COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, November 10, 2014

QUESTION NO.13

QUESTION: Councillor D. O'Donovan

To ask the Chief Executive what is the legal position regarding SDCC trees damaging property?  Does SDCC have a legal responsibility if a member of the public complains about a particular tree and the tree then causes damage?  Does SDCC have a legal responsibility if a member of the public gets an arborist report which details a dangerous and unsuitable tree/trees which then causes damage to property?

REPLY:

South Dublin County Council maintains a street tree population of approximately sixty thousand street trees. In addition, the Council maintains trees in the public park system and on other Council owned lands. As a general principle, in law, the landowner has primary responsibility for the maintenance and management of any trees on the property. Where the Council becomes aware of trees on private property that may be considered to be a hazard to a public road, the Council has powers under the Roads Acts to direct the landowner to attend to the tree in question.

In the case of trees under the Council's own control, staff in the Public Realm Division who have horticultural/arboricultural qualifications, are primarily involved with the maintenance and inspection of the street trees in the county. The main reason trees cause damage is during storms as experienced in the recent storm on 5th / 6th October which resulted in over one hundred calls to the Council in relation to fallen trees and branches. Some property damage occurred mainly to parked cars and front garden walls. Such damage is normally considered to be a natural event and damage to property would generally be covered by insurance policies held by the property owner.  

The Council receives reports from the public regularly, many of which claim that the tree is in someway dangerous or hazardous, upon inspection this does not always turn out to be the case. Other than where some evidence is submitted with the report such as an expert's report, the claim that the tree is dangerous can only be substantiated through inspection by persons with the relevant expertise. 

As the circumstances for each case would be different, every case would have to be treated on its own merits. It is not therefore possible to provide generic guidance. If the Member has some particular case / incident in mind, if details could be provided to the Council, it will be examined and a response issued.