Month: April 2006

THE Environmental Protection Agency has been criticised for unfairly penalising Clare County Council, following the latest report on the quality of water in Clare’s lakes. The report showed that Clare had the joint second-highest amount of “non-compliant” lakes in the country, at 14.

In reaction, politicians were accused of lacking political will, while the EPA were criticised for negativity towards Clare County Council, even though it had helped identify water pollution.

“It is quite worrying. The council has done its best with the limited resources it has, but it is appalling that there has been no guidelines from the EPA on the issue,” said Steve Symes, a member of Clare County Council’s Environmental Special Policy Committee (SPC).

“There is a lack of political will to ensure that the public has clean water to drink. The Council has put in place resources, bu it will never be able to do the job adequately with those resources and it is not good enough that there has been no improvement in the water quality.

He further added, “Each Summer, like clockwork, Lough Graney and Lough Derg are closed off for swimming. We are not making any progress and central Government is not providing the assistance.”

Mr Symes was reacting to a presentation by the council’s Senior Executive Chemist, Mary Burke on the most recent Environmental Protection Agency report.

Ms Burke told the SPC meeting that the EPA had dropped the ball in reporting the statistics.

In its survey, the council had surveyed a large amount of lakes, while Limerick County Council had only surveyed two lakes.

Ms Burke said that the report’s finding were biased against the local authorities who had done the work.

Chair of the SPC, Councillor Pa tricia McCarthy (Ind), said that the council had adopted the correct approach in its comprehensive examination of the county’s lakes.

Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) said that the council was being punished by the EPA because of the thoroughness with which it approached the work.

“Obviously, the local authorities that surveyed the most lakes were going to feature very high on the list.”

A LITTLE-KNOWN Shannon-based aircraft engine leasing firm, which employs just 16 people, recorded a profit of over €35 million last year.

Accounts filed to the Companies Office by Shannon Engine Support Ltd (SES) show that recorded a profit of €35.74 million to the end of December 2004.

Staff at the company received, on average, a salary of €103,625, with the overall salary payout being €1.658 million. The directors received €385,000 between salaries and bonuses.

Of the 16 staff, seven work in customer support, four in marketing, two in finance and three in administration. The company’s net profit increased by €11.5 million on that recorded in 2003.

According to the accounts, “the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Engine Support Holdings (a subsidiary of CFM International Inc) and is engaged in the provision of a range of aircraft engine management services to the international civil aviation industry, centred on the provision of comprehensive spare engine support and allied services.

“The company has had a successful year, operating effectively. It is expected that the business will continue to develop and that the company is well positioned to benefit from any upturn in the aviation industry.”

The company had a turnover of €86.9 million in 2004 and its operating costs were €49.2 million. Its gross profit was €37.7 million and less administration costs resulted in an operating profit of €33.85 million. Four of the company’s directors are French and three are from the US. At the end of 2004, the company’s fixed asset were priced at €455 million with current assets valued at €66 million.

The largest proportion of business was carried out in Europe where the company received €44 million in revenues; €19 million in the Asia Pacific region; €12.6 million in the US and €11 million in the “rest of the world”.

At the end of 2004, the company’s fixed asset were priced at €455 million with current assets valued at €66 million. The accounts also show that the largest proportion of the company’s profits came from “aircraft engine support activities”, where the company received €60 million. It received €25 million in respect of future engine maintenance costs.

A HOMELESS hostel for the growing number of homeless people in Ennis may be in place before the end of the year.

In the absence of a hostel, two homeless people died sleeping rough in the town in recent years, according to the Chairman of Clare County Council’s Special Policy Committee on Housing, Cllr Joe Arkins (FG).

“People die everyday, but in a wealthy society, we should be appalled that people are dying on our streets,” he said.

A meeting of the committee heard that, currently, there are 10 people sleeping rough in Ennis and eight young people sleeping rough in Shannon.

St Vincent de Paul has entered pre-planning discussions with Ennis Town Council about a property in Ennis, which the organisation is considering purchasing to use as a hostel, according to Cllr Arkins.

Community Welfare Officer, Margaret Coffey told the meeting that the county’s homeless problem was being exported, with Clare homeless people receiving accommodation in hostels in Limerick and Galway.

Ms Coffey told the meeting that there were two or three bed and breakfasts in Ennis that accommodated homeless people.

“But it is becoming more and more difficult to get accommodation and, with the dancing championships on in Ennis this week, the bed and breakfasts just want the people out.

