This article is from page 2 of the 2008-09-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
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think it’s much better to engage.” After councillors opposed a pro- posal to participate in such a strategy, Mr Fleming, who 1s a director on the Limerick Regeneration Board, said, ‘There are several different strands to it. A lot has to do with upgrading
housing,” he said.
“The issues that are causing con- cern relate to social housing for peo- ple in the various areas of Limerick, specifically the small number of peo- ple associated with criminal activity. That effectively is the big worry,’ said Mr Fleming.
He said that people on the move can avail of houses under three different schemes – through purchasing them, through benefit from the Health Serv- ice Executive (HSE) or through so- cial housing. He confirmed that Lim- erick corporation bought 17 houses in Clare to provide social housing.
He said some houses in Shannon
were allocated through the HSE, which was an alternative scheme.
“T have advised the councillors we should engage in a regional housing strategy so we can have an input. My recommendation will be to engage so that each council will have responsi- bility for social housing in their own areas,” said Mr Fleming.
At last Tuesday’s meeting of Shan- non Town Council, Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy said Mr Fleming was living in “cloud cuckoo land. He has not sold it to me and he has not sold it to the general public.” Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) said the manager wouldn’t have to take
phone calls in the early hours of the morning as he had, over the August bank holiday weekend. “Who will take complaints in the early hours of the morning as I had to at 1.40am on bank holiday weekend about a gouri- er who had moved in? There wasn’t a social worker to be found,’ he said.
However Mr Fleming said he did not take the comments personally. “T don’t take it as personal criticism. People have concerns and I totally understand. A lot of the fears may not come to pass. We should try and see if we can get protocols in place and control as much as possible,” said Mr Fleming.