Galway Bay FM Newsroom – Livestock marts have been unfairly treated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine when it comes to the finer details of the ICT infrastructure scheme launched this week, according to independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice.

The Marts ICT Infrastructure Scheme was launched on Monday (March 1) and When the idea was mooted last year, it was expected that marts would receive funding of up to €5,000.

However, it has been confirmed that the investments made by marts last year to allow farmers attend virtually will not be eligible and only those who invest this year will receive funding under the scheme.

Deputy Fitzmaurice said that the marts made considerable investments last year and that they will now not be eligible is totally unacceptable.

Speaking on the matter, he said: “While the scheme was a welcome development when it was first revealed last year, I feel that the finer details revealed this week are totally unfair.

“It has been confirmed that investments made by marts in 2020 will not be eligible as part of the scheme.

“So now the department expects livestock marts to go out and spend more money, that they don’t have, in order to avail of a maximum grant of €5,000 – which covers just 50% of expenditure.

“In announcing the scheme this week, the minister praised livestock marts for providing a critical service to farmers during 2020 – with online sales taking center stage as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“All marts moved online in 2020 to accommodate these online sales, with considerable investments required to do so.

“Now marts are being told the investments they made last year will not be eligible for this scheme, which I feel is totally unacceptable.

“Marts have already borne the brunt of the costs and continue to make excessive payments when it comes insurance etc. When this scheme was initially mooted, marts welcomed it as a needed boost.

“Now, I fear that the uptake will be very little as marts may not have the funds to make further investments in ICT this year having already done so just a few months ago.

“I am calling on the minister to review the terms and conditions of this scheme to make it more beneficial for marts,” he concluded.

Galway Bay FM Newsroom – Irish Water and Galway County Council would like to remind customers supplied by the Teeranea/Lettermore Pubic Water Supply that the Boil Water Notice issued for the supply on February 20th remains in place.

This is due to ongoing operational and mechanical issues at the water treatment plant that have resulted in the treatment process being compromised.

The notice also applies to the Lettercallow Group Water Scheme.

Over 900 customers who are supplied by the Teeranea/Lettermore Public Water Supply and the Lettercallow Group Water Scheme are advised that they must boil their water before drinking and preparing food.

Once tap water is boiled and cooled it will be safe for consumption.

Commenting, Tim O’Connor, Irish Water’s Asset Operations Lead said: “Public health is Irish Water’s number one priority. The notice has been put in place to protect customers due to ongoing operational and mechanical issues at the plant. Irish Water and Galway County Council Process Optimisation experts have been working on site this week, and improvements to the treatment process will be implemented in the next 10 days.

“We are aware of the impact that this notice is having on the area affected and thank our customers in advance for their patience and cooperation while we work as safely and as efficiently as possible under the current COVID-19 restrictions to improve the operations at the plant.

“We advise customers in the affected areas to adhere to the Boil Water Notice until further notice. We will continue to work closely with Galway County Council and the HSE to monitor the plant and lift the notice when it is safe to do so and safeguard the supply for the future. We will issue a further update as soon as more information is available.”

The water is safe for all other applications including personal hygiene, bathing and flushing of toilets.

In line with HSE COVID-19 advice and the requirement for frequent hand washing, Irish Water advises that the water remains suitable for this purpose and boiling the water is not required.

Irish Water is working closely with Galway County Council to lift the notice as quickly as it is safe to do so.

Updates will be available on our Water Supply Updates section on water.ie, on Twitter @IWCare and via our customer care helpline, open 24/7 on 1850 278 278.

Further information in relation to the boil water notice is available from https://www.water.ie/water-supply/water-quality/boil-water-notice/

Galway Bay FM Newsroom – Community development companies in the city and county have announced supports for workers re-entering the post-pandemic jobs market.

Galway Rural Development and Galway City Partnership have launched a revised range of online courses providing marketable qualifications.

Both groups manage the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme for the county – with online training becoming a key function of the scheme.

The new courses, which are offered through the SICAP programme, will focus on the specific qualifications that will be in demand post-COVID19 – such as IT and online skills.

As well as tailored training, both companies will assist with job applications, updated CVs and interview skills.

More information about the training programmes is available on the Galway Rural Development and Galway City Partnership websites.