Cllrs demand action on potholes

With a nod to local elections next year, frustrations over the deterioration of the local road network boiled over at the recent monthly meeting of elected members.

The debate arose out of a motion tabled by Fianna Fáil's Philip Brady calling for a dedicated pot hole patching machine to be made available in each of the three municipal district authority areas to tackle the deepening pothole problem countywide.
It was queried, with regard to the extent of planned works and the need for greater efficiencies, whether the council could “provide patcher units for exclusive use in each of the three municipal district areas”.
“It's a fairly plain, straight-forward motion,” said Cllr Brady. “We need to address the problem before it gets worse.”
Sinn Féin's Noel Connell considered the motion “a great idea”. He highlighted an example of a delay when a patcher was sought in his own area. “It could be in Ballyconnell and it could be two to three weeks before it arrives. By then, the problem is worse and the patcher is nearly no good at that stage.”
Fine Gael's Winston Bennett concurred. He stated that in another month or so slat will be spread on the county's roads, and this would have both an impact on surface dressing and the upkeep of machines carrying out the work.
“A stitch in nine saves time,” mused fellow party member Paddy O'Reilly; while Fergal Curtin (FF) questioned how much the local authority were currently spending on hiring in private contractors to mend potholes.
He said: “There is also a serious issue regarding drainage on roads, with overgrown culverts and drains.”
Cllr Curtin added: “It's just not good enough.”
Further contributions to the debate came from Val Smith (FG) and Paddy Smith (FG).

Budget constraints

Responding to the concerns, and replying on behalf of the Council's executive, Director of Services Joe McLoughlin informed the meeting that the local authority owns two patcher units.
He said they supported their road fixing programme by hiring in private contractors, having six employed at one stage.
But he said it was “intrinsically linked to the budget” and that, looking to 2019, with the option of using discretionary funds seemingly off the cards, the budget for roads was already facing a potential deficit of €850,000.
Mr McLoughlin noted too that, while there was an increase in the roads budget in the past two years, the council is still operating at 50% what they had in 2009.
“We are currently surfacing roads at a rate of once every 15 years. Ideally it should be every seven years,” he advised.
Regarding the hiring of private contractors, he suggested there was “good efficiency” in monetary terms for the council, and committed to providing councillors with a comparative analysis.