MATT CARTHY TD

”Common sense has prevailed” – Carthy welcomes government U-turn on Childcare funding on day of action

Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy has welcomed Fine Gael’s retraction of a proposed decision to cut essential funding to childcare services who are participating in a national demonstration next week.

The Cavan Monaghan General Election candidate said:

“I along with my colleagues in Sinn Féin will be proudly standing with demonstrators next Wednesday February 5th. Services are under enormous financial stress, with many telling us they face potential closures as a result. This essential sector has been pushed to the brink, and next Wednesday’s national demonstration, which has nearly 1400 services registered to attend, is evidence of this.”

Carthy welcomed the government U-turn “I think the reversal of the department’s position is only reasonable. Common sense has prevailed. I have spoken on a regular basis with many providers across Cavan and Monaghan. The current crisis in the Early Years/Childcare sector is the culmination of years of underinvestment and lack of proper consultation with the sector when introducing new policies and measures within the new National Childcare Scheme. ” ENDS

Brexit remains a real threat to Ireland despite withdrawal agreement – Carthy

Taking the floor of the European Parliament ahead of the debate to approve the Brexit withdrawal agreement, Matt Carthy MEP spoke about the injustice of the North of Ireland being dragged out of the EU against its democratically expressed wishes and the harm that Brexit still poses to the Irish economy.

Carthy, who is a candidate in the general election for Cavan/Monaghan, when addressing Brussels’ plenary said:

“This Friday, part of my country will be taken out of the European Union against the wishes of the vast majority of those who live there.

“I am proud of Sinn Féin’s record in this parliament and elsewhere, in working to ensure that the repercussions of Brexit for the north of Ireland, the border region and our entire island have been minimised in this withdrawal agreement.

“But, the fact remains, that from this weekend, one part of Ireland will be in the EU while another part will operate outside.  The future trading relationship between Britain and the EU could yet create unprecedented difficulties for the Irish economy and vulnerable sectors, particularly agriculture.

“So, much work remains to be done, and Sinn Féin will be a leading voice in protecting Ireland’s interests in the trade negotiations, calling for mitigation measures from any Brexit fallout and presenting the case for Irish Unity as a crucial mechanism to withstand the worst excesses of British tory policies which have no mandate in any part of Ireland”.

Speaking after the vote Carthy confirmed that Sinn Féin had voted in favour of the withdrawal agreement. He added:

“There is no such thing as a good Brexit for Ireland, but the Withdrawal Agreement and Protocol is the least worst option.

“Our priority has to be safeguarding the all-Ireland economy and ensuring there is absolutely no hardening of the border on the Island of Ireland”.

END

Sinn Féin will tackle the insurance rip-off ‘head-on’ – Carthy

Rip-off insurance premiums for drivers, creches, leisure businesses and other sectors will be tackled head-on if Sinn Féin are in government, general election candidate Matt Carthy said this week.

The Sinn Féin representative said that neither Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil understand the extent and nature of the insurance crisis and ‘continue to parrot the spin of the insurance industry’.

Carthy said:

“One of the scandals of recent times issues that has been the ever-increasing insurance costs faced by drivers, families and businesses.

“This scandal has a particular impact on rural counties like Monaghan where young drivers, who have no public transport options available to them, are being quoted astronomical prices while experienced, accident-free, drivers see their premiums hiked for no fathomable reason.

“In addition, creches, leisure facilities and community groups in this county are struggling with huge jumps in their premiums this year, while some have found it difficult to source an insurance quote at all.  Businesses have told me that insurance costs are the primary factor in their struggles to keep afloat.

“It is clear that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have failed to understand the enormity of this issue.  Instead they continue to quote CSO figures that were definitively debunked by the Central Bank in December of last year.

“Fine Gael continue to peddle the line that that the average car insurance premium has reduced by 27% quoting CSO figures that Sinn Féin has exposed as untrue for a number of years.  Just last month, the definitive Central Bank report on the cost of claims and price of premiums in the motor insurance sector showed that since 2016, the average motor insurance premium has risen by 17% in three years.

