Less talk and more action is the call from one Carlow Councillor after it emerged that a dedicated women’s refuge for the county is unlikely to be delivered next year.
That’s despite an expectation that the facility would be up and running in 2024 as indicated by Minister Helen McEntee last summer.
But following a parliamentary question from Deputy Paul Murphy to now Justice Minister Simon Harris it seems that is not included in the initial phase of additional refuge spaces planned for next year.
Deputy Jennifer Murnane O’Connor claims the commitment is still there and that work has been happening in the background after a task force was set up in recent months:
“And we have been working, a lot of work behind the scenes with the department to get this women’s refuge as quick as possible,” said Deputy Murnane O’Connor.
“I’ve also wrote to the HSE about a site that they have so all that has been worked on at the moment,” she added.
But Councillor Adrienne Wallace says what was promised needs to be delivered:
“So we’ve had politicians come out on the radio, make these commitments, and then they haven’t materialized, the fact is Minister Simon Harris, who this is his brief, has been in the Dail and said on record that Carlow was not getting a refuge in 2024,” said councillor Wallace.
