Access to rural ATMs and cash services vital, says Crowe

Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe has welcomed Dáil approval for a Bill which will ensure people in rural areas have access to ATMs and cash services.

The Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Bill 2024 was passed by the Dáil this month and now moves to the Seanad for debate. The Bill includes provisions for ensuring that a specified percentage of the population but be within a set radius of not more than 10km of a cash service point and contains pathways for identifying and addressing locations which have deficiencies in cash services.

Speaking in the Dáil recently, Deputy Crowe asked the Minister for Finance and his Department to work with pillar banks to ensure that rural communities have proper access to banking services.

According to Deputy Crowe: “I see the progression of this Bill as being transformative. We know all too well in County Clare, how damaging it can be to a local community when a bank branch closes. Many people, but particularly an older cohort of our population, rely on the availability of a bank network in order to complete transactions.

“Where a bank isn’t readily available, an ATM becomes a necessity but unfortunately, we have large swathes of rural Ireland currently without access to a nearby ATM.

“This Bill will ensure that communities have a mechanism through which they can identify and make complaints about deficiencies of ATMs. The Central Bank will then engage with banks and other credit institutions to address these gaps.

“I think that in a county like Clare, this Bill will have a very positive effect and will hopefully lead to us having more ATMs around the county.

“Many ATMs just dispense cash but I note that in the last few years, ATM machines in bank branches have a much wider availability of services including cheque lodgements, fund transfer and a bill paying ability. I hope that the pillar banks can roll out such ATMs on a more widespread basis and I will be raising this directly with the Minister.

“We have to ensure that people are not left behind and we must avoid the risk of financial exclusion. The important role that cash continues to play in our lives must be recognised and it is a role that I am determined to protect.”

Crime stats show need for increased Garda numbers in Clare – Crowe

Clare Fianna Fáil TD, Cathal Crowe has renewed calls for additional Gardai to be assigned to County Clare following newly released figures which show over 3,300 instances of crime in the county in 2024.

Deputy Crowe made the comments following reporting from the Irish Independent this week which showed that while the number of crimes has remained static since 2019, seven Garda stations have reported increases in crimes.

Deputy Crowe said: “While I welcome decreases in stations such as Kilrush, Ennis and Shannon, there are concerning increases in areas such as Sixmilebridge, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Ardnacrusha and Killaloe.

“Killaloe had the highest number of crimes reported (210) outside of Ennis, Shannon and Kilrush, and witnessed a 32% increase in crimes, while Sixmilebridge has seen an increase of 34% in reported crimes – the largest of any Clare station.

“Miltown Malbay, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Scariff and Tulla also saw increases in reported crime, which is of concern to residents of those areas.

“With Garda recruitment in Templemore finally on the rise, the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, should soon be able to bolster Garda numbers in different divisions. I will be making the case to him and the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, for a particular emphasis to be put on the Clare-Tipperary Garda Division.

“Whilst I fully and wholeheartedly support the efforts of the Chief Superintendent of this Division, and her team, but it is a fact that Garda numbers in Clare have been down for some years now and the most recent crime stats would show that we are in need for additional policing.

“Crime stats can be looked at in two ways. Firstly, it shows that the Gardai that we have working in our county are achieving a lot with limited resources and manpower in terms of crime detection, but it also means that the public are making more complaints, vis-à-vis 999 emergency calls and this is an indicator that more needs to be done in our county to have people feeling safer and to curb lawlessness.

“The trend in recent years has been for graduates of Templemore to be immediately posted to stations in Dublin City and whilst there is an understandable need for our capital to be well policed, the lack of new recruits coming to Clare is definitely showing and needs to be addressed.

“I have also mentioned to the Minister for Justice that the number of Guards stationed in County Clare needs to be counted differently to other counties, given that the policing of Shannon Airport, which is a national, state-owned piece of infrastructure, is also in their remit.”

Crowe calls for expansion of Regional Airports Programme to include Shannon Airport

Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe is calling on the Government to broaden the criteria for access to the Regional Airports Programme to ensure that Ireland’s regional airports, including Shannon Airport, have access to assured annual funding.

