Clare County Council confirmed today it was awaiting approval from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to carry out a wide range of accessibility works in 17 towns and villages throughout the County.Finance totalling EUR371,000 has been allocated for the proposed works under the Disability Strategy Funding for 2009. The prioritised works awaiting approval were identified as part of a countywide accessibility audit of all public buildings, facilities and amenities owned or controlled by Clare Local Authorities. An integral part of the audit process was the consultation through workshops and at local level with the various stakeholders – people with disabilities, disability groups, carers of people with disabilities and the elderly.
According to Mayor of Clare, Councillor Tony Mulcahy: “I warmly welcome the fact that the proposed works are spread throughout the county and include the provision of drop kerbing and tactile paving in seventeen different towns and villages. Elsewhere, improvements will be made to disabled car parking facilities at Drumcliffe Graveyard, and at Lahinch and Killaloe where the works will be carried out by Clare County Council staff.”
Mayor Mulcahy added: “I also welcome proposals to expand the audio stock, DVDs and number of large print books for use through the library service, which continues to be a vital resource to the people of Clare.”
Commenting on the scheduled works, Mr. Tom King, Chairman of Disabled People of Clare, Chairperson of the National Policy for the Centre of Independent Living, and National Director of People With Disabilities in Ireland said: “It is reassuring to learn that despite the current economic climate all funding allocated to Clare under the Disability Strategy Funding in 2009 will be spent on accessibility measures in the county. I am also delighted that the works included in the proposals awaiting Government approval have been extracted from priority measures identified in the access audit”.
Mr. King continued: “Especially in view of the difficult economic circumstances, I fully support and welcome the use of the Council’s own staff to execute the proposed works. In addition to assisting with maintaining local employment, the execution of these works will also provide training in terms of accessibility works and serve to increase awareness of the principal of universal accessibility and the obligation on service providers to meet the needs of those living and visiting our county”.
