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Tuesday, 22 January 2008

Risk of return to the 1980s
Dear Editor
The prospect that up to 80,000 young male construction workers are at risk of long term unemployment because of the downturn in house building and their lack of educational qualifications is an urgent reminder of the need for a strategic shift in our training and educational programmes.

The Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority, Tom Boland, has expressed concern at data which shows large numbers of early school leavers had been relying on the construction boom for employment.
Mr Boland’s comments are worrying, coming on top of other reports. On the one hand we have FÁS telling us that we need 100,000 more graduates in the workforce by 2010 and on the other we have the 2006 Census showing us there are 82,238 construction workers with only Junior Cert or even no qualifications.
On the positive side the downturn in house building creates new capacity for a dramatic increase in public capital infrastructure programmes that are urgently needed to improve the competitiveness of the economy.
But a more fundamental issue remains the need for long term sustainable growth based on a highly skilled workforce and here the Government needs to show far more creative thinking and a willingness to look at radical initiatives than it has done in the past.
The level of investment in retraining at all levels must be increased and paid study leave made an entitlement for every member of the workforce.
Such a programme should be rolled out quickly and with the priority given initially to those most at risk of long term unemployment. We must act now. The longer we leave it, the greater the problem will become, and we could see long term unemployment returning to the levels we had to endure in the 1980s.
Jack O’Connor
SIPTU

No Irish welcome for dogs
Dear Editor
My husband, our dog - Border Collie Willi - and I are now back in Denmark after several weeks on holiday in beautiful Ireland.
We travelled from Denmark to Calais in France and took the ferry to Dover. We then spent a few days staying in good hotels and bed and breakfast places in England.
In every place Willi was very welcome. We later drove to Fishguard and went with the ferry from there to Rosslare in Ireland.
In Calais and Dover the customs checked Willi’s microchip, his vaccinations, his EU passport etc.
Everything was in perfect order of course. We are used to travelling all over Europe with our well behaved dog, and were looking forward to our visit to Ireland.
But we were disappointed to discover that dogs and other pets are so very, very unwelcome in Irish hotels and bed and breakfast places.
Willi is with us all day long, and stays in the car while we eat or visit tourist attractions. In hotels, he sleeps in his own dog bed and of course he is never left alone in a hotel room.
But the Irish hotels - even the most expensive ones - were completely unable to understand that we want the dog with us in the room during the night.
We were told it is against the law to keep dogs in hotels because people might have allergies. We tried to tell the hotels that all over Europe there are sick people with allergies and dogs are welcome.
Even in Switzerland, which is a very well-ordered, clean and neat country, dogs are welcome.
Some of the staff in the Irish hotels were embarrassed because of their manager’s attitude to dogs and pets.
Some were not from Ireland and told us pets were welcome in their own countries.
We talked to a lot of people on Irish streets who came and said hello to Willi. And we told them of course about the unkindness to dogs we experienced.
We are now writing to the Irish ambassador in Denmark and of course to travel books, animal magazines etc to tell of our bad experiences.
We will of course also mention the very nice people we have met in Ireland too.
But we will never, ever recommend anyone to visit Ireland.
Ole, Willi and Hanne
Denmark

Concern over local election boundary committees
Dear Editor
The announcement by Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, of the appointment of local electoral area boundary committees is long overdue.
But even if the review group meets the imposed June deadline, there will be very little time for local authorities to make the administrative arrangements for the new areas and for candidates of all parties to adapt to them.
Minister Gormley has ensured that the run up to the local election will be crisis driven.
The minister is hoping to receive the report by June 2008. The real objective should have been to have the new structures in place by June 2008.
It is also a matter of concern that there is no commitment on the part of the minister to implement any recommendations made by the review.
In his statement announcing the appointment of the committees, Minister Gormley simply says that the committees' reports will be considered as the basis for a revision of the electoral areas for use at the local elections to be held in 2009.
This seems to suggest that Minister Gormley is retaining the option of not implementing the recommendations if they might work to the political disadvantage of the parties in Government.
Sinéad Seery
Coolock Branch
Labour Party

Full marks for article
Dear Editor
Full marks for your recent article on cystic fibrosis and the urgent need for services.
I raised this issue in my talks with the Taoiseach and it is in Section Five of the Agreement.
Beaumont Hospital also operates as a regional centre in providing services to people with cystic fibrosis.
In this regard, e2.5 million is being allocated in the 2008 budget to support the development of facilities at the hospital.
This will include the provision of improved isolation and infection control facilities, together with enhanced outpatient facilities for cystic fibrosis patients.
I am also pushing for a dedicated cystic fibrosis unit at St Vincent’s Hospital.
The entire unit will comprise 120 single ensuite rooms with some for cystic fibrosis patients.
I will continue to push this issue with Government.
Finian McGrath TD (Ind)
Dublin North Central

Dublin needs wireless service
Dear Editor
The decision of Dublin City Council Manger John Tierney to abandon proposals for the development of a citywide broadband wireless service in Dublin is yet another setback for our ambitions to build a hi-tech economy, which is badly needed because of the rapid decline of the construction sector and the rise of the euro.
When taken with the privatisation of, and the subsequent under-investment in our telecoms infrastructure, and the failure of the Government to invest in IT in our schools, this is very bad news for the prospects of generating wealth and jobs in high end technology.
As the main excuse given for the demise of Dublin’s wifi is the objection of the EU to such public service provision, this is another reason for voting ‘no’ to the Lisbon Treaty with its anti public service agenda.
Cllr Dessie Ellis
Finglas,
Dublin 11

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