*Clare County Council.
A SHAKE-UP of the corporate structure of Clare County Council is set to be revealed later this month.
Chief Executive of Clare County Council, Gordon Daly has been busy plotting his vision for the local authority since his appointment at the end of March. The Tuamgraney man has been in the role since May and has used the summer months to engage with staff, councillors and communities before forming his plan of action.
The Clare Echo has learned that Daly held a workshop with Directors of Service this week where they were given a clear outline on the vision that the Chief Executive is putting forward for the Council.
Changes are expected to be made to the structure of the Council. At present the local authority is organised into directorates, these include Economic Development, Finance and Support Services, Physical Development, Rural Development, Social Development and Tourism Development.
Each Directorate is led by a Director of Service, in Clare these are Carmel Kirby (Economic Development), Noeleen Fitzgerald (Finance and Support Services), Alan Farrell (Physical Development), Ann Reynolds (Rural Development), Jason Murphy (Social Development) and Siobhán McNulty (Tourism Development).
Council sources have told The Clare Echo that a Directorate focused specifically on housing and planning is in the offing. Currently housing falls under the Social Development directorate.
Mergers of existing directorates to facilitate a Housing Directorate have been mooted with Social Development and Tourism Development considered to be the most likely to experience changes. Alterations to Rural Development have also been contemplated.
Adding further speculation to the view that change is imminent to the Tourism Directorate was the confirmation from McNulty on Tuesday that the September Tourism SPC meeting would not proceed as scheduled.
From his decade as a Director of Service with Limerick City and County Council, Daly was central in bringing derelict houses back into use with a dedicated derelict properties team created in 2017. In the past five years it has carried out almost 8,000 inspections, served more than 2,800 notices and has or is planning to compulsorily acquire 300 properties in Limerick.
Between 2019 and last year, Limerick City and County Council brought 326 properties back into use. It has a revolving fund where properties are put on the open market and the proceeds used to pay for compulsory purchases if the owners can be found. The vacant property refurbishment grant (VPRG), also known as Croí Cónaithe, has been a big success in tackling dereliction in Limerick, as in many other counties. There have been almost 500 applications received, of which 350 have been approved.
Twelve towns and villages in Limerick have been part of a pilot project from the Department of Housing which contributes €2.5m to proposals with the Council providing €800,000 from its own resources. Six sites in Abbeyfeale are currently being brought back from dereliction using the fund.
Elected members of the Council have yet to be briefed on what potential new structures may come into play within the local authority. The September meeting of the Council is expected to be adjourned as a mark of respect to the late Bill Chambers (FF).
