Robert Dowds @robert_dowdsTD Mobile: 087 652 0360 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.robertdowds.ie Constituency Office: Main Street, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 Tel: 618 3446 CONTACT ROBERT: I am very pleased that the Government is continuing to cut politicians pay for a third time. I feel very strongly that politicians need to take large pay cuts when the Government is cutting the public sector pay bill. To give an example of how these pay cuts for politicians are taking effect, the Taoiseach will be earning €100,000 less than what Bertie Ahern was earning when he was in office and there will be big cuts for Ministers and TDs too. At a time when the Government needs to cut the public sector pay bill to sort out the country's finances, this is only right and I am very happy that the Government is cutting politicians pay. CUTTING POLITICIANS’ PAY ACROSS THE BOARD Ken Kinsella has recently been appointed as a Local Area Representative for the Bawnogue and Clondalkin Area. Ken is 32 years old and from Oakwood in Clondalkin. He is a past President of IT Tallaght Students' Union, is a former youth worker, and has been involved with many groups and organisations in the area including Tallaght Rugby Club, Clondalkin Swimming Club and Round Towers GAA club. After being selected, Ken said: "I strongly believe that by working together we can ensure that the economic reality won’t stop us from progressing as a community. My goal is to work hard for the all those in my community. As a member of the Labour Party for over 10 years, I have campaigned on not just at election times but also on student issues in Tallaght IT as Union President and on local issues that affect us all." "As a former youth worker (North City Centre Community Action project) I firmly believe that the most cost effective, and positive intervention in the fight against anti-social behaviour begins in the community. I am committed to providing support and help to those in the community who have been forgotten. I am an advocate of youth diversion programmes developed in the community through the work of local sports clubs and community groups. I am proud to have contributed to the development of our community through involvement of sporting clubs such as Tallaght Rugby Club, Clondalkin Swimming Club and as a junior member of Round Towers GAA Club. I will listen to your concerns and worries and make representation on your behalf where possible and to the best of my ability. If there is anything you feel I could help you out with or if you would like to discuss any of the above with me further please feel free to contact me via the details on the back of this page. I look forward to hearing from you." KEN KINSELLA APPOINTED LABOUR LOCAL AREA REP DOWDS'S WORK TACKLING WHITE COLLAR CRIMINALS LEADS TO BOOST FOR FRAUD SQUAD "Over the past year, I have been repeatedly raising the issue of tackling white collar crime and the need to catch those involved in high level fraud. I uncovered in November that the number of convictions for certain white collar crimes had plummeted by as much as 50% between 2003-2010. I also uncovered that the Garda Fraud squad had only 2 qualified forensic accountants working for it to tackle all the white collar crime in the country. This is nowhere near enough and I have been pressing the Government for months to increase the resources it devotes to tackling white collar crime. "By shining a light on this area, I had hoped that the Government would give the Gardaí more resources to catch white collar criminals. I am very glad that at a recent meeting of the Public Accounts Committee, the Garda Commissioner confirmed to me that the Government had approved the funding to double the number of full time forensic accountants working for the Fraud Squad to 4. This is very welcome, but I think we need to continue to make sure the Gardaí have the resources they need to catch white collar criminals. "Ireland has suffered enormously due to the actions of a small number of reckless bankers, and it makes me very angry that 5 years after the collapse of our economy, nobody has been held to account. I will continue to pressure the Government to make sure tackling white collar crime is a high priority and that the Garda Fraud Squad has the resources it needs to catch those involved in high level fraud." Robert Dowds has congratulated Breeda Bonner on her hard work in getting the Old Nangor Road widened to improve child and pedestrian safety. Breeda made the issue of widening the Old Nangor Road a priority as soon as she was co-opted on to the council and has worked hard for two years to get the council to improve safety for the hundreds of schoolchildren and pedestrians who walk along it every day. Breeda said: "After two years of trying to get the money for this, I am very glad that we the widening of the Old Nangor Road is nearly finished. This stretch of road was very dangerous for the hundreds of schoolchildren, parents and pedestrians who were walking along it every day, and it was quite simply a tragic accident waiting to happen. I am glad that it has been widened and that the work is nearly complete. I want to thank the council for finding the money to get the road widened, and I very much hope that it will significantly improve road safety for all the pedestrians who walk along it every day." Breeda on Nangor Road DOWDS CONGRATULATES BONNER ON IMPROVING SAFETY AS OLD NANGOR ROAD WORK NEARS COMPLETION Robert Dowds TD Working with Cllr. Breeda Bonner CLONDALKIN UPDATE Summer 2013