Council staff ‘extremely thin on the ground’

Cork county councillors have demanded to know why there has been a significant drop in the number of outdoor staff employed by the council following the release of new figures.

At Monday’s full meeting of Cork County Council, Fianna Fáil’s Gearoid Murphy called for a detailed report on the number outdoor staff retained by the council between 2008 and 2022.

In response, the council executive provided a breakdown which showed that numbers have fallen from 1,162 outdoor staff on 1 January 2008, to 780 on 1 January 2022.

Cllr Murphy said the issue of outdoor staff is one that has been raised on a continual basis by councillors across all parties.

He said: “There's a very clear perception that numbers have decreased significantly in the last 10 to 15 years. We are lucky enough to have an increasing population in the Cork County Council area, so it's important that our services keep step with this.”

Several councillors were especially concerned with a drop of 40 outdoor employees between 2020 and 2022.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Seamus McGrath said the numbers are “extremely disappointing” and called into question the degree to which the concerns of elected members are listened to by the executive.

“In the last 2 years to be down 40 members is inexplicable and indefensible. That is during a time that we, here in the chamber as members, have been raising this issue continuously. We are extremely thin on the ground. I would like an explanation for that,” he said.

Following recent flooding in the county, Fianna Fáil Cllr Frank O’Flynn said the county desperately needs more outdoor staff, not less.

“We need more outdoor staff especially now with the changes in the weather conditions and there's more and more flooding. You can see what happened last Sunday week,” said Cllr O’Flynn.

In a letter responding to Cllr Murphy’s motion, Teresa O Donovan, Head of Function, Human Resource Management at Cork County Council, said there are a number of factors that have had an impact on the staffing levels, including a recruitment embargo in 2010 which saw the cessation of recruitment and the termination of temporary contracts, and the boundary transition which saw the transfer of staff to Cork City Council.