Request that community welfare be re-instated to east of county

A request has been made that the Community Welfare service, which provides additional financial support to people on a low income or getting a social welfare payment, be re-instated at outreach centres in Virginia and Bailieborough as a matter of “urgency” and not located in Cavan Town.

Community Welfare Service operates nationally across all areas of the country and Community Welfare Officers (CWO) are available in 51 Intreo Centres across the country to meet and assist customers during business hours, five days per week.

Speaking at the December meeting of elected members, Independent Shane P O’Reilly stated that the service was “concentrated in the county town”.

“Quite a number of people rely on the service and have to travel to the county town,” he bemoaned, adding that often those seeking the support are already financially strained and even before paying the cost of transport.

He said there was a need to “bring the services back” to towns in the east of the county as well as to the south, in areas such as Ballyjamesduff.

The motion was supported by Fine Gael’s TP O’Reilly who agreed that people attending the service were already facing financial “distress” and the burden of travelling was an additional unnecessary pressure.

There was support too from Fianna Fáil’s Clifford Kelly who noted it was “difficult for people to get to Cavan Town” from certain areas of the county.

Others to support the motion included Trevor Smith (FG), Sinn Féin’s Paddy McDonald and Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly who described the current situation as “unfair”.