“Over the Summer it becomes next to impossible to get accommodation. That is why it is essential that a hostel is opened.”

Ms Coffey said that the age profile for homeless people presenting went from 17 to 75 years of age.

She added that Clare Haven Services provides a refuge for victims of domestic violence where women and children are accommodated.

However, Ms Coffey said that when a man presented as homeless, who was also a victim of domestic violence, there were no suitable services to direct him towards.

Ms Coffey said that the absence of the hostel is a major deficiency in the needs of homeless people. A hostel had “been talked about for four of five years, but there has been little progress,” she said.

It cost €320,000 for the homeless unit, since its establishment three years ago by the council and the Health Services Executive, to cater for 1,301 homeless people presenting.

Last year, the Unit spent €157,000 providing for 490 people, with most of the money being spent on bedand-breakfast accommodation.

Cllr Arkins said that the provision of a hostel is not a solution to the problem, but is one of the tools that can be used in addressing the issue.

He expressed his preference for a centrally located site in Ennis, with no neighbouring properties, to avoid planning objections.

NO applications have been made for affordable housing units in Kilrush, since law introducing them was enacted five years ago.

According to Kilrush Town Clerk Fiona Mooney, a total of 258 “expressions of interest” have been received by Clare County Council from people throughout the county, hoping to buy their own home.

The greatest demand for homes has been in Shannon, with 86 applicants having cited the town as their first preference. This is closely followed by Ennis. A total of 69 applications have singled out the county town as their most preferred place to live.

However, only 14 affordable houses have been provided in Clare during the first five years of the controversial Part V of the Planning and Development Act, providing for cheaper homes.

No houses to date have been provided in the West Clare principal town.

“However . . . when a Part V legal agreement is finalised in respect of Kilrush planning permission, the Kilrush affordable scheme will be advertised,” said Ms Mooney.

According to the town clerk, negotiations are “live on a number of planning decision files and it is anticipated that the legal agreement for a number of affordable houses will be finalised this year.”

Under the Act, 20 per cent of all housing developments should be made available for affordable housing or sites for developers of all private housing schemes provide such housing. In 2004, the Government amended the act to allow developers make a financial contribution to local authorities in lieu of providing affordable housing or sites.

The amendment has resulted in Clare County Council collecting €365,840 from developers during the past two years, while just 14 house have been provided.

West Clare Councillor, Tom Prenderville (FF) has described the amendment as a “buy-out clause”, which has made “a veritable ass” of the intention of the original legislation.

Clare County Council, which operates affordable housing throughout the county, has invited applicants to complete an “Expression of Interest” indicating the applicant’s top three locations preferences in order.

This information is kept on a database and consulted when houses become available in a particular location.

CLARE County Council is seeking to increase by 500 per cent the number of homes provided through contentious Government legislation, in order to drastically reduce its housing waiting list.

The plans mean the council will provide 73 affordable housing units this year.

At the council’s monthly meeting last Monday, it emerged that the authority had provided only 14 affordable homes through Part V of the 2000 Planning and Development Act.

Part V requires developers to provide cash to local authorities towards the provision of affordable housing.

However, at the council’s Special Policy Committee (SPC) on Housing last week, the Acting Director for Housing, Josephine Cotter-Coughlan, said that the council intended to provide 73 Part V Affordable Housing Units this year.

The 73 Part V units form part of the council’s “expanded housing provision” in 2006, by which the housing authority intends to provide 312 new homes.

Ms Cotter-Coughlan said that the council intended to start 114 social houses. Twenty-four of these would be located in Corofin, 20 in Miltown Malbay, 19 in Sixmilebridge, 16 in Killaloe, 14 in Scarriff, 10 in Kildysart, eight in Shannon and three in Lisdoonvarna.

Ms Cotter-Coughlan said that 46 turnkey starts would be provided with 22 Clarecastle, 14 in Lisdoonvarna and 10 in Newmarket.

She said that 49 starts for voluntary housing would be made this year, with 30 in Killaloe, 10 in Clarecastle and nine in Mountshannon.

The council is also planning to commence work on 30 “affordable homes” at Kilkee.

Ms Cotter-Coughlan said that the council also intended to purchase land at Newmarket, Lisdoonvaran and Ennistymon. Currently, the Council has a landbank for social housing in 10 settlements throughout Clare, including Ballyvaughan, Miltown Malbay, Kilkee, Corofin, Broadford, and Corofin.