“And both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil continue to parrot the line of the insurance industry by claiming that rising insurance costs are solely the result of what they called ‘dodgy and spurious claims’.

“In fact, under questioning by Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson, Pearse Doherty, in the Finance Committee last year, insurance companies admitted to reporting as little as 1 percent of claims to the Gardaí for fraud.

“The Central Bank report also showed that the frequency of claims has actually fallen by 40 percent in the past decade, while the average premium rose by 42 percent.

“A strong mandate for Sinn Féin in the upcoming election will allow us to tackle the insurance rip-off.  We will ban dual pricing by insurance companies, set up a Garda Insurance Fraud Unit and bring down prices for consumers and businesses who are seeing costs soar.

“Pearse Doherty has already made an impact in this area.  I hope that Pauline Tully and I will be in the next Dáil to work with him in delivering a real break for Monaghan workers, families and businesses”.

ENDS

Sinn Féin will deliver the largest public housing building programme in the history of the State – Matt Carthy

Sinn Féin General Election candidate for Cavan/Monaghan, Matt Carthy MEP, has said that his party, in government, “will deliver the largest public housing building programme in the history of the State” helping to take people off the local council’s housing list and supporting those who wish to purchase their own home.

He also confirmed that a Sinn Féin housing minister will reduce rents by up to €1,500 per year and introduce an emergency three year rent freeze to support private renters.

He said: “In 2016, Fine Gael launched their flagship housing policy ‘Rebuilding Ireland’ with the support of Fianna Fáil.

“They promised to fix our broken housing system, but instead they have made things worse, with rents and levels of homelessness spiralling ever higher. This is seen clearly in County Monaghan where there are now over 1,300 families on the council’s housing lists, most of which are waiting several years for a home.

“Renters in some parts of this county are paying up to 50% of their income on accommodation and in Carrickmacross, for example, rents are now between €900 to €1100 a month.  How can anyone save for a mortgage with such exorbitant outgoings?

“An entire generation of young people in Monaghan and around the State are locked out of ever owning their own home.

“All of this is because of bad policies enacted for over three decades by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments.  They under-invested in public housing.  They over-relied on the private sector to meet social and affordable housing need and failed to protect renters from the volatility of the market.  They saddled working people with unsustainable levels of debt.

“Sinn Féin wants to change all of that.  We want to be in government to break with the failed policies of the past and implement a completely new approach to housing by committing to delivering the largest public housing building programme in the history of the State.

‘Over the lifetime of the next government we will:

• Deliver 100,000 public homes on public land; including 60,000 social homes, 30,000 affordable purchase homes and 10,000 affordable rental homes.
  • Affordable purchase homes would be available at, and below €250,000.
  • Affordable rental homes would be available at, and below €900 per month.
  • Eligibility for affordable housing would be set at €50,000 for a single person and €75,000 for a couple.

“A Sinn Féin Minister for Housing would also take emergency action to address the rental crisis by reducing rents by up to €1,500 a year with a refundable tax credit, alongside introducing a three year freeze on all existing and new rents.

“This would be accompanied by increasing the stock of affordable rental accommodation and reducing the State’s reliance on subsidised private rental accommodation to meet social need.

“Our housing manifesto is fully costed and can be delivered without additional government borrowing, or additional taxes on workers earning less than €100,000 per year.  This is the type of vision that Monaghan families and workers need and it is the vision that Sinn Féin will deliver in government, should voters place their trust in us on February 8^th”.

ENDS

Fine Gael have run out of ideas for Irish Farming – Carthy

Sinn Féin MEP and Cavan Monaghan General Election candidate, Matt Carthy, speaking in response to the Fine Gael agriculture ‘proposals’ this week said:

“Fine Gael are promising more of the same at a time when many farmers fear for their future and require a radical new approach from government.

“The Fine Gael proposals offer no new solutions despite the fact that many family farmers are facing unprecedented challenges.  They do not plan to seek fundamental reform of the CAP to make it fairer or to bring in any new financial supports to protect the family farm model.

“Sinn Fein in contrast, will seek to end all direct payments to factory feedlots in the next CAP and to limit direct payments to maximum of €60,000 in order to ensure an increased distribution to the majority of family farms.

