Nessa's Blog
Ireland should fully embrace European label initiative
Posted on March 10, 2010 by Andy White
The new EU-wide European Heritage Label initiative launched today by the European Commission should be fully embraced by the government in order to build on Ireland’s potential as a significant cultural tourism destination, Labour MEP Nessa Childers said.
She said: “I am disappointed that Ireland had not been involved in the initial stages of the project given the stated importance of niche cultural tourism to the Irish economy which has been trumpeted at both the celebrated Global Irish Forum in Farmleigh and in the government’s own Building Ireland’s Smart Economy strategy.
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Childers welcomes new EU stance on climate talks
Posted on March 09, 2010 by Andy White
Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg today Nessa Childers welcomed the new EU stance on climate talks.
She was speaking in reaction to the Commission’s proposals for shaping the international negotiation process in the run-up to the Cancun conference at the end of 2010.
Nessa Childers, Ireland’s only full member of the European Parliament Environment Committee said: “I welcome the new stance taken by the Commission on the possibility of moving to a 30 per cent target cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
“The Commission now states it will propose moving to the higher target 'if conditions are right'. This is a new stance which means that we will no longer be held hostage by the climate laggards in the US and China. It also signals that the new Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard is taking a more ambitious line.
"The Commissioner has said she will prepare an analysis of practical measures that would be required to implement a possible reduction of emissions up to 30%, including an analysis of contributions required by different sectors. In such a depressing period for all those who care about the international climate change talks, this is a welcome development.
“The EU leadership always insists that Europe leads by example on this issue, well it is now time to start proving it. I believe that reaching higher targets on emissions is now much more achievable than first thought. There is a clear economic win-win involved in pursuing higher targets too.
“Reductions in GHG emissions of 30 per cent or even higher would have a revolutionary impact on European economies. It would help create the dynamic and the demand needed to drive the development of the clean energy sector, leading to a massive increase in indigenous and sustainable green jobs.”
"Ahead of meeting of EU Environment Ministers on 15 March, I call on Environment Minister John Gormley to exert influence at this meeting to push the EU toward this higher emissions cut target as soon as possible."
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Pet passport agreement will help keep Ireland rabies free Childers tells Parliament
Posted on March 09, 2010 by Andy White
Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg last night, Nessa Childers MEP told members that an agreement on a new ‘pet passports’ system would help keep countries such as Ireland rabies-free.
The Labour MEP said: “The case of a 38 year old woman who died in Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast last year was a timely reminder of the ongoing threat posed by rabies to Ireland.
“It is believed that she contracted the disease while trying to break up a fight between two dogs while on a working holiday to South Africa. More recently four people had to receive preventative injections in Dublin after an illegally imported kitten bit them.
“Rabies is one of the oldest zoonotic diseases which affects humans and is invariably fatal once symptoms have occurred. While we are lucky in Ireland not to have had an indigenous case of rabies since 1903, global travel patterns mean that the disease is never far from our door.
“It is for this reason that Ireland practices strict quarantines of imported animals, and it is only because of these stringent measures that we are able to maintain our status as rabies-free.
“In order to continue this record it is crucial that the transitional agreement, which this proposal would extend until the end of next year, is not allowed to lapse in July 2010.
“The additional safeguards contained in the proposed report are also crucial to both human and animal health, as they will help the fight not just against rabies but also against specific ticks and tapeworms from which Ireland is currently free.
“By accepting this proposal, Mr. President, this house would facilitate the fight against rabies not only in Ireland, but would also provide a base for its eradication across Europe. For these reasons the urgency of this matter must not go understated.”
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Childers wants Irish Angling protected by reformed common fisheries policy
Posted on March 02, 2010 by Andy White
Recreational angling, an integral part of Ireland’s sporting life and a major tourism pull-factor should be protected in the new Common Fisheries Policy, Nessa Childers MEP told the European Parliament today.
She warned that attempts to impose controls on shore angling and to deduct these catches from the quotas of the commercial industry could have a serious affect on earnings in Ireland’s already troubled tourist industry.
Childers, a member of the European Parliament's Culture and Education Committee, argued that its low status compared to commercial fishing should not allow the importance of recreational angling to be ignored in the new Policy.
