Revamp of CWO network leaves Galway’s needy in the lurch

The removal of Community Welfare Officers from across Galway is having a “devastating impact” on the vulnerable in rural towns and villages.

Already, some people in financial dire straits are being forced to travel round trips of more than 70 miles – involving several bus journeys – to see a Community Welfare Officer (CWO) for emergency payments and help with medical cards.

“You need to be rich now to see a CWO. You need a car. Otherwise, it’s a matter of taking a couple of buses and a very long round trip, when you’re likely to be sent away to get more documentation anyway,” Annie Rozario of the Western Region of Family Resource Centres told the Connacht Tribune.

Ms Rozario said the reforms – which see the closure of up to 40 offices across Galway in favour of ‘centralised’ clinics in major towns – will create further hardship for those already in desperate need of help.

She said that a person in Headford who wishes to meet with a CWO now has to take a bus to Galway, and another bus to Tuam – a round trip of more than 70 miles.

“Those in need can get to their appointments … with huge difficulty. We see people sharing petrol money, and having to get several buses to get to see a CWO.

“A person in Headford will have to get a bus to Galway and then another to Tuam to see a CWO, then back to Galway and then Headford.

A person from Gort will have to get a bus to Oranmore, then back to Loughrea for an appointment.

“CWOs are supposed to be there for people in crisis, but these are the very people who cannot get to see them now.

“In the past, the CWO would have known people in their community; now they have are anonymous. That’s a cynical ploy because it’s easier to make a difficult decision if they don’t know you,” she said.

See full story in this week’s new-look Connacht Tribune.