The public speaks

CLARE Fine Gael TD Pat Breen has refuted claims he doesn’t spend sufficient time tending to issues in West Clare. At the official opening of the refurbished Kilkee library on Monday evening, a number of protestors greeted TDs, county and town councillors on their way into the building.
Carrigaholt-based Pat Gavin was one of the protestors. He expressed anger at the fact that his autistic daughter has to travel a 130km daily round trip to Ennis to continue with her education. His daughter received her primary school education at the autistic unit at St Senan’s National School in Kilrush. 
“I’d prefer to see these guys that are coming here to open the library this evening, opening an autistic unit for my child, who’s travelling 130km a day to go to school. She’s doing that for the last three years. This crowd that are in power now promised me when Fianna Fáil were in there that they’d open it when they got in,” Pat Gavin claimed.
He then criticised Fine Gael TD Pat Breen, who keeps a constituency sub-office in Kilrush.
“Why won’t he do something positive around here instead of coming to open a library? He hasn’t been back here to a public meeting since he was elected 12 months ago. He hasn’t been back around here to talk to anybody – fishermen, farmers or business people to give us something to keep us going. Nothing,” Mr Gavin said.
This was an assertion denied by Deputy Breen, however.
“I spend a day a week in West Clare. First of all, doing clinics at my constituency sub-office in Kilrush and I also spend some time visiting the small villages and towns throughout West Clare. I don’t think he was directing those remarks at me. If he was, they were totally unfounded because the evidence is there that I’m there all the time with the people of West Clare,” the Fine Gael TD replied.
Pat Gavin also maintained that a proposal to build an autistic unit at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point appears to have stalled.
“The application went in for the building of the unit at Spanish Point secondary school last September. It was sent to the buildings section of the Department of Education but they haven’t heard anything back. That’s seven months. Not even a reply to the application,” he said.
Deputy Breen said he wasn’t fully aware of the current status of this application but that he was supportive of it.
“I’m not up-to-date on the progress as regards to an additional autistic unit in the county but certainly, it’s something I’d welcome. Obviously, there’s a big geographical distance for children with autism having to travel into Ennis. It can be frustrating with the time and cost involved. I’d welcome any initiative to have a second-level autistic unit built at a secondary school in West Clare,” he stated.
On a broader note, Deputy Breen pointed to the positives of the refurbished €1.6 million library but acknowledged that further job creation is a priority.
“Any construction project going into West Clare is very welcome. The fact that €1.6m was spent on this refurbishment programme created a number of jobs in the construction sector and it was done over a 12-month period. There’s also going to be a temporary tourist office set up within the library and there’s a theatre and exhibition centre. I think it’s important for West Clare to have a centre like that,” he said.
“Obviously, jobs are the number-one issue, no matter what part of the county you go to and it’s something this Government is treating as a priority,” the Ballynacally TD concluded.