Seán Sherlock

THE CHALLENGE TO EVERYGENERATION‘Educate that you may be free’, the immortal words of thepatriot Thomas Davis, whom Mallow, North Cork and beyondcommemorated this December with the visit of PresidentMichael D Higgins to unveil his statue.

The challenge for this generation, in interpreting the legacy ofDavis, is whether his central belief in the primacy of educationto advance society, can be applied in this, the age oftechnology.

I take seriously the legacy of Davis.

That he was a patriot and devoted to the cause of self-determination for our people is beyond doubt.

That his goal was an educated populace, to give effect to thegoal of self-determination, is to my mind, his strongest legacy.

TOWARDS SHARED PROSPERITYBUDGET 2015:

Representing Cork East and IrelandLocally, Nationally and Internationally

Minister

TD

Minister Seán Sherlock signing a recent series of tradedeals with Ethiopia with President Michael D Higgins

BUILDING TRADE LINKS Since the summer and my appointment as a Minister of State at theDepartment of Foreign Affairs I have had the opportunity to see firsthand the excellent work done by our Irish Aid missions overseas.Specifically in Western Africa, when I visited Sierra Leone to witnessthe impact Ebola is having on people there.

The Government is also playing a strong role in attracting foreigninvestment to the country that will create jobs and boost business. Irecently signed a number of trade agreements with Ethiopia that willboost the trade links between our two countries and open up newdirect markets for Irish businesses. The challenge is to grow andsustain our exports and these trade links greatly assist that aim.

BUILDING SOCIALRECOVERY

Investing in education is a key Labour priority and in Budget2015 we have ensured that the improving economicsituation will help enhance education services:

� New Teachers & SNAS: An investment of €88m in 2015will ensure 1700 new teachers and SNAs will beemployed in our schools during 2015. There will be 900new classroom teachers in primary and second-levelschools, 480 resource teachers and 365 SNAs.

� Class Sizes: For the fourth year in a row, Labour hasprotected the class sizes in our schools.

� Back to School Costs: A second tranche of €5m will beprovided in a three-year additional investment in school book funding for our primary schools, on top of the €15malready invested each year

� Free Broadband for schools:We are investing €3m to ensure the high-speed broadband which has been installedin all post-primary schools is available to them free of charge

� Early Childhood Education: Under Budget 2015, we will spend €600,000 on the immediate recruitment of thefirst ever team of early childhood education inspectors to greatly improve the quality of early childhood education.

EDUCATION - 1700 NEWTEACHERS AND SNAS

In Budget 2015, investment in the building of new family homes is a priority:

� Over €2.2 billion has been allocated for housing provision for the next three years under an unprecedented multi-annual plan.

� In 2015 alone, over €800 million has been allocated for the housing programme– the first major investment in housingsince 2009 and a 40% increase in spending on 2014 levels.

� This dramatically increased investment will deliver 7,500 family homes in 2015 and a total of 40,000 family homes by2020.

� Spending on homelessness services will increase by over 20% to €55 million.

€2.2 BILLION HOUSING INVESTMENT

BUDGET 2015:

Under Budget 2015, we have secured a Christmas bonus of 25% for all recipients of long-term social welfare payments,including pensioners, families with children and people with a disability. This payment will benefit over 1.16 millionpeople.

25% RESTORATION OF THE CHRISTMAS BONUS

Many families have been under financial pressure over the past number of years. Budget 2015 will see an increase of€5 in Child Benefit, from €130 to €135 a month to help support children and raise living standards for families.613,000 families will get this increase from January. The funding for the School Meals Programme is also to increaseby €2million to €39 million in 2015.

SUPPORTING FAMILIES: €5 EXTRA ON CHILD BENEFIT

Under Budget 2015, an extremely progressive tax package has beensecured that focuses the relief on those who most need it - low andmiddle-income workers. Tax is being reduced for low and middle-incomeearners to ensure that those at work take home more and begin tobenefit from the recovery. This is a significant step forward in targetingreliefs at low and middle income earners and ensuring that,proportionately, they gain the most:

� A further 80,000 low paid workers are being taken out of USC with anincrease in the entry point to €12,012

� Cut in lower rates of USC from 2% to 1.5% and from 4% to 3.5%

� The standard rate band of income tax has been widened by €1,000 to€33,800 to take 33,000 people out of the top rate

� The marginal rate of tax has been cut by 1% for workers earning from€33,800 up to €70,000.

� For high earners over €70,000 the marginal rate remains unchanged.

TAX RELIEF FOR LOW ANDMIDDLE INCOME EARNERS

Budget 2015 provides an extra €3 billion in resources for the domesticeconomy. This will help to drive the already strengthening domestic economicrecovery and support an additional 50,000 jobs next year, withunemployment set to fall further to 10% by the end of 2015.

� To support the successful Pathways to Work programme in 2015, €1.6billion will be made available to provide approximately 300,000 work andtraining places.

� €12 million has been allocated for the JobPath initiative which matchesthe long-term unemployed with appropriate training and employmentopportunities.

� The number of JobsPlus positions has been doubled to 6,000 with a focuson young unemployed people.

The Back to Work Family Dividend is a newincentive under Budget 2015 to helpjobseekers with families return to work, whileretaining the child-related portion of theirsocial welfare payment on a tapered basis overtwo years.

This includes those who move to self-employment, such as back into theconstruction sector, and those on One ParentFamily Payment. The scheme will be worth€1,550 per child in the first year ofemployment or self-employment and half thatamount again in the second year.

BACK TO WORKFAMILY DIVIDEND

BUDGET 2015: PRIORITISING WORK

Seán Sherlock TD Constituency OfficeDavis (Flemings) Lane, Mallow, Co. CorkTel: 022 53523 Fax: 022 57761Email: sean.sherlock@oir.ie

0612Sean Sherlock TD @seansherlocktd

Minister of State, Department of ForeignAffairs & Trade with responsibility forDevelopment, Trade Promotion andNorth-South Co-operation

Workingwith

Cllr Cathal Rasmussen086 8878421cathal.rasmussen@gmail.com

Over €3 billion has been allocated to support olderpeople and services for people with disabilities underBudget 2015. This includes:

LIVING ALONE ALLOWANCE INCREASEThe Living Alone Allowance will increase by €1.30perweek, bringing the rate up from €7.70 to €9. This isthe first increase in this payment since 1996, and willbenefit over 177,000 people. This increase will helpprovide for a greater level of income adequacy forboth pensioners and people with disabilities livingalone.

SENIORS ALERT SCHEME€133m is being invested under Budget 2015 inCommunity programmes, including €46m for theSocial Inclusion and Community ActivationProgramme. This includes funding for Seniors Alert,which supports the provision of monitored alarms to enable older persons, of limited means, to continue to live securelyin their homes with confidence.

PENSIONERS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

ENDING THEPENSION LEVYPensioners have made a very significantcontribution to supporting and developingeconomic recovery over recent years. The 0.6%Pension levy was introduced to help fund the JobsInitiative and clearly played an important role inthe positive jobs’ trend with 72,000 new jobshaving been created since the peak of the crisis in2012. As a result of the recent emerging economicrecovery, the 0.6% Pension Levy will end in 2014and the additional 0.15% Pension Levy will expireat the end of 2015. Minister Sherlock opening Glantane NS recently with Bishop Crean