COMMUNITY welfare officers in Clare will still be extremely busy over the coming weeks assessing and distributing financial support to flood victims in Ennis and South-East Clare who have suffered substantial damage to their homes.

A number of departments in the Health Service Executive (HSE) have worked outside normal working hours without pay to provide a wide range of services to householders following unprecedented flooding last week.
As residents in some of the affected areas prepare to move back into their homes, the HSE will focus on distributing assistance on the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme as well as catering for those still in hotel accommodation, provided projected high tides later this week don’t cause further flooding.
Chief community welfare officer for Clare, Susan Kelleher, confirmed that anyone who has suffered flood damage can contact their local community welfare officer and apply for the Exceptional Needs Payment (ENP), which is means tested, or an Urgent Needs Payment (UNP), which may be made available to people who would not normally be entitled to social welfare assistance.
Ms Kelleher said it is expected that details of the Humanitarian Aid Scheme should become available next week concerning eligibility and other issues once a new national steering group had finalised exact details of the scheme.
The aim of this scheme is to provide financial support to people who have suffered damage to their home and provide hardship alleviation assistance towards essential repairs and losses.
Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin has stated that assistance will not be given for losses, which are covered by insurance while commercial and business losses will not qualify for humanitarian assistance.
Damage to a person’s home and its basic contents, such as carpets, flooring, furniture, household appliances and bedding will be the main criteria. Structural damage may also be considered.
Each case will be dealt with on an individual basis and, following assessment, payments will be made to assist people recovering from difficulties in the wake of flooding.
“I am conscious that for some families, it could be months before the damage to their homes is fully repaired. This humanitarian aid scheme will be there for them in the months ahead long after the present flood waters have receded,” she said.
Ms Kelleher and childcare manager Jacqui Deevy told The Clare Champion that there has been a tremendous effort from staff in various departments who had worked over the weekend and after normal office hours in response to the unprecedented flooding.
Ms Kelleher said it is hoped to secure two extra staff to assist the community welfare officer team of 17 to cope with the extra work.
Ms Deevy said a number of flood victims who had not yet made contact with the HSE may do so over the coming 10 days, as some people didn’t realise that State assistance was available.
The HSE was just one of the agencies that provided medical and financial assistance to 17 adults and 31 children who were evacuated from their houses and accommodated in the West County Hotel as well as 15 families from South-East Clare including two children in Jury’s Inn, Limerick.
Health officials also dealt with issues such as looking after pets, attending to specific health needs and providing information following inter-agency meetings in the hotels.
Ms Kelleher said it was difficult to get relevant information to people who had left their homes and hadn’t made contact with the HSE or weren’t accommodated in one of the hotels.
In addition to praising the community spirit shown by residents who volunteered to protect homes with sandbags, Ms Kelleher and Ms Deevy acknowledged all the statutory and voluntary agencies that did Trojan work to respond to a major disaster.
“It was remarkable that, considering the scale of the flooding, no one was injured or killed. Clare people can feel proud of how they addressed this disaster because no one expected flooding of this nature,” said Ms Deevy.