This article is from page 24 of the 2008-07-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 24 JPG
CALLS have been made for the gov- ernment to clarify its position in rela- tion to water charges for schools be- fore the beginning of the new school year this September.
As part of a heated debate at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr John Crowe (FG), called on central government to tackle the problem before schools are thrust into more financial difficulty.
“The reality of this is that schools in County Clare are already operat- ing on a shoestring budget. They have to organise endless fundraising to keep the schools going.
“Coupled with this the grants schemes for minor works were cut
last week despite the promises that government would not cut back from the health or the education budgets,” he said.
“Charges should only be levied if the schools use up all of their allow- ance. The schools can’t afford the fees that are being put upon them and we need central government to tackle this situation.”
Speaking on that debate, Green Party councillor Brian Meaney, said that most school welcome the charg- Ae
‘“T’m on the board of management of a number of schools and this has been a bone of contention for some time. Boards of management are looking at this in a positive way rath- er than a negative way,’ he said.
‘School are places where values are learned and thought – schools have no problem paying the charges as long as funding is available in terms of capitation or in other ways to al- low them to meet the charge.”
CUlr Martin Conway (FG) com- mented that the water charges were an example of the underprivileged being hit the worst in times of reces- sion.
“It is a clear example that when we have an economic downturn that the people most in need will suffer,’ he said.
“When the belts need to be tight- ened it’s always the elderly and the young who suffer. The government need to be clear and unambiguous about this.”