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Childers slams EU double standards on question of human rights in Israel
Posted on March 01, 2010 by Andy White
Labour MEP Nessa Childers today accused the European Union of applying “a policy of double-standards” on the question of human rights in its relationship with Israel.
She said that the EU’s economic treatment of Israel compared to other countries involved in human rights abuses left Europe wide open to the fully warranted charge of hypocrisy in the conduct of its external relations.
Nessa Childers explained: "Recently, the EU rightly withdrew preferential trade benefits from Sri Lanka due to well documented human rights abuses. Yet the EU consistently refuses to use the same logic with Israel, despite years of well documented, high-profile cases of ongoing human rights abuses.
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Minister Martins Gaza visit can kick start push for peace in the region
Posted on February 25, 2010 by Andy White
Labour MEP Nessa Childers, who was the most recent senior Irish politician to be allowed access to Gaza has said that Minister Micheál Martin’s visit to Gaza can help to “kick-start talks on a peace settlement in the region.”
The MEP who visited Gaza last month with a group of politicians from 13 separate countries said: “Having been to Gaza in January where I met with elected members of Hamas including disputed Prime Minister of the Palestinian government Ismail Haniva, I remain convinced that the EU and Ireland in particular can play an enormously positive role acting as a persuader and facilitator in assisting moves towards a peaceful and just settlement of the Palestinian question.
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Childers highlights SRT workers plight in European Parliament
Posted on February 25, 2010 by Andy White
Nessa Childers MEP highlighted the plight of former SR Technics workers in the European Parliament today.
Speaking in the Parliament, she expressed her concerns that former workers have been denied places at third-level colleges because of ongoing delays by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in processing an application for support for the workers to up-skill under the European Globalisation Fund.
The Leinster MEP said: he patience of redundant SR Technics workers living in the counties of Meath, Louth, Wicklow, Kildare and Dublin is being sorely tested at the moment by the Irish government.
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Childers welcomes ambitious EU cancer screeing targets
Posted on February 23, 2010 by Andy White
Nessa Childers MEP has welcomed ambitious plans being developed by the European Union to achieve 100% screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer by 2013.
The target is contained in a draft report by the Environment, Public Health & Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament. The Labour MEP for Leinster contributed to the development of the report which is entitled the European Partnership for Action Against Cancer.
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Childers criticises government over second rate approach to sexual health services
Posted on February 22, 2010 by Andy White
Labour MEP Nessa Childers called on new EU Health Commissioner John Dalli to apply pressure on the Irish government over its “second-rate approach to sexual health,” claiming that poor access and geographic restrictions on sexual health services are contributing to “a burgeoning health catastrophe in Ireland.”
In one of the first questions directed at the recently installed Maltese Commissioner, Childers outlined the sub-standard services currently available in Ireland.
"In many parts of my Leinster constituency, particular in its northern counties, people are forced to travel up to 90 kilometres and in some instances pay up to €160 in order to have their sexual health monitored.
"1 in 100 people will contract an STI in their lifetime. This is a relatively large statistic, particularly when it is applied to young people. Nationally, notifications for STIs have increased steadily each year since 1994, increasing by 6.5% between 2002 and 2003 for example. Services should exist to provide STI checks free of charge and within easy access of our main towns and cities.
"Currently only Carlow and Portlaoise provide a free STI check up in the area I represent. This leaves a large proportion of the constituency, particularly Louth, Meath, Offaly and Kildare, critically under-served by sexual health clinics. These financial and geographical restrictions have no doubt contributed to the sharp rise of infections in Ireland over the past decade or so.
"For example, STI clinics at hospitals in Naas, Navan, Drogheda and Dundalk one day a week would serve the needs of these areas and require relatively little investment in infrastructure or staff.
"The government already charges almost three times the amount of VAT (13.5%) on condoms as other areas of the EU such as our nearest neighbours in the UK. The government cannot lecture Irish men and women on sexual health when it is not prepared to take the necessary measures to tackle this problem itself. It must pull its head from the sand and act on a burgeoning health catastrophe in Ireland
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The Government needs a new initiative to tackle sexual health problems in Ireland
Posted on February 19, 2010 by Eamonn O'Gara
It was recently brought to my attention that constituents in many parts of my Ireland East constituency, particular in its northern counties, have to travel up to ninety kilometres and pay up to 160 euro in order to monitor their sexual health.
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