“Beef farmers need emergency measures that recognise the extremity of the situation many of them face.  In the first instance Sinn Féin will provide €200 per cow for the first 15 cows to these farmers.  Sheep farmers require higher ewe payments while additional funding in the ANC Scheme most be provided and delivered to those farmers operating in the areas of highest constraint.

“Ultimately, farmers need a fair price for their produce.  Only Sinn Fein is committed to tackling the strangle-hold of the processing and retailing sectors that results in farmers producing at a loss while the profits from their labours go to these conglomerates.

“Fine Gael make promises to cut taxes for higher income earners but ignore that farmers need tax relief and greater tax flexibility that reflects the realities of their sector.  They plan to increase the pension age to 68 when we should be encouraging generational renewal, Sinn Féin are committed to allowing those who wish to be able to retire at 65.

“Farmers still have reason to be fearful of Brexit and developments at EU level.  It is entirely disingenuous of Leo Varadkar to speak of protecting the CAP budget.  It was his actions in committing Ireland to paying increased contributions to the EU budget without securing any commitment regarding how that money would be spent that allowed the commission to propose an increased EU budget but with a reduced CAP.  Sinn Féin will not support any European budget that does not include increased CAP provision.

“Fine Gael will support any EU trade deal regardless of its implications for Irish agriculture.  That they haven’t yet rejected the Mercosur trade deal is deeply worrying.  Sinn Féin will not support any trade deal that fails to protect the interests of our economy, the environment and our most important indigenous sector.

“On all of these issues the positions of Fine Gael reflect those of Fianna Fáil.  They represent ‘more of the same’ when radical reform is required.  Sinn Féin, in government, will immediately establish a Commission of the future of the Irish Family Farm comprising of independent experts, farming representatives and statutory agencies who will be tasked with producing a comprehensive set of proposals aimed at saving our family farm network which will be implemented by a Sinn Féin Minister for Agriculture”.

ENDS

Government indifference to Monaghan GP crisis must end – Matt Carthy

Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy has said that counties like Cavan and Monaghan are experiencing a GP crisis because successive Fianna Fail and Fine Gael governments have abandoned the concept of family doctors in the constituency.

Carthy, who is running in the General Election for the Cavan/Monaghan constituency, claimed that the number of doctors who can no longer accept new patients is at crisis levels while delays in securing appointments is causing huge frustration.  Governments have been warned by GPs, patients and Sinn Féin representatives of this impending situation for years but chose to ignore all warnings.

Matt Carthy said:

“I regularly speak to people who tell of their difficulty in securing an appointment with a GP.  I have spoken to GPs who are angered because they are on the front line of this government failure.

“This time last year, GPs, led by the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP), protested outside the Dáil.  They rightly accused successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments of ‘abandoning’ general practice.  But, we have seen no corrective action since.

“On RTÉ’s Clare Byrne Live Health debate County Monaghan was referenced as the most neglected county in the state when it comes to GP care.  That is an indictment of every Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil that has kept this government in power.

“There are simply not enough GPs in Monaghan to serve the people here. 70% of practices outside of Dublin are not in a position to register any new patients as they are already operating beyond capacity.  And, there are over 700 GPs due to retire within the next 5 years, a potential timebomb for our primary health services.

“Dr. Denis McCauley, the Chair of the IMO GP Committee, has actually highlighted Monaghan as the county facing the most severe shortage due to no new GPs replacing those that are retiring.  According to the IMO one in every four GPs plan to retire in the next five years but that rate is almost twice as high in Monaghan.  Many of the doctors set to retire in the coming years have no one to replace them.

“Monaghan is clearly bearing the brunt of government failure in this area.  If part of the next government Sinn Féin are committed to addressing this issue as a matter of urgency.  We will reverse the cuts which were imposed over the past decade and we will invest in capacity of general practice in Cavan/Monaghan and across the state.  Sinn Féin want to ensure that everyone is entitled to two free GP visits per year as part of our commitment to give families and workers a break but we recognise that, in order to deliver that, we need to invest in GP services and incentivise new doctors into the system.

