Volunteers forced to maintain West Cork cemeteries and parks due to lack of council staff

Several members of the West Cork Municipal District Council voiced their concern at a noticeable fall-off in the maintenance of public parks, cemeteries and green areas in housing estates. File photo: Jim Wilson

Community volunteers are being sought in West Cork to plug gaps because there aren't enough county council outdoor workers in the region.

The lack of such staff has led several county councillors to claim it will damage tourism and locals are not getting the service they deserve. Several members of the West Cork Municipal District Council voiced their concern at a noticeable fall-off in the maintenance of public parks, cemeteries and green areas in housing estates.

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Independent councillor Karen Coakley said there are very few outdoor staff left between Skibbereen and Rosscarbery, as those who retire are not being replaced.

She said it's unfair that, as a result, workloads have significantly increased for the remaining employees and they can’t possibly do all the jobs they’re supposed to.

“It is totally unfair on our loyal and diligent staff. There are not enough of them to collect rubbish from bins, maintain cemeteries and mow grass in estates and public parks. We need more outdoor workers and we should bring in seasonal workers for the summer,” Ms Coakley said. 

How can we entice visitors to West Cork if we can’t provide a proper service? I’m concerned about the summer.

She suggested community volunteers could do some jobs which would free up the few workers left to do undertake more necessary tasks. She said volunteers could open and close public toilets.

Independent councillor Declan Hurley said not so long ago there were 30 outdoor staff in the Dunmanway area, but there are now just 13. “The general public can see a shortfall in the work being done on the ground,” he said.

Independent councillor Paul Hayes said councillors in the region owed it to their constituents to fight for increases in outdoor staff. Both he and Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre Kelly said there are no outdoor staff posted in the Ballineen and Enniskeane area.

Mr Hayes said Tidy Towns groups are increasingly “taking up the slack” because the council isn’t doing the jobs it should. He said as a result people in these voluntary groups are becoming "hugely frustrated."

Mr Hayes said:

We can all quote villages and towns where outdoor staff haven't been replaced.

Ms Coakley maintained the situation is so bad in the region “that I’m mortified to say I’m from West Cork.”  She then pointed to “the fiasco” in Baltimore earlier this year when there was no employee available to open and close the public toilets.

“We may have to look at outsourcing. We want to develop tourism and we haven’t even got the basics right,” Ms Coakley said.

Mr Hurley said he had repeatedly asked officials for a breakdown of the number of outdoor workers in the region and had been repeatedly refused that information.

Independent councillor Karen Coakley pointed to “the fiasco” in Baltimore earlier this year when there was no employee available to open and close the public toilets. File picture: Denis Minihane.

MacDara O’Hici, the senior executive officer for the region, said the Roads Directorate is responsible for all outdoor workers and they would write to its top officials to see if he could provide the information Mr Hurley is seeking.

In the meantime, Mr O’Hici said if there are community volunteers who want to help out they should contact the council. However, he said there’d be some jobs they couldn’t do because they don’t have the necessary skills and there could also be issues with insurance cover.

Mr O’Hici said calls for increases in staff numbers would have to be discussed at the council’s annual budget meeting.