COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE (1)
Monday, September 20, 2010
QUESTION NO. 10
QUESTION: Councillor P. Kearns
"To ask the Manager to ensure that grass cutting is carried out on all the graveyards in the Tallaght central area on a regular basis and not just before the annual mass?"
REPLY:
All graveyards were prepared in advance of the annual masses over the summer months this year, with grass being cut in each graveyard on one occasion. Due to the size of Bohernabreena graveyard the Environmental Services Dept has one member of staff deployed to that graveyard on a full time basis. This means that Bohernabreena has maintenance work carried out on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Due to the current embargo on recruitment in the public sector it has not been possible to recruit temporary seasonal staff to assist with maintenance of the graveyards between March and September, as happened on an annual basis prior to the introduction of the embargo. The situation is compounded by the fact that burial grounds staff are redeployed regularly to assist with refuse collections. In excess of 350 working days have been lost to refuse collections in the current year. Regrettably the Council is not in a position to improve the level of graveyard maintenance which is currently being achieved while the restrictions on staff availability which have been outlined remain in place.