“This will be part of a comprehensive investment plan in our public services that will benefit communities like those I seek to represent in Cavan/Monaghan.  We need a change of government to deliver that investment and Sinn Féin are determined to lead that change”.

END

Sinn Féin will resist FF/FG plans to increase the pension age – Matt Carthy

Sinn Féin MEP and General Election candidate, Matt Carthy, has said that the government plans, which are supported by Fianna Fáil, to increase the State pension age to 68 are ‘wrong, unfair and don’t represent the values of the Irish people’.

Carthy, who is running in the Cavan/Monaghan constituency, said everyone has the ‘unquestioned right’ to retire on a State pension at 65 because “at that age, they will have done their heavy lifting, they will have worked hard, paid their bills and paid their taxes to this State”.

He continued:

“But Fine Gael and their partners in Fianna Fáil don’t see it that way.  They don’t believe that 65-year-olds are entitled to a State pension, and they don’t believe that people who have worked for more than four decades deserve it.

“Six years ago, Fine Gael raised the pensionable age to 66.  They have spent their time in government eroding entitlements of retirees while ensuring that millionaire business executives are treated to sweet-heart tax breaks.

“In contrast, Sinn Féin in opposition has battled for retirees because we understand that we are not talking about some abstract age bracket on a page – we are talking about our parents, grandparents, families, friends and our neighbours.

“We are talking about the people who have provided the resources to build our hospitals, our schools and our roads and they are entitled to respect and dignity.

“They shouldn’t be put on jobseekers’ payments for two years.  Quite frankly that it is an insult.

“Sinn Féin stands up for workers, and we will stand up for a fair State pension age.

“In government, Sinn Féin will reintroduce the State pension for 65 year olds who choose to retire and we will legislate to protect the rights of those who wish to keep working.

“I hope that myself and Pauline Tully will be part of the team that defends the rights of workers to retire with dignity at 65 if that is their wish”.

ENDS

‘Home help waiting lists are serious indictment of government’ – Carthy

The fact that 303 people were waiting on home help in the Cavan/Monaghan area, according to the latest HSE figures, ‘is a serious indictment of the government’, according to Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy.

The Midlands Northwest MEP made the comment after Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson, Louise O’Reilly revealed figures she had obtained from a parliamentary question to the HSE earlier this month.

The latest statistics showed there were 303 people waiting on home help hours in the Cavan/Monaghan area, the highest number in the HSE’s CHO1 area, which includes Donegal and Sligo/Leitrim.

Carthy said the numbers represented 303 families who were ‘desperately waiting for help for their loved ones so they can be cared for in their own homes’ and were a result of a government freeze on home help hours since last year.

He said:

“The government policy of freezing the allocation of home help hours in the third quarter of 2019 means that the numbers of local people waiting has exploded.

“On one hand, the stated government policy is to have people stay in their own homes for as long as possible, preventing them from needlessly entering hospitals and nursing homes, but on the other, the policy is to stop allocating home help hours.

“It is a ridiculous situation and a tragic one for the older people who are waiting.  These people are assessed as needing and being entitled to the care, but they are subject to a postcode lottery for who gets these vital services and who doesn’t.

“These figures show how Fine Gael and their government partners, Fianna Fail, are utterly failing older people in Monaghan and Cavan, and around the State”.

ENDS

Latest Farm Protests signal of despair within rural communities – Matt Carthy

The latest farmers’ protest in Dublin on Wednesday ‘clearly shows that beef farmers are at breaking point’, according to Monaghan MEP and general election candidate, Matt Carthy.

The Sinn Féin representative confirmed that he has been in contact with members of the protest, which gathered in Dublin city centre, and that he supports their demands for a fair prices for beef in order to sustain their livelihoods and the communities depending on them.

Matt Carthy said:

“This latest protest, which saw some 400 tractors on the streets of Dublin, highlights, yet again, that farmers are at breaking point in counties like Monaghan because, despite the promises of Minister Michael Creed and the government, nothing has improved for farmers since they last protested in November 2019.

“I have been in contact with members of the protest and have assured them of my support and that of Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.  This government, just as successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments, has shown complete disregard for farm families and rural communities.

