TD for Longford & Westmeath
I am a man in a hurry. I like to get things done for people. I first entered local politics in 1999 and now, 20 years later, I have the honour and privilege to have served the people of Longford & Westmeath in Dail Eireann. I live in Cornamagh, Athlone, I am married to Michelle Fagg and we have two children.
My involvement in politics is driven by one simple aim – to improve the quality of life for people from all sections of the community, from those seeking work to the self-employed trying to run a business in difficult times. I have never been found wanting in trying to make the lives of ordinary people better.
I have a real passion for working on legislation and projects that bring communities together and make them stronger, from delivering government funding for Longford Westmeath, to bringing forward legislation to help ordinary people in their daily lives.
I also believe in fairness for everyone and righting wrongs such as changing legislation on repeat offenders.
When the shout went out for help during 2015 major flooding, I was not found wanting. And together with my Government colleagues,I am determined to find workable solutions to the flooding problems that have so badly affected families in so many parts of Longford & Westmeath.
I am also an avid sports enthusiast and a long-time supporter of the League of Ireland, GAA and Rugby. Longford & Westmeath is blessed with some great sportspeople who are dedicated to achieving great things at national and international level.
New legislation requires courts to take into account matters when deciding whether to grant a possession order.
Introduced as a follow-on from the “Keeping People in their Homes Bill” introduced by Independent Alliance Minister Kevin “Boxer” Moran in 2017, the Government’s Land and Conveyancing Law Reform (Amendment) Act 2019 (the “Act”). The Act was signed into law on 10 July 2019 and commenced on 1 August 2019.
Also new laws introducing stricter penalties for repeat sexual offenders have been approved.
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2018 introduces presumptive minimum sentences for repeat sex offenders.
The revised penalties for repeat sexual offenders are based on proposals brought forward by Minister of State Kevin “Boxer” Moran last year.
“I believe this is an important measure that needs to be taken”.
On the 12th of January 2020 the Government announced, €7m investment to advance a planned programme of maintenance works including removing constrictions or ‘pinch points’ on the bed of the River Shannon at the Callows Region between Athlone and Meelick Weir to improve the conveyancing of the River Shannon.
This investment as well as helping to manage flooding can support the tourism, navigation and agricultural sectors for this region, said the Minister.
The completed works estimated at €7m, will be met from the Office of Public Works (OPW) existing Voted funds and includes the costs for the full environmental assessments required to progress the works. Works will also be informed by public consultation.
The Shannon Group expects to complete a further study in 2020 to identify the cause, rate and degree of restriction over time in the Lower Shannon that may inform further strategic maintenance plans for the area.
A €2m initiative was launched in an effort to boost tourism across the midlands region.
‘Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands’ is the latest such brand to be launched by Fáilte Ireland following the success of the ‘Wild Atlantic Way’ and ‘Ireland’s Ancient East’.
The ‘Heartlands’ promotion covers parts of all four provinces of the country,
The River Shannon will be marketed as a key component of the brand, to encourage tourism both on and off the river, and in towns surrounding it.
A range of other outdoor pursuits will also be promoted, including walking, cycling and boating routes, as well as fishing and other activities.
The midlands can offer tourists a chance to be active in nature through activities like walking, cycling, angling and boating routes – all of which the Midlands can offer in abundance.
The scheme has the potential to transform the local and regional tourist industry and further funding will follow the initial €2m allocation.
The Minister of State for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief, Kevin Boxer Moran T.D. today announced that all children under 12 will be admitted for free to all Heritage Sites managed by the OPW Heritage Service. This initiative will commence on Saturday the 1st of July and will ensure that all children under 12 will have an opportunity to visit these sites for free with their families during the holiday period.
“I have set out to do this as one of my first acts as Minister for the OPW because I think there is a huge
opportunity here to encourage our children to experience some of the best cultural and heritage sites in the country,” the Minister said today.
“We have some wonderful places to visit like Clonmacnoise, Kilkenny Castle, Newgrange and the Rock of Cashel and I want every child to have an opportunity to visit them with their families during the summer holidays and up to the end of the year.”
The OPW offers free access to all school-going children under their Free Schools Visits programme and about 80,000 children availed of this during 2016. This Programme is intended to support the educational curriculum and children can, with their teachers, engage with many relevant aspects of their learning including art,history and social science at these historic & heritage locations throughout the country.
