Working For You Clare County Councilor Pascal Fitzgerald

ABOLITION OF AUTOMATIC MEDICAL CARD CREATING FOUR-TIER HEALTH SERVICE FOR OUR ELDERLY PEOPLE

2008-10-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

It is a shocking disgrace that the Government is looking to our old age
pensioners to make €100m savings on the health budget with the abolition
of the automatic entitlement of the over 70s to medical cards. For a
long time we have had a two-tier health service, this decision will
effectively give our pensioner a four-tier health system. Some will have
medical cards, others will have GP cards, and some will receive the €400
grant while others will have nothing at all.

There is genuine fear, anger and utter confusion among retired people
over the treatment that has been meted out to them by the Govt in this
week’s budget. I am calling on the Government to completely and without
delay withdraw this scheme.

The re-introduction of the means-test for medical cards for over-70’s
has to go down as one of the most cynical political stunts we have seen
in quite some time, having been removed a year before one election, only
to be re-introduced a year after another one.

The plan to give a pay-out of €400 to over-70s who don’t qualify for a
medical card, but whose weekly income is less than €650, is nothing more
than a gimmick, and an insulting one at that. Elderly people who have
served this country so well, who did so much to create our economic
wealth, deserve better than this from the Fianna Fail/Green Government.”

2008-10-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

With reference to Notice of Motion submitted by Cllr. Pascal Fitzgerald

“I call on the Director of Services to invite the Garda Commissioner and a member of the Traffic Corp to attend the next area meeting. This will give us the opportunity to discuss the many traffic and road safety concerns and also other crime related issues.”

I wish to report as follows:

A copy of the Motion has been forwarded to the local Superintendent for his information and the date of the next meeting (December 2nd?) will be advised following this meeting.

Motion submitted by Cllr. Pascal Fitzgerald

2008-10-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

“Due to motion I had in earlier in 2007 about disabled footpath access I am now calling for emergency action to be taken on this issue due to many complaints from residents in Shannonbanks, the Westbury area and other areas. I have seen for myself what the problems are due to getting access onto footpaths with wheelchairs.”

I wish to report as follows:

The Shannon Banks Estate was developed at a time before sufficient consideration was given to disabled and other users with impairments that can quite easily be provided for at construction. Retrofitting these measures can be awkward but are not impossible. I will submit an application under the next round of Disability Funding for such works in the Shannon Banks area. Westbury is currently in private charge but if there are other areas where works could be done in terms of dropping kerbs, removal of poles, tactile paving, etc., please let me know the particulars. I will then endeavour to arrange funding under the above scheme or indeed from next years discretionary budget for the area.

Killaloe Electoral Area Meeting

2008-10-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

With reference to Notice of Motion submitted by Cllr. Pascal Fitzgerald

“I call on the Director of Services to provide an update in relation to the provision of safety railings across the bridge at Shannon Banks. This would go a long way towards ensuring the safety of residents and children in the area. It has been reported to me that accidents continue to occur on this bridge. As this is a motion I put to you last November 20th 2007 as a local Councillor, I now request that you take immediate action to review the safety aspects of this area.

Residents were very unhappy with the rate of response following the most recent incident. The safety barrier was inadequate and residents were concerned for the safety of their young people.”

I wish to report as follows:

Regarding the first part of the motion, the Members will be aware that I previously reported that sufficient width isn’t available to install a barrier between the footpath and the road. I have held meetings recently with the NRA’s Road Safety Engineer and Limerick City Council personnel to discuss the options available to us. The optimum solution, allowing for the restriction in width available, would be an independent Pedestrian bridge. Due to the span involved, the cost of providing such a bridge would be in excess of €1million making this a longer-term objective. Another option would be to impose a single lane system controlled by means of priority yielding or Traffic Lights. However, as the daily traffic figures are in excess of 16,000 at this location, this would result in major delays and disturbance.

That being said, I am anxious to improve safety there for pedestrians as quickly as possible. The bridge is currently within the speed limit zone and with further traffic calming measures I am satisfied that the risk to Pedestrians can be minimised by means of additional lining and signage. Funding to carry out such works has been provided for in this year’s discretionary budget.

