COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, October 12, 2009

QUESTION NO.2

QUESTION: Councillor S. Crowe

To ask the Manager can he confirm that there has been a 20 fold increase to costs in services like grass cutting on road meridians since the new intrepretation of Health & Safety Act following the Ashbourne meeting of County Managers and will he make a statement on the financial and other implications of this on South Dublin County Council?

REPLY:

The maintenance of dual carriageways and motorways now require extensive traffic measures to be undertaken to ensure the safety of both the public and staff working on the roads. These are detailed in the Department of Transport, Traffic Signs Manual, Chapter 8.  To comply with these regulations the Council has contracted in the services of crash cushion and advanced warning vehicles and trained staff required, to set up the signage and guarding required, when undertaking grass cutting on the medians of dual carriageways.  When taking into account all of the above which necessitates pre-cutting planning and setup, on site guarding during works and removal on completion, it is estimated that a fifteen to twenty fold increase will arise.