‘Cop out’ not to have dedicated community welfare officer in Shannon for full week

ABSENCE of a community welfare officer in Shannon for the entire week is “a cop out”.

In a proposal before Tuesday’s meeting of the Shannon Municipal District, Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) called on the Department of Social Protection to put in place a community welfare officer in the town of Shannon “for two or more days of the week”.

She said, “Some people in dire need are not aware of how to access their community welfare officer and have to travel to Ennis in order to avail of this service, some may not have transport or funds for the bus journey. Shannon is a large town and this would be an invaluable service that is badly needed”.

Acting senior executive officer, Anne Griffin said the motion would be referred to the Department.

Seconding the proposal, Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) said there were queues of up to forty people in Ennis last week for people looking to speak with a community welfare officer. The absence of the service from Shannon is “a bit of a cop out,” he remarked while calling for it to be in place across five days of the week.