Regarding the recent accident on the bridge, I am satisfied that correct procedures were carried out. The damage was caused on a Tuesday evening and initially Limerick City County personnel secured the area by means of a temporary barrier. I am sorry to say that third parties interfered with this barrier overnight and it needed adjustment on a couple of occasions. The site was handed over to our Contractor on October 1st and the timber hoarding was erected. The particular type and cut of stone had to be arranged following which the rebuilding work commenced.

Council plans to takeover Westbury Estate by end of the year

2008-10-11T16:32:00.003-07:00

Clare County Council is planning to complete the taking in charge of one of the largest private housing estates in South-East Clare by the end of
this year once a number of outstanding issues are resolved with developers. Senior executive officer, Sean Lenihan told Councillor Fitzgerald, who is the Electoral Area chairman, at an Area meeting on Tuesday 4/03/08 the authority was committed to taking over the Westbury Housing Estate and the others estates accessed through Westbury once all services are brought up to an acceptable standard. It is estimated there are over 900 houses in the Westbury Housing Estate making it one of the biggest residential densely populated scheme in South-East Clare and arguably in the Mid-West. Mr Lenihan pointed out today's higher standards of today would not be applied retrospectively to those applicable when the early part of the development commenced. However, we have to ensure that the council isn't faced with significant financial burden from the outset in terms of repairs/upgrades necessary. "Work is progressing with the relevant persons and it is hoped to bring the matter to a conclusion before the end of the year," he said. He confirmed the council would not be cutting grass in the estate and would only take in charge items such as roads, footpaths, storm and foul water treatment. He made the pledge in response to a request from local County Councillor, Pascal Fitzgerald for a full written engineering report to be presented to the meeting on the completed phase of Westbury and with particular reference to the sanitary services and roads in the development. Councillor Fitzgerald proposed that the two main developers in the estate McInerneys and Chieftain Construction should be invited to address the next Killaloe Electoral Area meeting to outline their plans for completing their relevant schemes.

LABOUR WILL OPPOSE ANY STEP TO REINTRODUCE THIRD-LEVEL FEES

2008-10-11T16:32:00.001-07:00

The Labour Party’s Cllr Pascal Fitzgerals has called the Government’s move to look at reintroducing third-level fees ‘disturbing’ and has said the Labour
Party will venomously oppose any such backward step.

“One of the Labour Party most significant achievements in Government was
the abolition of third-level fees opening up third-level education to
tens of thousands of students from low and middle income families. The
proof of this is in the statistics where we have seen admission rates
for third-level increase by 11 per cent between 1998 and 2004.

“Most significantly, the proportion of students from the semi and
unskilled backgrounds going to college increased from 23 per cent to
over one third while the number of students from a skilled manual
background almost doubled to 60 per cent.

“The term ‘better off’ families is also a very broad one and even if
fees were initially only applied to what the Government terms as ‘better
off families’, it would be only a matter of time before threshold levels
were dropped and the vast majority of families would again be facing
fees. Given that fees for many courses would now be more than €6,000
per annum, their introduction would simply make it impossible for many
families to send their children to third level.

“We should ask ourselves whether the third-level sector is under-funded
because fees were abolished, or because the abolition of fees was
successful, in part, in encouraging greater numbers into third-level -
numbers were not matched by appropriate levels of Government funding. At
the end of the day we cannot lose sight of the fact that education is a
public good in itself, from which the whole of society benefits.

“The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs recommended that 32 per cent of
our workforce should have a degree or third level qualification by 2020,
compared to 20 per cent today. We certainly will not achieve this target

