This article is from page 18 of the 2011-11-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
A FAMILY in east Clare telephoned the county council emergency helpline during the severe weather spell 27 times, but the calls were not answered. This was revealed at a meeting of the council yesterday, after the issue was raised by Independent Councillor PJ Ryan. He asked that the council ensure that adequate staff be made available to man the emergency number during the winter weekends and holiday periods.
In a written response from the council, it was stated that the council’s emergency phone operates throughout the year outside office hours. “The effectiveness of the facility was compromised during the very severe weather event of December 2010 when temperatures dropped to minus 12 degrees and the intensity of calls from members of the general public in relation to water services and roads related issues increased to an unmanageable level,” stated the council’s response from director of services, Nora Kaye.
She added that in such situations, additional call answering and technical support advice facilities were set up. “This issue has been examined during the year and criteria have been agreed which will facilitate identification of the need for additional support,” she stated.
Cllr Ryan told the meeting that due to problems with emergency numbers late last year and early this year, residents were not getting a reply when they called the emergency phone number.
“I had constituents in Kilkishen who phoned the number on 27 occasions and got no reply,” he said. “It is important that somebody is there.”
Fine Gael Councillor Johnny Flynn said that the problem is particularly acute in isolated areas where people are living alone.
Ms Kaye told councillors that a lot of lessons were learned from last year. “There is an improved system in place now,” she said.