Councillor hits out at ‘slur’ over hedge cutting

A politician whose family is also in the plant hire business has said they currently have no tender for roadside hedge-cutting contracts with the local authority, of which he is a member.

Cllr Johnny Healy-Rae (Ind) was replying to a “slur’’ he claimed had been cast at a meeting of Kerry County Council this week.

There were heated exchanges at the meeting after Cllr Brendan Cronin (Ind) asked if the Healy-Rae family, who act as plant hire contractors for the council, had tendered for hedge-cutting work.

The issue arose from a motion by Mr Healy-Rae that the council initiate a hedge-cutting scheme similar to a pilot scheme Clare County Council started with communities.

Yesterday, he dismissed suggestions of a vested interest and said his family business had “no active tender in place for hedge-cutting with the council and has not done so for a number of years”.

He also stressed that if the council invited tenders in the future, Healy-Rae Plant Hire would be entitled to tender.

Mr Healy-Rae said he deplored what he described as an attempt to cast a slur on the family and said he wished to reject any suggestions they had an advantage over others if they sought work from the council.

However, Mr Cronin, who said the Healy-Rae plant hire business had earned €5.6m from council contracts going back a number of years, denied casting a slur.

“I am entitled to make an inquiry. What I want is clarification if they have tenders in for hedge-cutting,’’ he said.

Kerry County Council has a policy not to cut roadside hedges, stating that such work is the land-owner’s responsibility under legislation dating to 1993.

Several councillors have claimed uncut hedges are causing traffic hazards and that roads throughout Kerry are “closing in’’ because some ditches have not been trimmed for years.

Mr Healy-Rae felt the Clare scheme, which offers grants to land-owners to do the work, should be adopted in Kerry.

Under the community scheme, a group of people along a road come together and agree to cut a minimum continuous length of 5km. The groups employ their own contractors.

The cutting has to be completed between Sept 1 and Feb 28 and the grant is €25 per km of roadside.

Kerry County Council said it has no funding for any such scheme which, in any case, “may well be inoperable’’.