COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN, NEWCASTLE, RATHCOOLE, SAGGART AND BRITTAS AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

QUESTION NO. 5

QUESTION: Councillor W. Carey

To ask the Chief Executive if SDCC can put in place a winter programme for the clearing of storm drains to avoid the constant flooding of streets and footpaths across across our villages and housing estates.

REPLY:

The road gullies in the county are cleaned on a scheduled basis by the contractor who provides the road sweeping service across the county, Oxigen Environmental Ltd.  The service is provided on a yearly basis to the majority of the 45,000 road gullies in the county, with a percentage of these serviced twice or four times yearly as required.  The service provided includes the cleaning and testing of all gullies, where a gulley is cleaned but found not to be functioning the pipe connecting the gulley to the main drain is cleaned by the contractor and the gulley is then re-tested.  If it is still not functioning the matter is referred back to the Council for an examination of the condition of the main drain. 

As well as cleaning of gulley chambers it should be noted that the street cleaning and road sweeping which is carried out by both Public Realm staff and the road sweeping contractor should ensure that there is no build up of debris on the surface of the gulley which would interfere with it's proper functioning.  The leaf sweeping and removal service which is also provided by the road sweeping contractor and which operates during the period September 1st to January 31st also includes the removal of leaves from gullies wherever this is required.

Any location where there is a recurring drainage or water ponding issue can be examined to determine if there is an issue with the functioning of the gulley and drainage systems.  Where necessary areas that are affected in this way can be added to the twice or four times yearly schedule for gulley cleaning as provided under the contract with Oxigen.