“We are already very active in the OPW in terms of facilitating children through the Free Schools Visits programme”said the Minister “and I want to extend that positive approach throughout the summer holiday period and beyond so that kids will learn to enjoy coming to these sites and see them as fun places to visit.”
OPW already offers free entry for children under 6 years of age and the Minister said he was anxious to reinforce the message that a visit to a Heritage site can be a great family day out for all ages: “I’d like to spread the message to families that wouldn’t normally think of coming to a heritage site and encourage them to make a visit. Admission fees at OPW sites are very reasonable and as the under 12’s are now to go free it will make for a very attractive and reasonably-priced day out for the whole family.”
The initiative will apply to all paid-admission sites operated by the OPW from Saturday the 1st of July 2017.
A significant new Bill aimed at keeping people in their homes is to be introduced to the Dáil later today by the Independent Alliance.
The Keeping People In Their Homes Bill 2017 provides protection to home owners facing repossession and provides clarity to Irish courts on examining the proportionality of granting or executing repossession orders on people’s homes.
Longford-Westmeath TD, Deputy, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran TD, of the Independent Alliance, who will introduce the Bill to the Dáil, says the legislation aims to change the way in which home repossession cases are decided upon in the Courts.
The Bill allows courts to consider the circumstances and impact of home loss on dependents and children in the household, Deputy Moran said. This means that courts can take into consideration the whole household’s circumstances and the impact that granting, adjourning, varying, postponing or executing an order for possession of a home would have on their lives.
The Bill has been drafted with the support of a group of concerned lawyers and housing law experts who have been working with home-owners at risk of home loss.
“This Bill can immediately help bring clarity and full and fair legal process to a devastating situation being faced by families every day,” Deputy Moran said. “It also provides a common sense and legal based solution that can help us meet the Independent Alliance’s commitment in the Programme for Partnership Government which states that we want to keep families in their homes and to avoid repossessions.”
“The loss of a home can be one of the most serious breaches of the right to respect for the home,” he continued. “Research shows that people who lose their homes are also at risk of a range of serious psychological difficulties, such as depression, frequent symptoms of psychological, social or somatic distress, feelings of painful loss, a continued longing and sense of helplessness.”
Some 30,000 households are at real and immediate risk of home loss in Ireland. Deputy Moran said that, at a minimum, this means that at least 100,000 people, including thousands of children, could be at risk of homelessness.
Dr. Padraic Kenna, Director of the Centre for Housing Law, Rights and Policy at NUI Galway, said that the inspiration for this Bill comes from European consumer, human rights and family law. The Bill will provide Irish courts with a clear Irish statutory basis to conduct a “proportionality assessment” in relation to possession orders.
“It seeks to humanise possession proceedings so that people and families who have no money, who have no choice, who have nowhere to go and who are facing the dire prospect of losing their family home, can be protected and supported,” Dr. Kenna said.
“Essentially, it means that when there is a choice between several appropriate measures to achieve the objectives legitimately pursued by legislation, then the court must adopt the least onerous one, and the disadvantages caused must not be disproportionate to the aims pursued.”
This Bill will enable Courts to consider the effect of the loss of a home on all the household members, in particular the impact on their physical and mental health. Courts will be able to examine any alternative arrangements that could prevent home loss; the effect of the loss of a home on children; or the availability of suitable alternative accommodation that will allow the household to live together. In addition, the Courts can consider the cost to the State of providing emergency accommodation and support services to the household in the event of home loss.
Julie Sadlier, a solicitor who has been representing people facing possession orders since the economic crash a decade ago, said that this legislation was long overdue.
“Most defendants before the Possession Courts are already prejudiced by the fact that they cannot afford representation,” she said. “The people I represent are ordinary people from every walk of life, who, though hard working, do not qualify for Personal Insolvency or Bank Restructure. They are couples in their fifties or sixties; they are young parents, who paid huge sums of money for very ordinary houses.
It is because of the fate of these ordinary people – our neighbours and friends – that the changes proposed in this Bill are so important. They will enable County Registrars and Judges to balance the interests of corporate lenders with the fundamental human rights of individual borrowers and their households, who face loss of home,” she concluded.
The Bill is an amendment to the existing Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009, which enables a lender to apply to the courts for an order of possession.
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