Repairs to lanes should be prioritised for people with medical issues

People who are struggling with medical issues should be priortised when it comes to having their lanes repaired, Leitrim councillors stressed at a recent meeting.
The discussion was kicked off at the council's monthly meeting by Cllr Brendan Barry who asked the council to amend the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) to allow medical letters signed by HSE employees or medical consultants to be added to files.
 
He said that lanes should be scored based on the lane occupants' medical needs throughout the duration of the scheme rather than what their condition was in January 2023, the scheme's closing date.  
Mr Joseph Gilhooly, Director of Services for Economic Development, Planning, Environment and Transportation responded that when the councillors signed off on the scheme last year, it was determined that when applications have been assessed and the priority list produced, no further information received would be taken into account that could raise the priority of a scheme on list (e.g. special medical circumstances which may occur after the closing date). 

However, Cllr Barry responded that "health conditions can change rapidly for people, sometimes overnight" and suggested that to find "middle ground", once a year, medical reports can be added to an application. 

He said: "To leave it to review the scheme until the middle of next year is too long." 

Cllr Paddy O'Rourke said he was aware of a person who is 94 years old and "their health has deteriorated rapidly since January and we are essentially ignoring that situation."

He said: "If it's someone on dialysis; someone that has to make frequent movements in and out on a very poor lane or has to have people attending - health service workers and care assistants, it's on that basis that the decision should be made."

Mr Gilhooly said the collective decision of the members was not to allow further information after the closing date. 

He stressed that the scheme has "a substantial level of interest" and there is currently a list of 178 new applications which have now been marked and prioritised.

"This time it is not possible to contemplate changing the rules," he said.