Q&A Covid 19 and you

Social distancing and  Hand washing are two very effective ways of preventing the spread of Corona virus/ Covid 19. Social distancing  means that you maintain a safe distance from one another.  Hand washing  means frequent and complete washing of hands for a period of over 20 seconds.

On a wider scale adjusting to the new reality means fundamental changes to a persons life. In this post I’m trying to address some questions that are frequently asked and provide answers as accurately as possible from current information. None of these questions relate to medical treatment of the crisis, nor should anyone other a medical professional try to answer that!

This page will be updated as more information comes to hand. If you have a question, PM me!

Social Welfare

I’ve lost my job what can I do?

Anyone who has lost their full or part time job and is aged between 18 and 66 is entitled to an immediate payment of €350pw (COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment ). Your employer is able to top this up. This payment applies to students and all workers regardless as to whether you are an EU citizen or not however it will only be paid if you live in the jurisdiction. Apply online at welfare.ie

My job is secure however I am required to sell-isolate, Can I claim social welfare support?

Yes, only if your employer is not paying you. You should immediately apply for illness Benefit at an enhanced rate of €305 per week. Phone your GP and ask someone to drop the completed application to Intreo, Anne St, Wexford.

I want to collect a welfare payment but I’m ill and can’t go out?

A temporary agent form is available at welfare.ie Download it from welfare.ie, print it off and sign to authorise a designated person to collect your payment. Otherwise ring the local office and it will be posted to you.

Will I have to turn up each week to collect my payment?
No. Welfare is now being paid fortnightly.

SME
I'm self-employed and my business has had to close because of Covid-19, What can be done for me?
The temporary payment mentioned above has now been extended to include the self employed. Contact welfare.ie to apply

My companies income has dropped, we can't afford to pay workers yet we need to function. What help is there?

If company has had drop of 25% in income the Government will pay 70% of net wages up to max of €410 per week if company willing to pay the remainder of that staff members weekly wage

My business is down and I can't get a loan from my bank to keep me going?
If your business is impacted or may be impacted by COVID-19 resulting in a reduction of 15% or more in actual or projected turnover or profit, AND you are having difficulty in accessing  finance from commercial lending providers, the MFI COVID-19 Business Loan may be able to help your business. Contact Wexford County Council and ask to speak to the Local Enterprise Officer.

My business needs additional funding. Can central government help?
Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland has a fund of €450M to loan so as to provide liquidity to SME's, The minimum loan is €25,000 and has a maximum interest rate of 4% over a maximum term of 3 years

A second scheme called the future growth loan scheme is designed to loan tranches of funds and is paid back over 8 years at a rate of 4.5%. Earliest repayments cover the interest owed on the loans, More details can be found at https://dbei.gov.ie/

Housing

I’ve lost my job and can’t pay rent. Can I be evicted from my home?

If you are a tenant of Wexford County Council contact the council immediately. The rent will be readjusted in line with the financial reality. If you are in a private tenancy contact your landlord. Emergency legislation passed by the Oireachtas prevents any eviction during this crisis.

I’ve lost my job and can’t pay my mortgage. Will that affect my relationship with my bank?

Ring your bank and explain what has happened. Financial institutions have agreed a 3 month break in these circumstances will be provided for mortgage holders. However, such leniency does not apply to car and other personal loans. If you don’t interact with the bank you run the risk of damaging your credit rating if you do not meet with payments

Education

What will happen to state exams?

Oral exams have been shelved at Leaving Cert and this years exams will revolve around the written element due later in the year.   Practical Leaving Cert exams have been deferred until later in the year also. This decision does not affect work already due at Junior Cycle such as Classroom Based Assessments.

What is the status of Leaving and Junior Cert Exams due in June?
The Leaving Cert is deferred until late July or early August. A redesigned exam time table will be published.  Final arrangements for the exams, the exam centres, social distancing and other measures will all be determined by the State Examinations Commission.  Junior Certs have been cancelled to be replaced by a proposed exam to be held at a later stage in the new school year.

When will schools re-open?

Schools will not return until a decision has been taken by Boards of Management following advice from the Department of Education & Skills. The immediate priority following the return of school will be dictated by the impact of the virus on the school community.

