Independent TD for Clare Violet-Anne Wynne has confirmed that she has written to Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar and his Ministers inviting them to visit Clare in the first six months of their term.
Deputy Wynne confirmed that she has also written a letter to each member of the new cabinet, which took office on Saturday 17th December, to invite them to visit the constituency of Clare in their official capacity as Minister.
“There are serious societal and infrastructural issues that we as Clare TDs and Senators highlight every week in Leinster House, but unfortunately if the Ministers we are highlighting the issues to can’t see it for themselves, then our calls often fall on deaf ears.”
“Clare is a constituency with no representation at the cabinet table, and one of the few constituencies without a Minister of State. In terms of the Shannon region, there are 2 Ministers of State in County Limerick, nobody in North Tipperary, and nobody here in Clare.”
Explaining her reasons behind inviting the Ministers, Deputy Wynne said: “Since I took my seat in 2020, we have had coronavirus, the exacerbation of the housing crisis to its worst levels since 2008, a deepening crisis in health in the areas of recruitment and retention, GPs retire with nobody to replace them, soaring outpatient waiting lists and trolley numbers, children unable to secure eye tests, hearing tests, or assessments of need; and a war in Ukraine which has doubled and tripled populations in some of our towns and villages with a total government failure to ramp up ancillary services in communities or provide support on the ground to integrate refugees into the community.
In my own area of West Clare in particular, this Government has completely decimated Moneypoint, and let the Equinor deal collapse, and are dangerously close to bungling Shannon Heritage as well. I simply do not understand how any outgoing Minister can say that Clare is better off for them having been in office these past two and a half years. Government is now so removed from the people of Clare that I have written to all incoming Ministers to firstly congratulate them on their appointment but secondly and most importantly to advise them how many times their predecessors visited Clare and encouraging them to do better. If the relevant Minister was not replaced on Saturday, then I have reminded them of their track record in the first half of their term and encouraged them to do better in the second half.”
Deputy Wynne added: “Last month, I tabled a parliamentary question to ask each Cabinet Minister asking how many times they visited Clare in their official capacities. I was shocked to receive a reply informing me that Taoiseach Martin would not be answering the question, and I was equally shocked to discover that three Ministers had not visited the constituency at all over their term in office.
These were Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohue; Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform, Michael McGrath; and Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee. A further third of the cabinet (5 Ministers) only visited the County once; four of them visited twice; Minister Heather Humphreys visited three times; and only Minister Simon Coveney visited five times, however a number of these meetings were for Fine Gael events in the constituency.
Clare is a constituency with many pressing concerns like the evolving situations with Shannon Heritage; Moneypoint; and the Burren Programme. We need Ministers to come down to Clare, meet the people and get a feel for the issues on the ground. Not just Party members or invited guests but connecting with constituents and representatives of all Parties and none throughout Clare.
Deputy Wynne confirmed that she also included a line in the letter to urge Ministers to ensure that all Oireachtas representatives in the constituency are invited to events.
“As it stands, when a Minister attends the constituency, unless the event is organised by Clare County Council, I will not receive an invite or advanced notice as I am not a member of a Government Party. However, I was elected as fairly as any other TD in Clare, or the other 41 constituencies and I believe that I should have every right to know when a Minister attends my constituency so that I can make representations as appropriate on behalf of my constituents. To that end, I have included a request in the letter that the current arrangement be updated to ensure that all Oireachtas representatives of all parties and none be invited to meet with any Minister when they attend our constituency.”
“My job is to represent the concerns of the people of Clare and speak truth to power. It becomes incredibly hard to do that when I am not given advanced notice of opportunities to raise issues with Ministers here on the ground in the constituency. The situation must change because the current status quo surrounds those in positions of power with partisan echo chambers. I don’t believe that any Minister is a bad person, and I would appreciate the opportunity to know them better.
As an Independent TD who votes with the Government almost as much as I vote against them, I believe that politics is ultimately better when we heal divisions, bury the partisan hatchet, and work together to make sure that peoples’ quality of life is better when we are leaving office with the benefit of our having been there – it’s as simple as that.”