Tag Archives: Deputy Joe Carey

THE National Transport Authority (NTA) has agreed to enter talks with Clare Bus in relation to payments the company believes it is owned for providing vital services in rural parts of the county. In correspondence to Deputy Joe Carey, NTA CEO Anne Graham confirmed that the authority has agreed to “enter into a mediation on the amount allegedly outstanding to Clare Bus”. The potential breakthrough in the long-running dispute comes as the NTA also confirmed that nine key local routes are being put out to tender in the coming days. The Fine Gael TD welcomed the positive development and urged Clare Bus to enter the tender process. “Hopefully this will be the beginning of a process that can finally see a resolution to this dispute and I hope the NTA and Clare Bus use the opportunity so this vital service is not lost to the communities it serves,” he said. The row over the payments has become one of the major roadblocks …

CLARE’s five Oireachtas members are now using new methods of communication such as the Zoom application during the national lockdown as a result of Covid-19 regulations Traditional tried and trusted methods such as meetings constituents in a bar or community centre in towns and villages throughout Clare are a non-runner due to new social distancing requirements. However, Clare deputies and Senator Martin Conway insist they are still busy dealing with constituents queries and concerns, Deputy Joe Carey told the Clare Champion he is very busy as he is now the only government deputy after Minister of State, Pat Breen failed to get re-elected after the recent General Election. The Clarecastle Deputy said he is receiving a lot of communication from employers, business groups and individuals concerning the impact of Covid-19 via the phone, email and social media platforms like Facebook. If people want to contact him through applications such as Zoom, he is available to use this form of communication, …

NEW Government Covid-19 restrictions on socialising has ensured that a Newmarket-on-Fergus community initiative is extremely busy delivering up to 186 meals daily to vulnerable people in South Clare, Ennis and Shannon. Donations of goods and services like diesel from local businesses are still being offered to Obair’s Meals on Wheels service as their delivery of meals ramps up during the current public health emergency. Obair’s Youth and Community Development Officer Siobhán O’Driscoll says they have about 50 volunteers who are on their books and takes about ten of them to complete daily deliveries on a rota basis. Ms O’Driscoll said they have received huge support from local businesses who have donated hand sanitisers , gloves and other supplies while the HSE are providing personal protective equipment to ensure their volunteers are not at risk of infection. She confirmed that Dromoland Castle general manager, Mark Nolan has offered his team of chefs as a back up if something unexpected happens to …

Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Caey has called on Minister of State Kevin Boxer Moran to ensure that discussions get under way immediately to solve the ongoing flooding at Ballycar, Newmarket on Fergus which has closed the Limerick to Ennis rail line on several occasions over recent years. He was speaking after Iarnród Éireann reopened the line this morning following an eight week suspension of services due to flooding. “When he visited Ennis last month, Minister Moran told me he would instruct his own officials from the Office of Public Works to meet with Clare County Council and Irish Rail with a view to coming up with a resolution. Council chief executive Pat Dowling confirmed to me at the same meeting that he would ensure the local authority’s involvement in such a meeting,” Deputy Carey explained. “It’s not good enough that this section of rail would remain closed for extended periods of up to 20 weeks at a time and …

  There were no surprises at the Clare Fine Gael Dáil Selection Convention as the party’s two outgoing deputies – Minister of State, Deputy Pat Breen and Deputy Joe Carey were returned unopposed. There was standing room only as delegates packed the Auburn Lodge Hotel on Monday night to select their General Election team. Three candidates were nominated Deputy Pat Breen, Deputy Joe Carey and Senator Martin Conway. Delegates were told that the national directive was to select just two candidates at the convention with the option that another candidate may be added, if necessary at a later stage. Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin were criticised for causing the latest political crisis, which has seen the country on the brink of a General Election. Senator Conway seemed to be unaware of the latest revelations concerning beleaguered Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald when he stated that he was proud in what she has achieved in her department. The need for a contest …

Some €380,000 has been earmarked for local improvement schemes in Clarecastle, Kilkee, Scariff and Shannon from the €10 million national kitty. Each of the four Clare projects will receive €95,000 to finance a wide range improvements that have been put forward by local community groups to make their towns and villages more attractive places in which to live and work. In Clarecastle, the funding will be used to put electric and phone cables underground, replace lighting columns, provide lighting for public spaces, redesign traffic dominated spaces, upgrade footpaths and crossings, as well as planting and painting throughout the village. The €95,000 allocated to Kilkee will be used for landscaping and to provide public art at Percy French Green and the Carrigaholt roundabout. Scariff will benefit from work on safety and access to the access to public areas while the allocation to Shannon will go towards delivering the Shannon Town Green Infrastructure Plan. “We are determined to get this funding delivered …

Clare County Council has been approved €659,554 to bring local authority houses back into use throughout the county. The money will be used to renovate 30 houses for re-letting. The council applied for funding to renovate 87 derelict houses.However, three applications were rejected and a further 56 are in the process of being assessed. Clare Deputy Joe Carey said, “There are two programmes that enable local authorities to refurbish vacant social housing requiring more significant works than the normal level of pre-letting repairs. The Voids programme provides funding of up to €30,000 per unit while the Derelicts programme is aimed at more seriously derelict social houses,” Deputy Carey explained. “The Housing Agency is being provided with €70 million to engage with lending institutions to acquire properties for social housing and this is expected to deliver 1,600 units over the period to 2020. Other measures include a ‘Repair and Leasing’ initiative to allow property owners bring vacant properties up to standard …

A provisional budget allocation of almost €2.5 million has been approved for the construction of ten local authority houses in Feakle. News of the funding has been confirmed to Deputy Joe Carey who said that €2,452,805 would be made available to Clare County Council under the local authority housing construction programme and he expected that construction would be well under way early in the new year. “There is an established need for local authority housing in Feakle and I am confident that the ten houses will help keep local families in the heart of their community. This is in line with the Government’s ‘Rebuilding Ireland’ housing strategy to reverse the years of reduced investment following the economic crash,” he said. “It is important that the benefits are felt across the country and not just in the bigger population centres. For that reason, I am delighted that Feakle is among the first to benefit from the new strategy. “Keeping people in …