How will this affect a CAO application?
Colleges have already indicated that 3rd level course for present students will re-commence on time but that first year courses will commence later than usual.

Policing

How does the Covid 19 outbreak affect policing?

Garda stations remain open and additional garda personnel have been deployed to assist within communities. Additional emergency laws provide for gardaí to arrest people that frequently disobey the 2km restriction or who fail to comply with a direction to return home

Transport

Can I use a bus or train as normal?

Wexford Bus schedules have been reduced on route 340 to Dublin and services to Carlow and the Castlebridge suspended.  To comply with social distancing they are limiting capacity to keep passengers a safe distance apart. Bus Eireann and Irish Rail services run to a much reduced timetable. Wexford Railway Station only opens 10 minutes prior to departure.

Post Offices

Can I collect my pension, child benefit or other entitlements?

Yes. Post Offices are continuing to provide a service within the parameters of social distancing. If you are unable to collect the payment the Post Office will retain it for longer than normal in the current circumstances. If you are unable to collect a temporary agent form can authorise someone to collect on your behalf. Wexford Post Office remained open longer to facilitate pensioners on Friday last. Ring to see if this may be repeated.

Communications

Where is the best place to find out what is happening in Wexford?

Wexford People and South East Radio provide accurate and up to date information in traditional and online formats. Wexfordtoday.ie is another online news specialist.

Will eircom’s proposed new charges come into effect on March 31^st?

Eircom have announced that they have decided to suspend their decision to implement charges for email addresses until after the current crisis has passed so there’s no need to rush to close down or alter email addresses.

Wexford County Council

Do I still have to pay rates while my business is closed?

If your business has closed contact the council and let them know. Councils will not be sending out anymore rates bills during the current emergency. If your business is in the retail. Hospitality, leisure or childcare sector you can defer payment of bills already sent for 3 months. However some businesses are trading still and they are required to pay bills received. The council will deal with businesses experiencing difficulties on a case by case basis.

Will the council services continue during the crisis?

Partly. Parks and especially playgrounds are closed given the likelihood that social distancing rules may be compromised. Libraries in the county are also shut. Loans can be renewed online.

Housing, Environmental, Community services all continue to be delivered. District offices in the main towns are open. Car parks at local beaches and beauty spots have been closed.

Tales from the canvas 2.0

Last week of the canvas and we’re on the run in to polling day. The campaign has moved up a gear clearly. Campaigning is not what it used to be. Every campaign throws up its curiosity.  A while back it was common place to see notices on the doors to tell Fianna Fail not to call. Nowadays they’re gone.

But to the keen observer it is now clear that the electorate prefer not to discuss national issues. If you discuss local issues you’ll switch on a gear in some people that they never knew was there. From the construction at the Crescent in Wexford to the road to Castlebridge and the ongoing disruption due to broadband, local issues are back with a bang.

The other observation is that often homes are vacant when you call. The driveway is empty and curtains pulled, so it is a case of “sorry I missed you”. Two reasons spring to mind. One is that the homeowner is out at work. Activity outside the home  means economic activity. That’s a welcome change from 5 years ago.  Or just maybe could it be that once or twice the owner sees who’s at the door and prefers not to answer regardless of which party if any that is calling?

The weather is good for canvassing, rarely has a day been lost due to rain.  Labour is canvasing as a team of 3.  Other parties make their own arrangements. The late declaration of another independent is interesting. Micéal Ó Drisceoil is the only independent to put up posters and he may well have spotted a niche which may affect how independently minded voters might act.  Had his declaration come earlier he may well have given the established field a run for their money. It is hard to catch up when you declare late but let’s wait and see, nobody has voted yet.

So for the record there are now 14 candidates on the ballot paper

LAB        Bell Maura

AON      Cole Elaine

SF           Forde Tom

FG           Hegarty John

IND        Hynes Davy

IND        Kelly Leonard

FF           Laffan Garry

LAB        Lawlor George

FF           Murphy Colin

IND        Ó Drisceol Mícheál

FG           Reville  Angela

LAB        Ryan Joe

FG                           Walsh Ger

SOL-PBP               Walsh Tony

Polling is on Friday next between 7 AM and 10 PM

Tales from the canvas 2019

“Of course I’ll vote for you” said the man who answered the door to me,  “But first my girlfriend has to have a shower”. “Come in”, he gestured; “I’ll show you the bathroom”

“I’m not so sure about all of this”, I said with the slightest hint of protest.  I must have been canvasing for over an hour that afternoon. We all know the score, never leave the door without a vote.

