Tag Archives: Councillor Mary Howard

IT wasn’t Christmas trees that were on the mind of Councillor Mary Howard at a recent meeting of the Ennis Municipal District, but the damage trees can cause to urban localities. Councillor Howard asked the local authority to produce a list of trees suitable for planting in an urban setting at the monthly meeting of the council. This follows her highlighting of the concerns for residents of Kincora Park last month of the “dangerous condition” of the footpath leading up to St Joseph’s Church which was blamed on “vigorous root growth”. Speaking at the December meeting of the Ennis Municipal District Councillor Howard said she was a “real fan of trees”. However she pointed out that they can cause problems. “There can be damage caused during strong winds, fruit falling, roots lifting footpaths, obstructing sight lines, leaves blocking gutters,” she said. She explained that having suitable trees planted would help solve some of these issues. “Putting the right trees in …

TWO Clare children with Cystic Fibrosis who have a rare genotype are being “discriminated against” due to their exclusion from availing of a transformative “wonder drug”, a local councillor has claimed. The HSE has been in negotiations since May with Vertex about giving access for a therapy called Kaftrio for 35 young children with a specific genetic condition. This is already available to other Irish patients under an existing deal. Councillor Mary Howard described Kaftrio as a “wonder drug” that stops the progression of Cystic Fibrosis in the body. She warned that many of the 35 children are not well and have been regularly hospitalised, with more hospital visits expected to increase as the winter progressed. Speaking at a council meeting on Monday, the Fine Gael Councillor said adults and those 12 and older have been receiving Kaftrio. Last May, she recalled all children who were older than six were supposed to receive this drug. “There are 175 children with …

Councillor Mary Howard has called on Clare County Council to crack down on dog fouling by giving more local authority employees the power to issues fines for this offence. Her appeal coincides with the release of a survey conducted by the National Council for the Blind Ireland that revealed the low number of on-the-spot fines issued by local authorities. Clare County Council issued one dog fouling fine in 2021 compared to 31 by Kerry County Council, four by Limerick City and County Council and none by Tipperary County Council. Interestingly, Kerry County Council had dramatically increased fines issued between 2020 and 2021. No fines were issued in 2020, jumping to 31 fines issued in 2021. While Kerry County Council is an outlier with such a large increase, the NCBI outlined the vast majority of Councils have issued very few or no fines in 2021. This may highlight a lack of enforcement but also indicates the threat of receiving a fine …

EFFORTS are to be made to ease the process of providing information to health professionals when people need emergency care.  Councillor Mary Howard is proposing that ‘Smart ID Cards’ be created, so that when people need care, their medical records can be easily and quickly accessed. At the July meeting of the local authority, the Fine Gael member asked that Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, be called on to investigate the matter. “These Smart ID cards would contain information like date of birth, PPS number, allergies, health conditions, surgeries etc these would be especially useful if they need to attend hospital or A&E,” Councillor Howard’s motion said.  Councillor Howard told Council meeting that she heard about the idea through the HSE West Regional Health Forum. “They would be similar to PPS card really,” she explained. “People don’t get sick, especially those who are infirm, 9am and 5pm. Often they are upset, in pain, or brought in by neighbour. “To have …

FOUR young Clare people were waiting between nine and 12 months for an appointment with the Child And Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), new figures have revealed. These figures were released to Councillor Mary Howard following a question tabled at a recent HSE West Forum meeting. Councillor Howard said it is worrying that the four children are waiting between nine and 12 months for a CAMHS appointment. She inquired what is the knock-on impact of being on a waiting list for CAMHS due to the lack of staff. Last April, 45 young people in Clare were awaiting a CAMHS appointment. From this total, 19 were waiting up to three months, 12 from three to six months, 10 from six to nine months and four from nine to twelve months. Maria Bridgeman, Chief Officer, HSE Mid West Community Healthcare, said it is always their intention to provide children with the best possible service they can provide. While someone may be on …

“BRAVE decisions” on housing people fleeing Ukraine has been called for, as the numbers seeking refuge in Clare continue to rise.  Councillor Mary Howard, called at the April meeting of the local authority, for a centralised facility to coordinate the distribution of support to the 2,000 Ukrainians known to have come to Clare to-date. Responding to the government’s outline this week of proposals relating to accommodation, the Fine Gael member said the time had come to “stop talking and start doing”.  Earlier this month, Council CEO Pat Dowling told elected members that people are being accommodated at 16 venues in seven locations, but that the authority had been mandated to step-up its support efforts. This week, the Department of Housing has announced that a Director of Service level member of staff at each local authority, along with a small team, will be assigned to coordinate the local response to the crisis.  “We now need very brave decisions,” said Councillor Howard. …

HEALTH services for women in the Mid-West must be improved as a matter of urgency, according to a former Mayor of Clare. At the April meeting of Clare County Council, Councillor Mary Howard described the waiting list for gynaecological appointments at Ennis General Hospital, which are the second highest in the country, as a sign of an “ongoing crisis”. In a joint motion, tabled with Councillors Donna McGetitgan, Alan O’Callaghan and Liam Grant, the Ennis woman outlined how figures released to the Dáil recently. These show the average wait time for an outpatient gynaecology appointment at the hospital is close to one year and five months and is second only to Tallaght Hospital nationwide “Waiting times at University Hospital Limerick are around half that number, averaging out at 291 days,” the motion said. “Some 599 women are currently waiting for such appointments in Ennis, along with a further 1,455 at UHL. “On foot of this information we request the Minister …

PLACE NAMES for new developments in the county are to be considered by a Council-sponsored committee. It follows the tabling of a motion by Councillor Mary Howard calling for the previous ‘Placenames Committee’ to be reinstated. The Ennis woman told the monthly local authority meeting that she had been a member of the committee between 2009 and 2015. “There were a number of very wise gentleman on the committee and it was a great group,” she said. “Lots of research was done to make sure that the names would actually mean something.” Backing the motion, Councillor Liam Grant said that he too had an interest in placenames and would like to be involved. The issue of follow-up to make sure that developers comply with the Council’s decision on the naming of estates and other developments was raised by Councillor Michael Begley. “I’m supportive of this motion,” he said, “and I’m wondering what happens when developers don’t act on the Council’s …