“The ongoing Beef Taskforce has yet to deliver the required reforms and this farmers have returned to the streets of Dublin to signal their despair.

“Throughout recent years farmers have articulated the crisis they are in.  Rather than enacting real and meaningful measures to address that crisis the government has overseen its exacerbation.  The free rein that has been given to the factories and retailers to manipulate the market position of farmers has been such that the emergence of these types of protest has come as no surprise.

“Farmers are not asking for anything radical: they are simply requesting that they receive a fair price for their product and a guarantee that they will be paid more than the cost of production.

“Unless the underlying issues of inequalities that are the hallmarks of the beef sector in Ireland today are addressed, once and for all, then these protests will continue.  I commend those farmers who have taking a stand and who have now placed the challenges they face at the centre of this election campaign.

“For our part, Sinn Féin will continue to stand with farmers on the picket line for as long as it takes because we understand that without our family farmers rural Ireland as we know it will not survive.  In government we will enact the legislative measures necessary to ensure that farmers receive a fair price for their product – we will stand up to the beef barons and multinational retailers!”

ENDS

Matt Carthy confirms he will run in General Election

Co Monaghan man, Matt Carthy, has confirmed that he will seek the Sinn Féin nomination to contest the upcoming General Election in the Cavan Monaghan constituency.  Carthy’s name will go before a reconvened constituency convention will take place this coming Thursday evening in the Hotel Errigal, Cootehill.

Speaking today Matt Carthy said:

“Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has been an outstanding representative for Cavan Monaghan and a pivotal and important leader within Sinn Féin, especially since his election to the Dáil in 1997.  In the first instance I want to ensure that his legacy of hard work and dedication to the people of this constituency is maintained following his planned retirement from elected office.

“But, I also believe that further delivery for these counties requires strengthened republican representation in Leinster House and that requires two Sinn Féin TDs to be returned.  Previously myself and Pauline Tully were selected as candidates but that convention lapsed when Fianna Fáil refused to force an election and we were instead subjected to two more years of government failures.

“I am hopeful that this Thursday Sinn Féin members will re-affirm their previous decision to allow Pauline & I to contest the General Election to win two seats.

“I am a proud Monaghan man – I can think of no greater honour than to be elected to the Dáil by the people of my home constituency.

“Monaghan is a great county, but we have been let down by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments.  Those parties have failed miserably: they have decimated our hospital and local health services, they have refused to provide the necessary investment in jobs and infrastructure and they have allowed our families to struggle while they play their games in the Dáil without adopting the policies necessary to address the crises they have created in our public services and in rural communities.  Our families are being ripped off with colossal insurance costs, high rents and mortgages, childcare costs and stealth charges.

“I believe that there is a better way – that Sinn Féin in government can and will have the courage to put families and communities before insurance companies, bankers and vulture funds.  That Cavan Monaghan can receive our fair share of investment in public services, in health services, in job creation so that our young people don’t constantly have to leave their home communities in search of employment.

“I have loved being a member of the European Parliament.  I hope my record speaks for itself in terms of representation and delivery both at EU level and within each of the counties in my constituency.  I am especially proud of my work in bringing the voice of the Irish people to the heart of the Brexit negotiations.

“But, these are important times.  For the last four years we have had a Fine Gael government, propped up by Fianna Fáil, that hasn’t worked for the Irish people.  The government expended more energy defending their decision to commemorate the RIC than they have in listening to the needs of our communities.

“I want to be part of that team that delivers a better, fairer, united Ireland.

“Of course, it will be the voters who will decide whether I can play that role.  Over the coming weeks I will be asking the people of Monaghan to allow me to continue the great work of Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and to build on his legacy.

“I want to be one of two Sinn Féin TDs, alongside Pauline Tully, representing the great communities of Cavan Monaghan and North Meath, and I will leave no stone unturned in that bid.

“From my period as a councillor, as a MEP and as a community activist I believe I have proven myself to be a hard worker with the experience, energy and commitment that will allow the voters of Cavan Monaghan to entrust me with the mandate to now represent them in Leinster House”.

ENDS