Up the stairs he marched me to show me the bathroom. Thankfully it was empty as he explained exactly what the problem was. His girlfriend is a local authority tenant. She’d hurt her back and raising her leg was bit awkward for her. She found the side of the bath difficult to manoeuvre when bathing, Her boyfriend was asking me to intervene with the council on her behalf so as to have a shower installed

When I eventually met her my heart sank. She is a pleasant cheery lady who’d just returned from working as a carer. Not the easiest of sells to a local authority engineer in the housing section of the council. Still there’s an election and small hope for the voter is better than no hope at all.

There’s been no election like this one. Local elections tend to be a referendum on the serving government. Five years ago the local election was played out against the backdrop of Phil Hogan’s decision to install water meters, Alan Shatters high handed attitude to Mick Wallace and James Reilly’s cancelling of medical cards to children suffering from cancer.

This one is very different. Few on the doorstep refer to the government. I suspect that many voters would fail to name half of the cabinet, such is the low profile ministers keep with the exception of the Taoiseach and Shane Ross. With Brexit hovering in the back ground many voters understand that normal political rules don’t apply. The novel approach to the likelihood of extra seats at European level is confusing depending on the outcome of Brexit. nobody can be certain.

But that is not to say there are issues. Control is key to politics. No candidate likes to be seen out of step. That’s why some candidates will develop a line of patter about what they believe the main issues are, Often the candidate can be wide of the mark. National issues can be repackaged with a local blás.

The major issue is the neglect of Wexford over the last 5 years and lack of representation. With the honourable exception of George Lawlor, many struggle to name local councillors in Wexford Town. Large parts of town have not seen either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael representatives since the last General Election.  All politics is local. Those voters are not too impressed that decisions taken by the council were taken by councillors they barely know and rarely meet.

Still, there’s 5 more weeks to polling day. Nobody has voted and we’re only starting out on the road. Maybe the lady I met on the hustings may yet get her shower?

Let no man fix the boundary to a nation

It could only happen in Wexford. 3 months out from a local election and 5 months after the boundaries were set by a commission, some Wexford County Councillors are still not happy. They want the minister responsible to ignore his own commission and retain boundaries that have seen urban areas effectively managed by rural based councillors.

About 5 years ago Wexford Borough Council was abolished. We had about 6 months notice. Politics is a tough trade. Local politics is the toughest of the lot. Small margins here or there effectively decide the last seat and who wins. In rural areas it is parochial. Small communities like to have their local councillor. It really doesn’t matter which party they come from, if at all.

Rural communities understand county councils a lot better than urban areas. That’s what is behind this row. It has everything to do with prioritising small villages over large towns. When the borough council was abolished Wexford District was “compensated” by being allocate an extra council seat to ensure better representation. However when it came to the election in 2014, Wexford Town which had 4 outgoing county councillors ended up with the same number while candidates living in rural areas won 6 of the seats, doubling the rural representation in Wexford District.

Few would argue that it is in the interest of County Wexford that the urban areas are underrepresented. That precise number remains a secret because when the tricky matter of the new boundaries was put to councillors this week, they held their discussions in camera away from the media. Why they should do that remains a mystery. Were it not for Wexford Today, the goings on at the council would remain a secret.

By all accounts with the press out of the room, imaginations took off. It degenerated into Wexford’s own version of the Brexiteers. Magical thinking that the old days can come back if we hold out for a better deal. In fact councillors have already had submissions lodged and their amendments made to the proposals. This is apparently for some not enough

In the end they decided to ignore the entire report and its terms of reference which set out 5-7 seats per ward with small wards of 3-4 allowable on the basis of geography. Instead they asked that the status quo of 3 8 seaters and one 10 seater should remain! And if the minister doesn’t agree with that, they want to meet him to leave him in no doubt as to what he should do.

And to think that 5 years ago when the writing was on the wall for the Borough Council some of us were getting our political affairs in order before going before the electorate by putting down motions on local issues which would come up at the hustings. Weren’t we the fools?