Westbury shopkeeper offers premises for new community Garda Station

2008-10-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

A Westbury businessman has offered to provide one of his offices free of charge to locate a small new community Garda Station in an accessible
location for over 4,000 local residents.The Clare Champion has learned that Tony Hayes, Westbury Stores, had informal discussions with planning officials in Clare County Council about the possibility of leasing out one of this offices near his shop to accommodate community based gardaí. If the proposal gets the green light from the
council, Mr Hayes believes the project would be the first of its kind in the country.
In an interview with the Clare Champion outside his store on Tuesday evening, Mr Hayes confirmed he was willing to enter into this arrangement for
a six to 12 month trial period to ascertain the difference it could make for local residents. Mr Hayes pointed out the existing Garda Station in Ardnacrusha was almost five miles away for thousands of residents living in Shannon Banks, Westbury and Carrig Meade, many of whom didn't even know where it was located. He noted a new Garda Station in the middle of the Westbury Housing Estate would help create a lot
more interaction and co-operation between young people, elderly people and the Gardai. "There is a concern that more community based Gardaí are needed in this area. Any major trouble in the locality is not being caused by teenagers living in Westbury, it is involved people from other communities coming into this area.
"This is something which has been in the pipeline for the last 12 months and I have been working with Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald to try and bring this proposal to fruition. "If we could provide a community Garda Station in the area, we could then look at providing other facilities," he said. Limerick East Labour Deputy Jan O'Sullivan has pledged to highlight the need for the establishment of a new Garda Station in South-East Clare with the new Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern. Supporting calls by her Labour colleague, Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald, the Clonlara-born
Deputy pointed out there has been significant population growth in the area in recent years. "Areas such as Westbury and Carrig Meade have witnessed considerable growth and the existing Garda Station in Ardnacrusha which is not open on
a full time basis cannot cater for the increased demands of the wider community.

"When planning permissions for large new housing estates are being granted by local authorities more consideration must be given towards the inclusion of specific public services to cater for the needs of new communities," she said."A new Garda station open on a full time basis would service the needs of all local estates such as Shannon Banks, Westbury, Carrig Meade and also areas such as Parteen, and Ardnacrusha.
"It is unacceptable that residents living in the above mentioned estates and indeed throughout East Clare have to travel at times to Henry Street in Limerick City to conduct their business," she added.The case for a community Garda Station in
Westbury is being supported by Councillor Fitzgerald, who has repeatedly made this call in recent months. Councillor Fitzgerald stressed that an increased garda presence would be more visible for the local community if a Garda Station was based in the Westbury Housing Estate.

No Limerick relocation policy

2008-10-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

Brendan Kenny

THERE is no policy to relocated people from troubled areas of Limerick city into county Clare.
That was the message from the CEO of the Limerick Regeneration Agencies, Brendan Kenny, last evening when he addressed a heated monthly meeting of Clare County Council.
The CEO was responding to fears expressed by local authority members that the “unhousable” from Moyross, Southill and Ballinacurra Weston were being relocated to houses in Clare purchased by Limerick City Council.
Last May, The Clare People revealed that Limerick City Council had purchased 17 houses within Clare in the previous two years.
Mr Kenny told the council that his agency was not buying houses in Clare, but that Limerick City Council had bought houses outside its jurisdiction, including Clare. He said that he had advised the local authority that this was not sustainable.
“There is no policy or strategy in the agency to relocate people, not to Clare not County Mayo, not anywhere,
“The people we spoke to don’t want to go to Clare or anywhere else.”
“We won’t be buying houses anywhere. There is enough land to provide 4,500 extra houses on top of what is there (in the rejuvenation plan),” he said.
Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) questioned the policy that anti-social families would not get a house under the scheme.
The councillor explained that these “unhousable” would have to be housed somewhere whether by another council or body such as the HSE, which would be far away from the 100 gardai promised for the rejuvenated area of Limerick city.
A number of councillors said they were aware of families from Limerick city that had moved into their areas and had been causing anti-social behaviour.
Cllr John Crowe (FG) told Mr Kenny, “We are here to protect our towns and villages and ensure they are not invaded by anywhere else.”
Mr Kenny conceded, “We may have to get special housing within Moyross for what using your word is the “unhousable”.”
“One thing we as an agency won’t do is conceal anything,” he added.
He said that last June there was approximately 450 burned out or derelict houses in the area for regeneration.
There are a total of 3,200 houses to be demolished to be replaced by 2,450 houses in a project that is estimated to take 10 years.
Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab) called for a representation of Limerick City Council to attend the next meeting of Clare County Council to answer questions relating to its purchase of houses in Clare.

Growing concern about the purchase of houses in Clare

2008-10-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

Growing concern about the purchase of houses in Clare by Limerick City Council for applicants on their housing list has prompted renewed calls for the public takeover of the westbury Housing Estate.

Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald has been approached by local residents who are becoming increasingly worried Limerick City Council could buy private houses in Westbury before they were brought under the jurisdiction of Clare County Council.

The Westbury Housing Estate, which has over 900 dwellings, is regarded as one of the largest residential areas in South-East Clare.

This issue has been consistently raised by Councillor Fitzgerald who has urged Clare County Council to take the estate in charge as quickly as possible.

The Westbury Councillor made this request in a motion tabled at a recent Killaloe Electoral Area meeting in the South-East Clare Area offices. Council executive engineer, Sean Lenihan gave a commitment at the meeting the council would start the process of taking over the estate once all the outstanding works were completed by the private developer to bring it up to an acceptable standard.

Councillor Fitzgerald said that the developers felt they had done all the work, which has been requested by the council. The Labour Councillor has pledged to raise this issue in addition to other local concerns at a meeting with the county manager, Alec Fleming this Thursday.

"It is now time for action in relation to the takeover of the Westbury Housing Estate. I was promised it would be taken over by the council before the end of the year and I would like to see this commitment being honoured.

"Some residents who have been living in the estate for the last 16 years believe it is 'ridiculous' the estate still has not been taken over. There are no road markings or traffic calming measures in the estate, which needs to be addressed," he said. He also criticised the recent purchase of houses in Clare by Limerick City Council without completing adequate consultation with public representatives in Clare who were ignored.

"As Clare councillors representing the electorate in the county we should have being consulted with before Limerick City Council went ahead with this scheme. "Councillors from Clare and Limerick should have been engaged in discussions before any houses were purchased," he said.

No funding for extra road sweeper

2008-03-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

No funding for extra road sweeperClare County Council has ruled out the possibility of carrying out additional road sweeping in the Westbury area due to the lack of finance. The council employs a road sweeper in the Killaloe Electoral area three days a week cleaning areas such as Killaloe, Parteen, Westbury and Clonlara from 8 to 5 pm. However, Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald urged the council recently to bring in an extra road sweeper to clean Westbury, Shannon Banks and the Athlunkard areas three times a week to the growth of population and industry in these areas. "The council doesn't have a particular street sweeping budget as this work has to be funded under their Area Maintenance allocation, which was primarily for the upkeep and maintenance of roads.” Most areas are swept once every two weeks normally; more if required and less often during the summer weeks when the sweeper is required on the surface dressing programmes," he said. County engineer, Tom Carey said it was unfortunate that some people threw litter on streets and noted it cost a lot of money to clean these surfaces as a result.

Council plans to takeover Westbury Estate by end of the year

2008-03-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

Council plans to takeover Westbury Estate by end of the yearClare County Council is planning to complete the taking in charge of one of the largest private housing estates in South-East Clare by the end of this year once a number of outstanding issues are resolved with developers. Senior executive officer, Sean Lenihan told Councillor Fitzgerald, who is the Electoral Area chairman, at an Area meeting on Tuesday 4/03/08 the authority was committed to taking over the Westbury Housing Estate and the others estates accessed through Westbury once all services are brought up to an acceptable standard. It is estimated there are over 900 houses in the Westbury Housing Estate making it one of the biggest residential densely populated scheme in South-East Clare and arguably in the Mid-West. Mr Lenihan pointed out today's higher standards of today would not be applied retrospectively to those applicable when the early part of the development commenced. However, we have to ensure that the council isn't faced with significant financial burden from the outset in terms of repairs/upgrades necessary. "Work is progressing with the relevant persons and it is hoped to bring the matter to a conclusion before the end of the year," he said. He confirmed the council would not be cutting grass in the estate and would only take in charge items such as roads, footpaths, storm and foul water treatment. He made the pledge in response to a request from local County Councillor, Pascal Fitzgerald for a full written engineering report to be presented to the meeting on the completed phase of Westbury and with particular reference to the sanitary services and roads in the development. Councillor Fitzgerald proposed that the two main developers in the estate McInerneys and Chieftain Construction should be invited to address the next Killaloe Electoral Area meeting to outline their plans for completing their relevant schemes.

