COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 14, 2020

QUESTION NO. 19

QUESTION: Councillor Shane Moynihan

To ask the Chief Executive whether or not there has been a reduced frequency of grass cutting in the county, by how much it has been reduced, and whether there are plans to return to a similar frequency as previous years and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY:

Each year the Council’s grass cutting programme commences in early March and has reached full pace by mid-April with a full cutting schedule established by that date.  The target cutting frequencies are weekly for cutting of playing pitches and fortnightly for other grass areas such as estate open spaces, roadside margins and parks.  This year's grass cutting programme was affected in the early stages by the Covid 19 restrictions which were in place at the time.  While it was brought back on track in Q2 the slow down in grass growth that is normally experienced in Q3 did not materialise.  Grass continued to grow strongly in July and August due to a very high level of rainfall (rainfall in July was twice the average of the previous 4 years) combined with high temperatures, this has had the effect of slowing the grass cutting operation which in turn presents difficulties in meeting the target frequencies.  Each year the grass cutting programme is bolstered by the recruitment of seasonal staff however it was not possible to do so this year, these seasonal staff generally assist in cleaning of areas ahead of grass cutting as well as providing cover to operate machinery when regular staff are on annual leave.  The absence of these staff this year has had an impact on the grass cutting service and on the ability of the public realm section to keep machinery working when regular staff are out on leave.

All available staff and machinery have been assigned to the grass cutting programme and every effort is being made to achieve the target frequencies as in previous years.