This article is from page 14 of the 2008-01-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
INCREASES in the number of beaches and days covered by life- guards, more flexible arrangements for funding rural graveyards and the setting up of a full time fire service were all items on the shopping list of Clare County Council members as they met to budget for the com- ing year.
Cllr Martin Conway (FG) called for a five-year plan to be drawn up to provide a full-time fire service which would replace the retained fire serv- ice in Ennis.
He asked that more lifeguards be brought in. “Surfing is a 52-week a year occupation now. Everytime you go to Lahinch, the car park is full. I would like to see the lifeguard serv- ice extended to this beach.”
Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) asked that some of the €206,000 allocated for litter prevention in the budget be “used to catch people who are us- ing the bring banks to dump rubbish and to bring them before the courts. Fines should be raised. The current fine is not a sufficient deterrent.”
Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) said that some larger areas were seen to be
‘getting much more favourable treat- ment in terms of allocated funding for graveyards whereas small, rural communities have to purchase land for burial grounds themselves.” Director of Services, Ger Dollard, said that two lifeguards are rostered on at a time on beaches in consid- eration both of child protection and health and safety concerns. “If one lifeguard gets into trouble, then there is a second to go and help,” he told the members at the budget 2008 meeting. “Our plan is to provide cov- er during the time that the primary school children are off and it can be
difficult to get lifeguards outside that time, as many of them are in college or having their own holidays.”
Director Dollard told the meeting that the issue of a full-time fire serv- ice 1S part of a national review.
‘There is a review of the fire service model to assess where there should be a full-time service. We will have to spend five times as much to go full-time.”
He also told councillors that litter fines are not in the control of the local authority once they get to court, “but judges are taking a sterner view now, One fine recently was for €5,000.”