Work done and lots more to do

2008-01-17T16:24:00.001-08:00

Work done and lots more to do

'Children at Play' signs are now in place in Bishop Murphy Park, Parteen. There will be more safety signs near Browne's Public House, to warn drivers to slow down through Parteen.

The Zebra Crossing at Barry's shop will be reinstated in the next number of weeks when the road markings take place.

I have been informed that traffic light islands at the Westbury Centre will be painted in the coming weeks. Traffic Management have also agreed to look at the entrance in to Westbury in the next couple of weeks.

During a recent meeting with the Engineer for the area, he informed me that the footpath from the Westbury Centre to Larkin's Cross will be brought up to standard.

I have asked Clare County Council to look into the matter of the cable boxes along the river front and to have them put under ground as they are a hazard to the area. I have also requested a name sign for Shannon Banks and a general clean up of the area as soon as possible.

I will be bringing up the matter of having trees cut back in the area, as funding was not available this year. The total cost of having this work carried out was in the region of €21,000 so hopefully I will be able to have it included in next year's estimates.

Well done to the residents of Bishop Murphy Park for all the fund- raising they carried out. I was very pleased to help them out as they have been granted a play ground and I have been behind them all the way in their efforts to achieve their goal.

I will continue to make representations for Basketball Nets for Parteen which they have been promised from Clare County Council.

The people of South East Clare have been waiting a considerable length of time for the provision of a Public Library. I have made continuous representations concerning this matter. I have suggested to the Council that the Westbury Centre would be a good location, and I am awaiting a reply from them.

Hopefully we will not be waiting much longer for the new Health Centre which was to be up and running late last year.

I am very pleased that Elton Court has been awarded funding of €5,000 from the Play Ground Grant Scheme for the green area there. As your local Councillor I have been in constant contact with Frank Walsh, and would like to congratulate both him and the Residents Committee for all the hard work they have put into this project. When the funding comes though I will be also there to help Frank and the residents to get the project up and running.

On behalf of the residents of Firhill I have been in touch with the local Council Engineer to come back and to try and sort our the drain problem on the main road. I know it has caused a lot of problems for the residents and I hope it will be sorted out once and for all quite soon. I will also bring it to the attention of the roads department that the road and footpaths in the area are in a bad state and need repairing.
Staff Shortages Hinders Council's Mobile Library Plan
The public sector embargo on recruiting additional staff has been cited as one of the main stumbling blocks preventing the provision of a mobile library service in south east Clare.
Clare County Councillor, Pascal Fitzgerald, had asked the County Council to give an indication of how long residents in Westbury, Shannon Banks, Parteen and Clonlara would have to wait for a Local Authority Library service.
County Librarian, Noel Crowley, told councillors at a Killaloe Electoral Area meeting on Tuesday that the Council wasn't able to proceed with proposals for the development of a permanent Library, in conjunction with other state bodies, at a number of locations in south east Clare over the past 20 years.
With no plans from Limerick City Council to develop a new Library facility on the Clare/Limerick border, Mr. Crowley admitted that Clare County Council were anxious to provide a service for people living in south east Clare.
Because of the difficulties of obtaining a suitable premises in the local community, he proposed that the provision of a mobile Library service was the best solution in the short term. However, he pointed out that the Council needed a driver and a librarian to deliver the mobile service, which it couldn't afford and wouldn't be able to recruit, due to the public sector embargo.
If two staff members were made available, he pledged that the Council would do its utmost to provide the service about once a fortnight to most locations and once a week to densely populated areas such as Athlunkard. This new mobile unit could also be used to serve other Clare communities. While reference services were available in Limerick City, Clare people could also order books from the Clare Library service online.
He explained that the provision of a new purpose-built Library in Scariff would ensure that Library facilities were provided for most areas with a population of over 1,000. Asked about the possibility of leasing a building, he pointed out that the Department of Finance was against this option as it was felt it represented bad value for money.

