Clare County Council Awarded For Excellence Through Accessibility

Ireland (SANEPR.com) December 5, 2008 -- Mr. John Moloney, T.D., Minister for Equality, Disability and Mental Health at the Department of Health and Children presented excellence awards to representatives of the Scariff Area Office and the Council Corporate HQ at Aras Contae An Chláir. The Council's website was also highly commended and described as one of the most accessible public service websites in the country.

The Excellence through Accessibility (EtA) scheme recognises public bodies which attain high standards in accessibility across key aspects of their services including buildings and facilities, publications, websites, customer services, human resources and procurement procedures.

The Local Authority was assessed under a number of categories including Customer Services Policies and HR Policies, the Built Environment and online services.

Commenting on the awards success, Mayor of Clare Councillor Madeleine Taylor Quinn stated, “Everyone associated with the Scarrif Area Office and Aras Contae an Chláir can be very proud of receiving their Excellence through Accessibility award, which demonstrates their commitment to accessibility and to best practice in delivering comprehensive public services to people with disabilities.”

The Mayor added, "The issue of accessibility for people with disabilities is featured in the Clare Local Authorities Buildings and Services Accessibility Policy. It is also an integral part of the Government's National Disability Strategy. The Council recognises that providing everybody with access to public services is essential. The Local Authority will continue to provide accessible services and in doing so set a standard for others to follow.”

“The Council also has ongoing meetings with the Disabled People of Clare, which represents people with disabilities in the county. The objective of these meetings is to develop links, improve communication and to provide improvements to services for people with disabilities”, stated Mayor Taylor Quinn.

The NDA launched the Excellence through Accessibility Award in 2005. The award scheme acknowledges those Departments and Agencies under their remit that have taken steps to make their services more accessible. Through the Award, the National Disability Authority (NDA) hopes to support the achievement of maximum accessibility of public services for people with disabilities in Ireland.

-ENDS-

Mark Dunphy
Dunphy Public Relations
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