Submission: Volunteering in the 21st Century
To National Committee on Volunteering
Publication date: November 2001
A public awareness campaign is required which asserts volunteering as the essential and basic component of the voluntary/community sector. Further education and training programmes should be provided for voluntary sector personnel with specific provision for the needs of volunteers. A range of measures and initiatives is required at both national and local levels to promote and support volunteering in the context of active citizenship.
Submission: National Spatial Strategy
Publication date: October 2001
This submission is concerned with the role of the National Spatial Strategy in the future development of public social services. It addresses the integration, co-ordination, accessibility (geographic, physical and intellectual access) and social inclusiveness of those services. It also considers the implementation structures which may be required if the NSS is to be effective and the involvement of citizens in those structures is to be assured.
Submission: National Spatial Strategy
Submission: Immigration and Residence Bill
Publication date: August 2001
We consider that a new Immigration and Residence Bill is essential in order to set out a clear framework of rights both for applicants to enter Ireland and for non-EU nationals who take up residence here. The Government's right to control immigration must be exercised fairly and transparently and with due regard for the rights of the individuals involved. The legislation does not need to, and, in our view, should not deal with policy issues such as numbers, quotas etc., but should rather deal with the rights of immigrants.
Submission: Immigration and Residence Bill
Submission: Health Strategy
Publication date: July 2001
This submission concentrates on those areas of the health services with which citizens experience difficulties. Our concentration is on entitlement, service delivery and citizen involvement in the planning and delivery of services. We also outline issues of particular relevance to disadvantaged groups, including people with disabilities.
Submission: Civil Registration Modernisation Programme
Publication date: June 2001
Comhairle very much welcomes the Modernisation of the Civil Registration initiative, but wishes to draw attention to the issues of: citizens' privacy, provision for people applying for social welfare payments to give permission to public officials to directly access copies of whatever certificates are required to support their application, and general ease and speed of access to information and copies of certificates.
Submission: Civil Registration Modernisation Programme
Submission: Review on Health
To NAPS
Publication date: May 2001
This submission argues that addressing income inequalities is the single most important means of preventing health inequalities.
- Employment policies, targeted towards marginal groups, play a key role.
- There should be a major re-focusing of health policies towards preventative approaches, particularly for children and younger people.
- Additional resources should be provided for community care services.
- Medical card eligibility criteria should be re-examined.
- More community based health promotion and information
programmes are required.
Submission: Review on Housing
To NAPS
Publication date: May 2001
With inadequate levels of Local Authority housing and
the Rent Supplement, the private rented sector is widely
regarded as having added an important component to social
housing provision for low income households.
This submission argues that the Rent Supplement should be
reformed so that its loss is not a disincentive to people
wishing to take up work or training - a tapering mechanism
is needed. Reasonable rent levels must keep pace with
actual rent levels in a given area.
Legislation protecting rights of tenants in the private
rented sector should be reformed and properly enforced.
Submission: Review Of National Anti-Poverty Strategy
To NAPS
Publication date: April 2001
While a range of legislative measures in respect of employment protection have been introduced during the past decade, there are still significant problems in relation to:
- Inadequacies in existing employment legislation;
- Non-enforcement of legislation;
- Inadequate information about people's employment rights and entitlements.
