A Killarney councillor has accused Kerry County Council of skimping when it comes to taking on outdoor staff.
Cllr Donal Grady has raised concerns about, what he calls, the local authority’s high dependency on voluntary groups to fill gaps left by the lack of such employees.
Donal Grady says that Killarney town has been suffering for years because of the council’s unwillingness to take on more staff and the latest IBAL results are reflective of this.
The town dropped nine places from 13th to 22nd in the Irish Business Against Litter survey earlier this week.
Concerns have now been raised by the councillor that the lack of such workers could serve as a deterrent for tourists as some outdoor jobs are often neglected.
Rats, he says, could become a very real problem for the council if the alleged neglect continues.
While he commended volunteer groups such as Tidy Towns who he says have been picking up the slack where they can, he's aware of certain jobs that can only be carried out by professionals.
Cllr Donal Grady says the council needs to invest money collected from business rates on outdoor workers as the responsibility needs to be taken on by the local authority.
At a recent Municipal District meeting in Killarney, Kerry County Council advised that a position, known as a ganger, previously existed to carry out such work.
That role has since been replaced by a foreman.
It says the condition of the public roads is actively monitored by roads staff and that regular night time patrols are carried out to identify any faults.