However, there is a demand for social housing in 36 settlements and for affordable housing in 30 settlements.

The meeting was told that the council currently didn’t have enough land to complete its housing programme and was currently short 40 acres of land for sites.

Ms Cotter-Coughlan said that a major obstacle to achieving targets in the provision of housing are the continual difficulties in securing funding from central Government in the provision of water infrastructure in a number of towns and villages.

She said, “It is a major issue.”

AN 18-YEAR-OLD youth from Galway, facing a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of two Clare teenage girls in 2003, has been jailed for six months in London for burglary.

The jail term imposed on David Naughton means a bid to extradite him in connection with the deaths in October 2003 of Stacey Haugh (16) and Lorna O’Mahony (13), both from Kilkee, will be delayed.

Naughton, who resided at a voluntary residential care unit in Galway before he skipped bail over two years ago, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary of a dwelling in 2004, shortly after arriving in the UK.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Naughton appeared in court on April 11 and received a six-month sentence in a Young Offenders Institute. Seven other offences were taken into consideration.

Naughton had previously appeared in court in England on a string of motoring charges, including aggravated taking of a vehicle without the owner’s consent.

It’s not clear how much of the sixmonth term he’ll serve, but gardaí are expected to seek his extradition on his release.

He is alleged to have been driving the car in which the two girls died. It hit a wall at Carrigaholt.

A bench warrant for Naughton’s arrest has remained in force here, since it was issued at Ennis District Court after he failed to appear for a hearing in February 2004.

After he was originally remanded to St Patrick’s Institution in Dublin, Naughton was granted bail at Ennis District Court.

He was later returned to St Patrick’s for breaching his bail conditions, but granted bail after telling a court that he had been assaulted by other inmates while in custody.

Soon afterwards, the accused fled to England.

In May 2004, Naughton first came to the attention of police in England.

The CPS confirmed that when Naughton appeared in court on those charges, his guilty plea to being carried in a motor vehicle taken without consent was accepted. But other charges were withdrawn, because police could not be sure whether Naughton was driving the vehicle at the time.

He was due to be sentenced for the burglary at Wood Green Crown Court on March 20.

On that date, however, probation reports sought by the court were not available and sentencing was adjourned until last week.

A DISTRICT Court judge has expressed amazement at the failure to ensure that witnesses for the prosecution against a garda were available when the case was fixed for hearing.

Judge Joseph Mangan turned down an application by the State to have the case against a Shannon-based garda adjourned because three witnesses, including the main witness, would be unavailable to attend.

Inspector Tom Kennedy had sought an adjournment in the case of Garda Pat Keating, of Woodlands, Cahercalla, Ennis, who faces one charge under the Public Order Act arising out of an incident at the Shannon Knights carpark, Tullyvarraga, Shannon, on March 13, 2004.

Inspector Kennedy told Judge Joseph Mangan that three of the State’s 12 witnesses would be unavailable to attend court for the case which was fixed for hearing on this Thursday (April 20).

Inspector Kennedy said the main witness, Ms Eavan Drysdale, would be out of the country on that date and that the trip had been arranged before the hearing date was set. Garda Keating was recently acquitted in the Circuit Court of threatening Ms Drysdale.

The Inspector said that two others would also be unavailable and that one of those would be sitting exams.

The Judge asked whether the State had ascertained what dates witnesses would not be available prior to a day for the hearing being set.

When told that the State had not done so, Judge Mangan replied, “That amazes me.”

Judge Mangan said that the State should have known whether its witnesses would be available on the day a date for the hearing was confirmed. He asked that Ms Drysdale appear before him in the afternoon to clarify the position in relation to her availability.

When the mother of two appeared in court later in the day, she told Judge Mangan that she had been asked by her employer to travel to Sweden on a business trip and that this had been confirmed two weeks ago.

Solicitor Daragh Hassett, acting as agent for Garda Keating’s solicitor, objected to the adjournment.

“Mr Keating already has his council booked to travel from Dublin for the hearing.

“He has made numerous attempts to have this summary matter dealt with as soon as possible.”

Mr Hassett added, “Mr Keating is on desk duty until this matter is disposed of and cannot return to active duty then. He is also suffering a loss of income as a result.”

THE Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, has given an undertaking that the voice of Ennis General Hospital Development Committee will be considered in a major review of acute hospital services.