Enforcement action against developers

2008-01-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

CLARE County Council has been urged to increase its enforcement action against developers who fail to properly complete residential housing estates.The call was made by Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald, who is becoming increasingly concerned about the amount of new homes surrounded by rubble, litter and uncompleted footpaths, lighting and play areas.After paying “extortionate prices” for modest homes, the Labour Councillor claimed, new home owners have been effectively “conned” on the basis of plans advertised by some builders and developers.He told a recent local authority meeting the glossy brochure advertising a “dream home” in an immaculate landscaped and idyllic neighbourhood gave way to a reality of malfunctioning public lighting, poorly surfaced roads, incomplete footpaths and block rubble in open spaces Describing uncompleted estates as the “scourge of suburban Clare”, he stressed people had a right to live and raise their families in a satisfactory environment.Councillor Fitzgerald cited one estate where the field beside some of the new houses looked like a dump with rubble, blocks, mortar, a rusty digger, broken glass and other forms of rubbish were scattered yards from new houses.Commenting on existing deficiencies under the existing law, he claimed residents were almost completely powerless due to the lack of a legal remedy.Councillor Fitzgerald also pointed out the normal house purchase contract does not extend to the common or public areas of the housing estate, leaving home buyers to rely on the local authority to enforce planning permission conditions. He noted stand-offs between local authorities and developers often continue for years before a list of outstanding works for the council takeover of a housing estate is agreed.“In many cases developers move to another site under the guise of a new development or company, having received planning permission from the local authority with which they are in dispute about the unfinished estate,” he said.“Angry home buyers are left to wonder how the builder, who left them with rubble instead of a playground and a unsurfaced rumble strip for a road can get planning permission from the council for a site down the road, where he may do the same to another group of buyers.”Stating local authorities have limited powers under the 2000 Planning and Development Act, he noted the Labour Party was tabling a bill, which would place an onus to developers and builders to meet their obligations.“The bill shifts the onus of proving that a developer has a good track record on completion of housing estates from the local authority to the developer,” the councillor continued. “It thereby gives greater powers to local authorities to combat this problem. “It empowers home buyers to sue the developer for damages if work has not been completed on their estate,” he added.Planning director of service, said the authority included as a planning condition for housing estates and multiple house developments all roads, open spaces, landscape works, car parks, sewers, water mains or drains or other public facilities associated with the development had to be completed within three years of the commencement of any works. Where a development has been left in an unfinished state, director of service, revealed the planning authority has actively pursued developers through the courts in order to secure completion of developments.“Many of these developments have a security bond that can be applied in order to finish estates which has been pursued in some cases,” he said.“During the last two years the council issued 314 warning letters, 202 enforcement notices and brought legal proceedings in 42 cases, nine of which related to housing estates and some of these resulted in prosecutions against the developer. “The council’s enforcement unit is actively dealing with developers through monitoring of site development works and discussions with the area offices,” he added.director of service, also pointed out that the council wouldn’t grant an application to refund a bond or joint deposit to a developer until it was fully satisfied it had been fully completed to the requirements of planning permission.

Councils Motions

2008-01-17T16:09:00.000-08:00

Reallocation of Funding

Catherine O’Hara stated that only one playground grant scheme project could receive the €30,000 allocation. Notification from the Department has stated that funding can only be allocated to one project - not two. Both O’Briensbridge and the Killaloe Family Resource Centre had been considered by the members at the last meeting as deserving of the €30,000. The members considered that both projects should receive funding but the O’Briensbridge Community Group were already at a more advanced stage of planning and so the members agreed that they would allocate funding to this project from the 2007 fund and allocate the Killaloe Family Resource Centre funding from the 2008 fund when monies would be available

With reference to Notice of Motion No. 1 submitted by Cllr. Pascal Fitzgerald

“I call on the Director of Services to contact our local police Commissioner and O.P.W. regarding the provision of a new Garda station manned fulltime in the Westbury-Shannon Banks area, which will cover all the surrounding areas, to include Ardnacrusha, Clonlara, Parteen and environs. Many of the residents have approached me in the last number of months and weeks about anti social behaviour at weekends which is facilitated by the lack of a Garda presence.”

Sean Lenihan, Senior Executive Engineer, in a written reply stated:

“This motion has been referred to the Garda Authorities for consideration and reply. I will revert with the reply when available.”

With reference to Notice of Motion No. 2 submitted by Cllr. Pascal Fitzgerald

“I call on the Director of Services to provide an update in relation to the provision of safety railings across the bridge at Shannon Banks. This would go a long way towards ensuring the safety of residents and children in the area. It has been reported to me that there have been a number of potential accidents within the last few weeks.”

