30/03/2020
Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.
South Dublin County Council takes the lead in joining together local organisations to assist citizens during Covid-19
Dedicated community support helpline to be available from Monday
At the instigation of Minister Murphy a Covid-19 Community Response Forum will be put in place for each City/County and co-ordinated by the Local Authority in each case.
A dedicated community support helpline will be established in South Dublin County Council to assist at risk members of the public in accessing non-emergency and non-medical supports and advice during the current public health emergency. The confidential phoneline service has been established by the new COVID-19 South Dublin Community Response Forum, which includes over a dozen agencies and organisations. The helpline, which can be contacted on 01-4149043,is focused primarily on ensuring that vulnerable members of the community or those living alone can access deliveries of groceries, medicine and fuels. The role of the Forum is to ensure that there is a co-ordinated community response and to enable all voluntary statutory agencies to collaborate in support of our communities and particularly of our most vulnerable members.
Included in the COVID-19 South Dublin Response Forum, are:
- South Dublin County Council
- Office of the Mayor of South Dublin
- Health Service Executive
- An Garda Síochána
- Tusla
- Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
- South Dublin County Partnership
- An Post
- South Dublin Volunteer Centre
- Dublin Civil Defence
- ALONE
- Dublin GAA
- Tus Nua / Older Persons Council
- Public Participation Network
- Local Traveller Support Groups
- Crosscare
- Designated Covid Outreach Community Champion
- And other community, voluntary and sports representatives.
The new phoneline is just one aspect of the Forum’s work. Its core aim is contributing to the community-wide effort to limit the spread of COVID-19. South Dublin County Council, through this group, will ensure that the wide variety of groups working across the County to assist those in need, will do so in an organised, collaborative and targeted way. The Council’s COVID-19 Community Response Forum is there to ensure the very best use of the many resources assisting vulnerable persons with their daily needs at this unprecedented time, whether that is collecting medication, food shopping, social support and contact.
Mayor of South Dublin, Cllr. Vicki Casserly explains: “There are a number of agencies currently doing excellent work in delivering care to older and vulnerable people in our communities. These groups are currently operating independently of each other and South Dublin County Council’s role is to provide a targeted, integrated and coordinated approach to the delivery of these much-needed services to our more vulnerable citizens across the Countyduring the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief Executive of South Dublin County Council, Daniel McLoughlin said: “South Dublin County Councilis ideally placed both statutorily and regionally to channel this great work and provide the governance structure in partnership with all stakeholders. This public health crisis has changed life for so many, and we are there to help with that change. Our own staff whose day-jobs have changed due to this crisis, will be a key resource in the management and operation of this community support programme along with our partner agencies/groups. Set to come into effect from Monday 30th March, South Dublin County Councilis providing a dedicated contact number 01-4149043 with the lines initially open from 9am to 5pm seven days a week, supported by out of hours email contact through covidsupport@sdublincoco.ie.”
Contact details of this new service will be promoted on www.sdcc.ie and various other online resources. An information leaflet including the new freephone number and other information will be distributed around the county/city, particularly to vulnerable households, over the coming days.
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Community Response