Local Authorities Issue Statements On Coronavirus

Laois, Offaly and Westmeath County Council are issuing statements about their services.

Statement from Laois County Council:

In response to the most recent developments in trying to delay the widespread onset of Covid19 in our community and having regard to the impact of school closures and crèche closures in particular, Laois County Council wishes to make the following announcement:
The Council’s priority is to ensure the health of the general public whilst at the same time, given the emerging circumstances, to ensure the continuation of essential public services
The following core services will be maintained and given priority
o Water Supply & Waste Water Treatment
o Housing & Homeless Services
o Fire & Emergency Services
o Operation of Waste and Recycling Facilities
o Road Maintenance and Traffic Safety
 The following services are to be temporarily discontinued with immediate effect until further notice:-
o All public libraries
o Motor Taxation Office, County Hall, Portlaoise
o Housing Services Counter, County Hall, Portlaoise
o Planning Services Counter, County Hall, Portlaoise
o All community events supported and/or organised through the Council Members of the public are encouraged to use online services for Motor
Taxation, Planning & other business with the Council. Those seeking housing services or supports should do so through email or phone call appointments.
In relation to Planning, the public are asked to:-
o use our website to view applications
o submit planning applications by post or hand deliver to our post box at County Hall
o submit observations on planning applications by email or post and
o phone or email in relation to other general queries
Telephone: (057) 8664039 Email: planning@laoiscoco.ie
Members of the public will be highly aware that the priority at this time and for the foreseeable future is to act in the interest of public health. From time to time, therefore, over the next few weeks there will be a requirement on Laois County Council to re-assign staff and resources from less critical to more critical services including collaborating with and supporting the Health Service Executive as required.
The Housing Department can be contacted at (057) 8664000. The email addresses are as follows:
Maintenance housingmtce@laoiscoco.ie
Homeless - homeless@laoiscoco.ie
HAP –hap@laoiscoco.ie
Applications – housingapplication@laoiscoco.ie
Estate Management – estatemanagement@laoiscoco.ie
Control of Horses – controlofhorses@laoiscoco.ie
Grants –housinggrants@laoiscoco.ie
Rents – housingrents@laoiscoco.ie
Loans – loanapplications@laoiscoco.ie
RAS – ras@laoiscoco.ie
THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF CONTACT NUMBERS AND E-MAIL
ADDRESSES FOR THE CASH OFFICE AND MOTOR TAXATION:
Cash Office - 057 8664000 cashoffice@laoiscoco.ie
Motor Tax - 057 8674305 motortax@laoiscoco.ie www.motortax.ie

Statement from Offaly County Council:

Offaly County Council has reviewed arrangements for access to its services arising from the statement by An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, March 12th.

Non-essential meetings and events have been postponed

Services to the public will remain available at our offices during normal opening hours; however, we are asking that attendance at our offices is avoided where possible. This to protect the public and staff and is in line with government advice

We have a range of services available online at https://www.offaly.ie or you may wish to contact us at customerservices@offalycoco.ie or Tel: 057-9346800. Out of hours please contact 1890 750 750
Other contacts available for direct queries are:
Department Contact Details Telephone Number
Birr Municipal District birrmd@offalycoco.ie 0579124900
Edenderry Municipal District edenderrymd@offalycoco.ie 0469731256
Tullamore Municpal District tullamoremd@offalycoco.ie 0579352470
Housing housing@offalycoco.ie 0579346800
Planning planning@offalycoco.ie 0579346800
Motor Tax motortax@offalycoco.ie 0579346800
Roads roads@offalycoco.ie 0579346800
Environment environment@offalycoco.ie 0579346800
Cash Office cashoffice@offalycoco.ie 0579357414
Irish Water 1890 750 750

Please check our website and social media channels for regular updates.
If you have any concerns in relation to Covid 19 please check https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/news/newsfeatures/covid19-updates/ for regular updates and advice on what to do.
The above provisions will remain in place up to and including Sunday, 29 March 2020, and will be subject to review pending further announcements by Government.

Statement from Westmeath County Council:

Westmeath County Council has taken the following actions following the announcement by the  Government to prevent the spread of COVID-19;

• Public Libraries are closed as of Thursday 12 March 2020 at 6.00pm
• The following facilities will close at end of business today 13 March 2020:
o Belvedere House Gardens and Park
o Mullingar Swimming Pool
o Athlone Castle, Luan Gallery, Abbey Road Art Studios

These facilities will remain closed until 29 March 2020.

Aside from the above, all Council public buildings remain open and Council services are operating as normal.

The above information is subject to change as informed by ongoing Government and HSE advice.

In keeping with HSE advice regarding social distancing and reducing the spread of COVID-19, Westmeath County Council is asking the public to use, where possible, telephone, email and similar methods to transact your business with us.

We will continue to put contingency measures in place to minimise the effect on essential services in the days and weeks ahead.

The management team of Westmeath County Council will continue to meet on a regular basis in relation to our response to COVID-19 as the situation evolves. We will continue to keep the public updated through Westmeath County Council’s communication channels and local media.

Westmeath County Council website: https://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/

Westmeath County Council Twitter https://twitter.com/westmeathcoco

Westmeath County Council Facebook https://www.facebook.com/westmeathcoco/

We encourage the public to keep up to date with the latest advice and updates from the HSE in relation to COVID-19 and to follow all guidance issued by healthcare professionals.

 

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