Sean Lenihan, Senior Executive Engineer, in a written reply stated:

“This matter has been referred to our colleagues in Limerick City Council in so far as it pertains to them. On the Clare side of the bridge, it was agreed at an earlier meeting that railings would be considered desirable at this location. Funding for same can be considered under our Discretionary Improvements budget for 2008 and if successful, the works can commence in early 2008.”

With reference to Notice of Motion No. 3 submitted by Cllr. Pascal Fitzgerald

“I call on the Director of Services to have arrangements made to carry out repairs on the road commencing at Larkins Cross to Gillogue. There is a significant dip on the road as you turn off the main road down towards Gillogue. There are large volumes using this section of the road on a daily basis.”

Sean Lenihan, Senior Executive Engineer, in a written reply stated:

“Following a recent inspection of the road, I can advise that overall it is in fairly good condition with no potholes evident. It is uneven in parts and the particular dip mentioned is due to settlement of a trench crossing laid as part of the Gillogue Water Scheme.

Improvements to the junction were to form part of the R463 upgrade in the area that was postponed earlier this year due to further excavation works proposed there. Permanent restoration at that time will remove the dip and in the meantime, I will investigate further if the situation can be improved.”

2008-01-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

Unfinished Housing Estates are an election issue
Labour's Pascal Fitzgerald has called on candidates in the General Election in Clare to state what theirposition is with regard to unfinished housing estates in the county.
Speaking after canvassing in Shannon, Pascal said: "Since I started canvassing some months ago I have been shocked at the number of unfinished and poorly maintained estates in the county. People are struggling under the burden of heavy mortgages now more than ever and it is completely unfair for estates to be only half completed by property developers. There is no explanation other than pure greed for leaving estates unfinished. The fact that Fianna Fail have failed to tackle this problem in the ten years they have been in power shows how destructive to the common good their relationship with property developers has been."
"Now is the time that this issue should be discussed and I am challenging all other candidates to say where they stand on this issue. The FiannaFail candidates in this election need to explain to those suffering under extortionate mortgages why they have been silent for ten long years onthis".
"Labour have been working hard in the Dail to highlight this issue and if elected to Dail Eireann in the upcoming election I intend to make it one of my priorities in the next Dail."

2008-01-07T15:24:00.001-08:00

FUNDING
I have asked the manager of Clare County Council to put in place for the next budget estimates meeting, funding to support youth clubs and other sporting clubs in Westbury, Shannon Banks, Ardnacrusha and Parteen. In addition I am seeking funding for a center for this area. Local facilities are non-existent and clubs that are running with the help of Corbally United do not receive adequate financial support from Clare County Council. As your local Councilor I plan to keep at Clare County Council so they will listen and give us what we want, a new Centre and financial assistance to guarantee the day to day running of a the Centre when we get one.

2008-01-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

TRAFFIC PROBLEMS
Last April in my news letter I said to you we had a major problem with traffic going into Limerick and now it has gotten worse. Limerick Corporation said they would look in to the traffic problems and there response seems to have been to close Sir Harry’s Mall before the Grove Island link road opens. Thanks. With Help like that you know who your friends are.I will be meeting with Limerick Corporation about this and putting our feelings to them about the traffic backups in the morning going in to the city. We were told that the new road at Grove Island would be finished this year but at the moment it is “the road to nowhere”. It is not good enough for people from Shannon Banks, Westbury, Clonlara, Parteen, Ardnacrusha, and other parts of Clare. When the lights are off at the Mill Road and St. Mary’s there is no problem with the traffic. I will also bring this matter up with Clare County Council at this month’s meeting.Dealing with the different County and City Councils you wonder does the right hand know what the left hand is doing?

2008-01-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

SPEED RAMPS
Residents of Shannon Banks have called to my clinic to ask me to try to get speed ramps for some parts of the estate. I have asked the roads engineer in Clare County Council to take a look and he has assured me he will take a look at this and put in speed monitors to check the speed of cars coming and going in and out of the estate. I have also asked the Council to look at Westbury and meet with McInerneys as soon as possible.