Reopen closed beds in WGH now

Sinn Féin’s Cllr. Anthony Kelly has called upon the HSE to reopen thirty nine closed beds at Wexford General Hospital immediately.  The call from the general election candidate comes after a nationwide report from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation identified 1,672 beds closed, despite the fact that emergency departments are severely overcrowded at this time.

“The latest INMO survey confirms that a process of downgrading by stealth has been carried out on hospitals across this nation,” Cllr Kelly said.  “Wexford General has lost thirty nine beds.  These beds must be reopened immediately to give our patients back their dignity.  The overcrowding crisis in our hospital is manageable, but it will require original thought, prompt action and a bit of compassion, things which our current Minister for Health sadly lacks.  Sinn Féin fully supports the INMO in their call for the reopening of these beds.  We have campaigned against the downgrading of our health service right across the country, and have called for real reform of the Irelands health service for many years now.”

Cllr Kelly, a long term advocate of a fairer, more efficient health service, went on to commend frontline staff for their patience and dedication in the face of such incompetence from the Health Minister.  “The Minister for Health might be useless, and the HSE horribly mismanaged but our frontline health workers have continued to do a superb job, and the staff of Wexford General Hospital in particular must be praised for never letting our county down,” Cllr Kelly said.  “Their service can form the basis of a new national health service that will provide the highest quality care appropriate to the needs of each individual. That is the health service that Sinn Féin aims to build in a new Ireland.”

Refusal of Welfare to returning emigrants is despicable – Kelly

Contact Anthony if you have experienced
problems with your welfare
ph: 087-1361785

Cllr Anthony Kelly has slammed the government for turning its back on returning emigrants following fresh evidence of a crackdown on their claims for social welfare.  The Sinn Féin general election candidate in County Wexford was responding to a report issued by migrant advice group, Crosscare, which stated that a growing number of returning emigrants were being refused welfare, often on spurious grounds related to the recession.

“Once again the government are treating Irish citizens like dirt,” Cllr Kelly said.  “This report says that Irish citizens were refused social welfare entitlements on the grounds that they had reduced their chances of getting a job by returning to Ireland.  It’s outrageous.   If this is allowed to continue, then our young Wexford emigrants who are working abroad on visa’s will be denied welfare when they get home.  I won’t stand for that and Sinn Féin will fight this.  I am urging anyone living in County Wexford who experienced this to contact me immediately.”

Department of Social Protection figures show 1,723 Irish nationals were refused welfare payments because they did not satisfy “habitual residency rules” in 2008 and 2009, compared to 853 in the previous two-year period.  These figures do not include details on the number of people refused supplementary welfare allowance – emergency payments handled by the Health Service Executive (HSE). The HSE does not collect these statistics.

Kelly calls on government to “bail out” County Wexford’s Rate payers

Sinn Féin General Election hopeful, Cllr Anthony Kelly, has called upon the government to give a financial aid package to county Wexford’s struggling rate payers.  He added if the government could justify pumping money into failed banks, then it could surely see the rationale behind stopping more local businesses from closing down.  Cllr Kelly made the comments after being approached by a number of struggling business people who made it clear to him that unless change is made to the current system of rates, they will have no choice but to close their doors.

“I’ve been a member of the local authority for over a decade and know full well the importance of those rates to the local councils, but crippling businesses and eventually bankrupting them cannot be allowed,” cllr Kelly said.  “It is up to central government to release adequate funding to the local authorities so that we may avoid these ludicrously high rates.”

“I’m calling on County Wexford’s outgoing TDs, and more importantly on those candidates who will occupy those positions after the next general election to make a solemn oath that they will demand major reform to local government to avoid the utterly devastating taxes being placed on our local businesses.  I can promise you one thing, if I am one of those newly elected Wexford TDs, I will be making a strong stand on this issue and demanding that change is made.”

Fill the Potholes or face the taxpayer

“Fill the potholes or face the taxpayer,” was the dire message delivered to Wexford Borough council by Sinn Féin’s Anthony Kelly last week.  Cllr Kelly had his motion calling for the immediate repair of county Wexford’s crippled road network passed at the monthly meeting of the Borough council.

“Everyone knows that County Wexford’s local authorities are cash strapped. It’s an obvious effect of the economic climate in which we live,” Cllr Kelly said, shortly after the meeting had ended.  “Families across this county are cash strapped too, but they still find the money to pay their road tax. It’s a disgrace that they have to drive on roads that resemble the face of the moon and pay for the privilege.”

Cllr Kelly, County Wexford’s Sinn Féin candidate in the next general election, went on to say that he had received phone calls and emails from across the county, begging him to do something to deal with the pothole plague.  “From Ross to Gorey, it’s the same old story – potholes, burst tyres, damaged cars and more bills for the ordinary Joe soap.  One of the things that I will be campaigning for in the upcoming election will be the creation of a special fund to improve roads damaged by our recent hard winters.”