Tag Archives: Senator Martin Conway

THE provision of out-of-hours GP services in the Mid-West will be examined as part of a wider strategic review of general practice, Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler has announced. Responding to questions in the Seanad from Senator Martin Conway, Minister Butler stated preparatory work for this review has already started this year. Since the emergence of Covid-19, the HSE provided out-of-hours co-operatives with a support grant to ensure continuity of care. Minister Butler confirmed funding for Shannondoc was increased to over €6.8 million in 2020. “Where there is increased demand in certain areas, Shannondoc can provide support from other treatment centres, to ensure services are provided where needed most,” said Minister Butler. “The service is demand-led, and the HSE has advised that Shannondoc has continued to meet the targets for urgent and routine calls set out under its service level agreement. “The Government is committed to increasing the number of GPs working nationwide and …

A COMMITMENT and timeline to provide the free HPV vaccine to young Clare people must be given by the Department of Health, according to Senator Martin Conway. Senator Conway’s call coincides with the publication of a new health report recommending a review of options for a HPV vaccine catch-up programme without any commitment to provide free jabs. This is in conflict with a commitment given by Minister of State, Anne Rabbitte during a Seanad debate last September following representations made by Senator Conway. Senator Conway has warned the cost of the HPV vaccine is a punitive €600 and is extremely off-putting for people who decided latterly to take up the vaccine, having not done so when the opportunity was initially available in schools. He said the family of the late HPV Ennis vaccine campaigner Laura Brennan continue to campaign tirelessly for the removal of these costs, as she continues to inspire the people of Clare as well as the entire …

A CLARE senator has been sharply critical of damage to rural roads by forestry operators, writes Fiona McGarry. Senator Martin Conway raised the issue with the minister with responsibility for the sector, Senator Pippa Hackett last week. The Ennistymon native told Minister Hackett that Coillte and other operators were ‘wrecking’ roads. The Fine Gael member called for forestry operators to be required to set aside funds to pay for the repair of damage. He also voiced concerns about “non-existent” communication from operators with the local authority. “The problem is when Coillte, for example, goes in and fells trees, unfortunately the roads, which are largely built on bog, are not able to handle the heavy goods vehicles that are transporting the timber,” Senator Conway said. “This has caused a major problem for people who live in the area, such as farmers and families who use the roads and the local authority. “The issue is that the local authority could have resurfaced …

Dan Danaher speaks with Aimee Foley who waived her right to anonymity following her father’s conviction and sentencing for raping and sexually abusing her AN ENNISTYMON woman, who was sexually abused, raped and traumatised by her father for years, is seeking changes in the sentencing regime for people convicted of domestic violence, rape and serious sexual assault. On December 13, Michael O’Donoghue (44) from Ennistymon was sentenced to five years for brutally raping and abusing his only daughter. Setting a headline sentence of 12 years, Mr Justice David Keane reduced it to seven years, taking mitigating factors into account and then suspended the final two years. O’Donoghue, with an address of Colmanstown, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, pleaded guilty to 31 counts of sexually assaulting Aimee Foley, one count of raping her and one count of producing child pornography. In her comprehensive victim impact statement, she described her father as “a monster, a paedophile, an animal”. The Director of Public Prosecutions has …

HEALTH Minister Stephen Donnelly will be asked by An Taoiseach Micheál Martin to set up an independent inquiry into chronic overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after two record-breaking days of trolley numbers, writes Dan Danaher. Surging admissions, which resulted in 97 patients languishing on trolleys in UHL on Tuesday and 111 on Wednesday, have prompted calls for an independent inquiry into overcrowding. Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday, Deputy Michael McNamara said the new 96-bed unit will only deliver 48 additional beds as the remaining new beds will replace existing ones. (See Champion story here) “I would accept that any amount of new beds isn’t going to meet the exponential growth in numbers on trolleys in UHL. I don’t know is there a problem with the way admission and discharge is done in the hospital, or one of the other hospitals in the group needs to be upgraded to a Model Three hospital.” I have called for an independent …

THE Minister for Housing has insisted that the bar has not been raised for Clare in terms of access to the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, writes Fiona McGarry. However, Darragh O’Brien is likely to face intense questioning when he meets the county’s Oireachtas members in Dublin this Thursday, January 27. Ahead of the meeting, Minister O’Brien issued a written assurance to Senator Martin Conway, who raised serious concerns over the level of detail being sought by the Department, as follow-up to a report submitted by the local authority last July. “It must be noted that the bar for entry for eligibility for inclusion into the scheme has not been raised by officials from my Department,” the letter stated. Speaking to The Champion, Senator Conway said he did not doubt the Minister’s sincerity in wanting to support Clare homeowners. He noted, however, that it is now six months since Darragh O’Brien visited homeowners in this county. “It is very regrettable …

THE hunt is on for a new location for the controversial Púca statue, after it was rejected in a public poll by the people of Ennistymon.  Interest has already been expressed by leading folklorist Eddie Lenihan who has been a long-time champion of the half-man, half-horse sculpture. The Crusheen man said his own village would make the ideal location, given its legendary links to the mercurial character reputed to lure people into all kinds of nocturnal adventures. “We have a place named Cathair an Phúca and there is a roundabout there,” the story-teller said. “What could be more appropriate? It’s an amazing coincidence really and maybe this is where the Púca was meant to be all along.” It remains to be see if Crusheen will fit the bill for the new location for the 2-metre high bronze figure, as Clare County Council announced its intention to find it an alternative home, somewhere in North Clare. Following a survey, which attracted …

POLITICAL promises on the delivery of a grant scheme to Clare homeowners affected by pyrite were put to the test at a meeting in Ennis last Friday night (December 3). The politicians who attended – Deputies Joe Carey and Cathal Crowe; senators Timmy Dooley and Martin Conway and Mayor of Clare, PJ Ryan – were quizzed intensively over their efforts to support those whose homes are crumbling due to defective blocks. Concerns were also aired as to why technical aspects of the Council’s application to have Clare covered by the grant scheme are being queried by civil servants. “The government are not even kicking the can anymore, they’re kicking us down the street,” said Danny Moloney of Kilkishen. “We have to go back home and wonder if our house is going to fall down tonight. Where do we go from here? “Can the Oireachtas members from Clare give me, and the people here in this room, some hope that we …