Fianna Fáil’s rejected claims they’re living in an "economic dreamland" over a plea to the Finance Minister to cut the taxes on petrol and diesel
Michael Noonan’s described the call as "wishful thinking" saying he can’t forego 150-million in revenue under the proposal
The matter was debated last night and this will continue this morning
Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley says the Minister would get the money back anyway in other taxes
On Wednesday’s Morning Focus John Cooke spoke with Deputy Timmy Dooley and Deputy Joe Carey of Fine Gael
Deputy Dooley is Director of Elections for the forthcoming Referendum on the Stability Treaty and Deputy Joe Carey has been appointed Director of Elections for North Munster
Paul Murphy MEP of the Socialist party and United Left Alliance joined the discussion about the fiscal compact treaty – he is advocating for a No vote in the referendum on the fiscal compact
He has written to Tanaiste to express concerns over Treaty ‘explanatory note’ being potentially unlawful- contravening the McKenna judgement
He says the Referendum Commission should be given responsibility for drafting the note.
Parents of children with special needs protests outside City Hall in Cork and Leinster House in Dublin yesterday in opposition to cuts to the Domiciliary Care Allowance
They are calling for an urgent meeting with the Social Protection Minister
Many parents who receive this allowance of 309.50 a month have seen their payments stopped in recent months
They say this monthly allowance of 309 euro 50 is vital in helping give their children a better quality of life
Many have had their allowances stopped in recent months – and thousands of applications are still under review
Susan Hogan is Development Officer with Caring for Carers – she is presently dealing with all of the DCA applications and appeals – she joined John in studio to discuss this situation and Cooraclare Councillor Bill Chambers said he is concerned as there was 402 reviewed and 193 were knocked off completely – that’s almost 50%- it’s a backwards step
He said losing allowance which will result in very little savings for the state and have a negative impact on these children and their families.
Caring for Carers host a meeting in Regina House, Kilrush at 8pm tonight.
Former Irish Presidential candidate. businessman and entrepreneur Sean Gallagher is patron of the Irish Association of Supported Employment
He got involved with IASE to assist with the promotion of equality in employment for people with disability through the concept of supported employment
IASE National Supported Employment Week (for Jobseekers with a Disability) on 23-29 April and the main event which is Job Shadow Day today
This national initiative is now in its fifth year
To date, hundreds of employers have already signed up to sponsor a person with a disability to work with them or in their company throughout today
John spoke with Sean about how the past year has been since he lost out on the presidential election.
Alice O’Carroll, Service Coordinator with Clare Supported Employment was in studio to speak about the work of Clare Supported Employment Service and what is happening locally during National Supported Employment
She also spoke about the unveiling a new name for their service – EmployAbility Clare
Also, Michael Bland, a job seeker from Ennis spoke about his experience with Clare SUpported Employment. Contact them on 065 68 44 007.
Special Olympics Ireland Annual Collection Day is taking place this Friday
Cathleen Healy, Special Olympics Collection Coordinator for Ennis town, urged people to support them, she needs more volunteers for this Friday and encouraged people to please support them
Contact Cathleen on 087 2750769.
Paul Wolfe of the Clare Citizens’ Information Service joined John in studio to answer listeners’ queries.www.citizensinformation.ie
Contact them on 076 1075 260.
If you have a story for the Morning Focus team email FOcus@clare.fm
