The author of a new landmark report claims Clare has been marginalised by national policy, not by geography.
‘Towards an Anti-Poverty Strategy for Clare’, which has just been published today, suggests that poverty is “systemic” in this county and that the banner’s housing system is “chaotic”.
This report follows nine months of research, with a view to beginning work on creating an anti-poverty strategy for Clare.
The first of its kind in the country, the report is described as ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘critical’, with the suggestion that Clare has serious issues in health, housing, investment and employment.
It says there’s a crisis in all types of housing in Clare; social, rental and privately owned, with a particular crisis for the travelling community.
It also found there’s an inequality in provision of health services between Clare and other regions, with 33% more GPs and 50% more dentists needed, even to put Clare on a par with the national average.
The report states there are key failures at national and local level in measuring poverty, and as the saying goes, what you can’t measure, you can’t address.
Author of the report, Dr. Conor McCabe says Clare County Council has had to cut it’s cloth to the National Development Plan, which focusses on the Midwest region.
He believes that under that umbrella, Clare is being left behind.
Among the key recommendations are that Clare needs its own social housing action plan and that the National Development Plan, which “overlooks Clare” needs to be reviewed.
The West Clare Family Resource Centre, which is on the steering group, has described the report as a “wake up call” that plans needs to be made to develop the county in a way that rids it of poverty.
Co-Ordinator, Mary O’Donoghue says this document needs to be taken seriously and used by policy-makers to implement important change.
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