Council’s vow over outdoor staffing levels

A commitment has been given to try and retain the same amount of Galway County Council outdoor staff who are vital in the provision of essential maintenance works.

Senior officials have been urged to ensure that there is no reduction in the number of full time outdoor staff engaged by Galway County Council – the numbers have reduced significantly in recent years.

At a meeting it was state that while FAS schemes and other similar schemes were to be welcomed, there was nothing to replace the trained outdoor staff engaged by the County Council.

As Senior Roads Engineer, John Leahy put it: “The heyday of huge numbers of outdoor staff is long gone as we are now working within a very strict budget”.

Galway County Council are making determined efforts to retain the amount of outdoor staff that they have and it has been providing very difficult in recent years as a result of serious cutbacks. It has resulted in them engaging in contract commitments.

But Senior Engineer in Ballinasloe, Adrian Headd, painted a very realistic situation in the town when he said that a works scheme could not proceed because the Government would not fund the appointment of a supervisor. He said that without a supervisor, there were insurance implications and therefore the scheme could not proceed.

A meeting of Ballinasloe Municipal Council was told that four outdoor staff were due to retire shortly but that every effort would be made to ensure that they were replaced with full time positions.

Mr Leahy said that they currently had 25 outdoor staff in the Ballinasloe area and they were anxious to retain this number. He said that when the four staff retire, applications would be sought for their replacements.

Fianna Fail’s Cllr Michael Connolly told the meeting that when there was the flooding disaster last winter, the householders affected had to turn to the expert Council staff for assistance as they were the only ones available to them.

“I have great regard for FAS schemes and other voluntary schemes that are subsidised but when it comes to expert advice  the Council staff are the only ones we can turn to.

“Last winter we had to call on the Council outdoor staff for advice and help and without their assistance we were lost. Under no circumstances should permanent staff be replaced by schemes that are not readily available”, Cllr Connolly added.

“There is absolutely no substitution to our own permanent staff”, the Moylough-based councillor said.

Sinn Fein’s Cllr Dermot Connolly said that he would not tolerate staff not being replaced and particularly in view of the cutbacks in recent years. However, he was not happy that a supervisor could not be appointed for essential environmental works in Ballinasloe where there were workers available.