But Clare Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen, has called on Ms Harney to “come clean and admit” that their assurances on the future of accident and emergency services at the Ennis hospital did not stand up.

Ms Harney promised to listen to the development committee, in a response to a Dáil question.

“Concerns raised by individuals and groups, particularly in relation to the smaller hospitals, and the work already undertaken by groups such as the Ennis General Hospital Development Committee, the Independent Reconfiguration Panel in the United Kingdom and the Nenagh General Hospital Action Group, will be taken into account as a key component of the review process.”

She said consultants currently undertaking a review of acute hospital services would make recommendations, “on the options for reconfiguring and redesigning services and, in particular, to identify the elements of healthcare that can be most effectively delivered at each site and set out what needs to be done to achieve this objective.”

But Deputy Breen claimed that the Tánaiste’s assurances put previous assurances “in a new light”.

“The future of such services will remain in doubt right up to the general election and, even then, the Government might hide behind its flawed mantra that management and delivery of health services rest with the HSE,” Deputy Breen said.

“This is an intolerable situation. We have had half assurances followed by fudge followed by silence, followed by withdrawals of statements. I have continually called for a clear statement from Minister Harney on this issue by way of Parliamentary Question and by letter, and every time the nub of the issue is ignored.

“However, it is clear now that the jury is out on the future of A&E services pending the outcome of the review of acute services. If the review goes against Ennis General, then the best the people of Clare can hope for is that they may be thrown the bone of guaranteed A&E services as a pre-election promise. This is a scandalous way to govern in a modern democracy.”

THE POPULARITY of Shannon as Ireland’s low-cost airport continues, with the airport recording a 22 per cent increase in passenger numbers in the first quarter of this year.

According to the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA), for the first quarter of this year, 716,000 passengers used Shannon.

Over the Easter bank-holiday weekend alone, an estimated 40,000 passengers used Shannon – an increase of 28 per cent on last year.

However, the continuing growth at Shannon comes against the background of continuing uncertainty over the airport’s future with a recommendation by the Labour Court on the Dublin Airport Authority’s (DAA) €30 million ‘survival plan’ for Shannon imminent.

The DAA’s Director for Change, John Horgan and Shannon unions, made their case to the Labour Court on the March 24. Workers who decide to remain with the company will receive “substantial lump sum payments”.

Mr Horgan described the package on offer to the airport’s workers “as probably the highest severance package available in Ireland and probably the highest available ever”.

The package gives staff with over 24 years experience a €100,000 pay-off, while it also entitles workers to their company pensions at 55.

The Labour Court has been inspecting proposals by the DAA, which is seeking to cut its workforce at Shannon by 200, through the voluntary redundancy scheme.

“Based on the expressions of interest that we have had, I am completely happy that we will reach our target of voluntary redundancies,” Mr Horgan said.

The company’s proposals for Shannon involve the outsourcing of a number of sections. This is facing stiff opposition from SIPTU, which claims that the proposals would result in the displacement of over two hundred of the existing workforce and their replacement by staff on inferior pay and conditions.

A FRESH row has broken out over military use of Shannon airport, with revelations that Russia has been using the facility to export military helicopters to South America.

The revelations come in the wake of newspaper pictures, which showed USchartered Antanov cargo planes on the runway at Shannon. These planes are used to carry three military helicopters bound for Israel.

The Russian cargo flight landed at the airport on February 20, one week before the US plane. The flight was carrying a cargo of Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters bound for Venezuela.

The use of Shannon by Russian flights carrying the helicopters has been confirmed by Transport Minister, Martin Cullen.

The overall consignment from Russia included 20 Mi-17’s, mostly used for troop transport, 10 Mi-35’s assault helicopters and three Mi-26ts, the heaviest and most powerful helicopters in the world.

In a statement, Minister Cullen said that an inquiry launched after it was revealed that the US flights carrying choppers had landed, had now been upgraded to “a review.”

The minister’s statement said that under international aviation rules, “aircraft making technical stops do not need an authorisation. In Ireland, however, permission is required if munitions are being carried.”

He said that the Russian flight notification had “indicated that no dangerous goods or munitions will be carried on board. In the course of our enquiries the department has learned that helicopters were, in fact, carried.”

The latest controversy also follows claims that CIA planes landing at Shannon are carrying prisoners bound for torture.

The Green Party has called for an independent probe into the matter.

Green Party chairman, John Gormley asked whether “the Foreign Minister of the Taoiseach knew that these killing machines were exported from Shannon?”