The Regional Airport Programme supports Ireland’s smallest regional airports which provide scheduled passenger services and handle fewer than one million passengers per annum. The programme, which has a budget of €18 million this year, supports vital safety, security and sustainability operations and activities at airports such as Kerry, Ireland West and Donegal.

The Programme for Government commits to continuing to invest in the Regional Airports Programme and to develop a new Regional Airports Programme from 2026 – 2030. Deputy Crowe believes this revised programme should contain enhanced passenger footfall to include other airports like Shannon Airport.

According to Deputy Crowe: “The Regional Airports Programme has provided a vital funding stream for Shannon Airport in recent years.

“Access to the Regional Airports scheme is determined by the number of passengers that an airport has each year. For many years, the passenger flow through Shannon was too high to access this funding but during the Covid years, there was a sharp decline in those using the airport due to travel restrictions and this meant that Shannon automatically became eligible for funding.

“With that funding, Shannon was able to revamp its airport infrastructure and in particular invest it in baggage screening facilities, features which have made the airport safer and more efficient for passengers.

“I have raised the need to increase the passenger threshold in the Dáil and the Taoiseach has directly responded. The matter will now be considered by the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien.

“Raising the passenger figure would ensure that there isn’t annual uncertainty for Shannon and other airports in the West of Ireland. It would make an annual funding stream more certain for them and with that they could plan for multi-annual improvements in their airports.”

Housing Update – April 30th

Every Wednesday, I will update you here on the social houses that are available via Clare County Council.

As always, it is vital that you register with Clare County Council’s housing section for their Choice Based Letting site, where you are able to register your interest for a property. You can contact the housing section on (065) 6821616.

Please note: Some weeks, no properties come online and therefore there will be no housing update.

 

Ennis

Address:AchaBhile,Lahich Rd, Ennis

Details: 3 Bedroomed, 2 Storey property

Crowe appointed Chairperson of Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth

Clare Fianna Fáil TD, Cathal Crowe has been appointed as Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth.

The announcement was made on Thursday afternoon by Taoiseach, Micheál Martin.

“I am delighted to have been appointed as the Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth by An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin,” Deputy Crowe said.

“As a member of the last Dáil, I served on this committee and really enjoyed getting my sleeves rolled up to work on a wide array of educational issues.

I bring experience to this role because prior to my election to the Dáil, I worked for 14 years as a primary school teacher in Parteen National School and I also served in the role of Assistant Principal of the school.

“I’m a graduate of Mary Immaculate College and the University of Limerick and I hope to be a strong voice for children in education and also for those who work in the sector, including principals, teachers, special needs assistants and secretaries.

“In recent years, Government has put a major emphasis on inclusive education, that is to say that children with additional needs can have those needs met in their local area and ideally by their local school.

“Much work needs to be done in this area and hopefully our committee will examine how this area can be further enhanced over the next number of years.

“This committee also has the Youth dimension to it and at the beginning of this month I met with representatives of Clare Youth Service to talk about their hopes and aspirations for the Clare youth sector.

“Whilst my Chairing role will require impartiality, I hope to use the platform which I have now been given by the Taoiseach to raise the profile of quite a number of educational issues in my home county of Clare, and beyond.”

Crowe criticises ‘misleading commentary’ from fellow Clare TD over water charges

Clare Fianna Fáil TD, Cathal Crowe has strongly shut down suggestions that the Government is not seeking to introduce water charges and has hit-out at ‘disingenuous’ social media comments relating to water charges from Clare’s Sinn Fein TD, Donna McGettigan.

 

A Sinn Féin Bill on Water Services was debated in the Dáil in early April and was defeated following a vote. Over the Easter weekend, social media commentary from Deputy McGettigan accused Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents of allowing water charges to be introduced following the vote.

 

However, Deputy Crowe has hit out at the accusation and has clarified that the Government will not be introducing water charges.

 

“I think that it’s important that Clare’s voters know how their TDs are representing them in the Dáil and it is important that this false accusation is corrected,” Deputy Crowe stated.

