March 2014 Council Meeting
Notice of Motion in the name of Cllr Sinead Guckian at the March Meeting of Leitrim County Council.
At the March meeting of Leitrim County Council, I will ask for the support of the members in calling on the Minister Pat Rabbitt, – Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, to increase the budget to Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI ) to include dry-lining under the Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme BEWH. The BEWH, administered by the SEAI, funds energy efficiency improvements in the homes of the elderly and vulnerable. Currently the only wall insulation product that is available under this scheme is a cavity wall fill, but there are many houses in Leitrim that were built before cavity walls were standard in the trade and therefore this process cannot be carried out, they only option is dry-lining. Dry-lining is currently not included in the scheme therefore many vulnerable homes are not being serviced.
Speaking at the March meeting Cllr Guckian outlined that the Better Energy Warmer Homes scheme (BEWH), administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), funds energy efficiency improvements in the homes of the elderly and vulnerable, making the homes more comfortable, healthier and more cost effective to run. Better Energy Warmer Homes measures are installed at no cost to the recipient household. However the only wall insulation that is allowed under the current scheme is, a cavity wall fill, which can only be carried out on homes of a certain structure. When the SEAI are requested to include the method of dry lining as part of the scheme they simple reply, no, on the basis of their current budget allocation.
Cllr Guckian welcome the support of all members for her motion and paid tribute to the work carried out already, under the scheme, by the Leitrim Development Company. She also highlighted that the SEAI list their objective for this scheme as one to assist the maximum number of vulnerable homes possible, within the scope of the financial allocations made in the budget, “therefore it is imperative that the Minister ensures that vulnerable homes in Leitrim can be serviced by the scheme and that the process of dry-lining is included to meet the objective of the scheme as it is rolled out in this county.
Question in the name of Cllr Sinead Guckian at the March meeting of Leitrim County Council:-
At the March meeting of Leitrim County Council, I will ask the Director of Services, Environment, Emergency & Cultural Services what is the current situation with the Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management Study (CFRAMS)? The study which commenced in 2011 was supposed to last 18 months and produce a blueprint for proposed works to deal with flooding in this County and nationwide. It is now 3 years on and the level of flooding throughout this County has increased, affecting homes, businesses and agricultural land. Has this study been completed and when will action be taken to carry out works to address this major problem of flooding throughout the County.
REPLY From the Director of Services:
The first round of CFRAMs will result in the production of computerised models of each catchment and of maps detailing the areas which are considered likely to flood with return periods of 10, 100 and 1000 years. This has required the simultaneous survey of hundreds of towns and villages around the country together with detailed surveys of river beds, flood plains, control structures and existing defence systems. The first drafts of these maps for the Upper Shannon Catchment are expected to be made available to the Elected Members and the public during May/June 2014 and a formal public consultation period is proposed to be held next Autumn – the dates will depend on the degree of readiness of all of the River Catchment studies. The identification and prioritisation of the optimal flood defence works will follow in further rounds of the studies.
Councillor Sinead Guckian responding to the reply outlined that it is very worrying that this process is so slow and that to date there is urgent work that could be carried out- 03/03/2014
Question in the name of Cllr Sinead Guckian at the March meeting of Leitrim County Council.
At the March meeting of Leitrim Council I will ask the Director of Services, if the Council have progressed with identifying a road, building, bridge or park etc..with regard to my proposal which was agreed by all members, to mark the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of Cumann na mBan within the County.
Cllr Guckian welcomed the reply from the Director of Services that a proposal will be before the April meeting of the Council, for members to approve.
