seven months later we, as Oireachtas Members, joined the chairman of the task force and the chairman of Shannon Development in Limerick to discuss the matter. I listened in awe to the chairman of the task force, Mr. Denis Brosnan, when he went on to outline his frustration, and that of the members of his board, with what was happening in the mid-west. In no uncertain terms, he sounded the alarm bells, stating how desperate the situation is. The Chairman said the state agencies and Government have failed the region,” concluded the Fine Gael TD.

Deputy Coonan is active in pursuing and pushing for Government action on the Mid West Task Force recommendations to kick-start the region. The TD is also meeting with Garda College officials to discuss the current situation there.

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Noel Coonan TD

Government vote down FG plan to restore roads andwater services to North Tipperary – Deputy Coonan

Fine Gael Deputy Noel Coonan has expressed his disappointment at Fianna Fáil, the Greens and Independents decision to vote down the Fine Gael Dáil Motion last week that would have restored roads and radically shaken-up the water services in North Tipperary.

The Fine Gael Dail Private Members’ Motion addressed the recent weather crisis and called for an immediate release of emergency funding through the NRA to restore damaged roads and for responsibility for water services to be into a new State utility company – ‘Irish Water’.

“As was clearly seen in North Tipperary, before, during and after the weather crisis, Fianna Fáil, the Greens and the Independents completely dropped the ball on the provision of water and on providing safe roads,” said the Fine Gael TD.

“For people across North Tipperary the fact that the same Government has now voted down proposals that would have restored the damaged roads and overhauled how water is provided can only be considered another slap in the face.

“I was delighted when Fine Gael brought forward plans to sort out the mess with our water services and roads. As Environment Spokesman, Phil Hogan TD, pointed out, the Fine Gael proposals would have immediately released emergency funding to restore damaged roads. All across North Tipperary roads were not only damaged by the floods but, often, all but destroyed by the freeze that followed.

“The provision of water was even more chaotic with many houses and business left without water. Ireland has a fragmented, outdated and inefficient water network that demands new solutions rather than just patching up a few pipes. The Fine Gael plan would have revolutionised how water is provided by creating a single water utility company which would be fully responsible for water supply and investment across the country. This would fund interconnection across Irish water supplies to ensure constant supply. We can rapidly increase investment in water infrastructure through this water utility company as it will be funded through existing charges and raised finance.

“Unfortunately, Fianna Fáil, the Greens and Independents voted down the Fine Gael plan. A little leadership and modest amount of will power was all that was needed to sort out our roads and water. Unfortunately the Fianna Fáil/Green Government refused to provide this and it is to the cost of everyone in North Tipperary that they chose to play politics rather than sort out the problems across the county and the country.

“I will continue to push for our roads to be restored and for decent provision of water and hope those Government TDs who voted this plan down see the error of their ways,” concluded Deputy Coonan

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Noel Coonan TD