 

“Deputy McGettigan posted a picture which states that both Deputy Joe Cooney and I voted against banning water charges, and that Minister Timmy Dooley was absent for the vote. Furthermore, Donna said that – and I quote – ‘Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Independents allow for water charges to be introduced’.

 

“The phrasing that Deputy McGettigan has used on her post is very disingenuous and is not accurate. Let me explain why: Legislation to implement water charges has already been repealed. This was contained in the Water Services Act in 2017.

 

“I want to be clear on this: this Government has no intentions to introduce water charges. It is not in the Programme for Government and there has been no work done on the relevant Statutory Instruments that would be needed to change this.

 

“The 2017 Act includes provisions to charge households for excessive water usage. This is where a house exceeds 213,000 litres per annum and this came into effect all the way back on the 1st January 2018. This is a huge amount of water and was calculated as being 1.7 times the average household use and this limit is there to encourage considerate water usage to protect both the environment and the water infrastructure.

 

“This Sinn Fein motion, if passed, would have had the opposite effect as it would have removed this provision and would have required replacement legislation. The Government has a massive legislative programme to get through in the lifetime of this Dáil and the introduction and progression of a bill to change anything to do with water charges would not be a productive use of Oireachtas time.

 

“Let me say it again: this Government has no intention of imposing water charges and Sinn Fein know this. I am disappointed that such inaccurate and misleading information was shared with the people of Clare.

 

“It is only natural that we should differ on matters relating to policy and legislation, and indeed it is the basis of a healthy democracy. However, this attempt to misrepresent the actions of other TDs within the same constituency does nothing to serve the constituents of this county and I would say it does them a disservice.

“The recent re-establishment of the cross-party Shannon Airport Oireachtas Group, which all four Clare TDs are members of, is a timely reminder of the duty of Oireachtas members to work together where possible to further the interests of their constituents. This collegiality is welcome and is of benefit to the people of Clare.

“However, this recent misleading commentary from Deputy McGettigan shares worrying shadows of the spiteful and disjointed politics we often see play out in other major Western countries and I would certainly not welcome its arrival here.

 

“All four Clare TDs have a mandate from the people and – as another elected representative said this week – this “makey up stuff” benefits no one.

Housing Update – April 23rd

Every Wednesday, I will update you here on the social houses that are available via Clare County Council.

As always, it is vital that you register with Clare County Council’s housing section for their Choice Based Letting site, where you are able to register your interest for a property. You can contact the housing section on (065) 6821616.

Please note: Some weeks, no properties come online and therefore there will be no housing update.

 

Shannon

Address:Rineanna View, Shannon.

Details: 2 Bedroomed, Terraced House

 

 

 

 

Kildysart 

Address: Cluain Chormaic, Kildysart

Details: 3 Bedroomed House, Semi-detached     

 

Housing Update – April 16th

Every Wednesday, I will update you here on the social houses that are available via Clare County Council.

As always, it is vital that you register with Clare County Council’s housing section for their Choice Based Letting site, where you are able to register your interest for a property. You can contact the housing section on (065) 6821616.

Please note: Some weeks, no properties come online and therefore there will be no housing update.

 

Shannon

Address:Ard Caoin Court, Shannon.

Details: 2 Bedroomed, 1st Floor Apartment

 

Housing Update – April 9th

Every Wednesday, I will update you here on the social houses that are available via Clare County Council.

As always, it is vital that you register with Clare County Council’s housing section for their Choice Based Letting site, where you are able to register your interest for a property. You can contact the housing section on (065) 6821616.

Please note: Some weeks, no properties come online and therefore there will be no housing update.

 

Kilrush

Address:Saint Senans Terrace, Kilrush.

Details: 2 Bedroomed Bungalow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Address:Garran na Cathaigh Pella Road, Kilrush.

Details: 2 Storey 3 Bedroomed Houses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Address:Garran na Cathaigh Pella Road, Kilrush.

Details: 2 Bedroomed Bungalows