COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM / TEMPLEOGUE / FIRHOUSE / BOHERNABREENA AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

QUESTION NO.5

QUESTION: Councillor J. Sinnott

To ask the manager to outline the criteria for the allocation of a School warden to a school in the Rathfarnham / Templeogue / Firhouse /Bohernabreena area and to advise on the number of schools to be awarded a warden in 2024.

REPLY: 

School Wardens patrol places where school children cross public roads, and it is their role to ensure that primary school children are assisted with crossing public roads safely when travelling to and from school.

All new requests are examined on a case-by-case basis against certain criteria.  This criteria includes usage rates across existing / unofficial school crossings and traffic counts for the peak/ school crossing times on a given school day. 

Members may be aware that considerable work is ongoing on the re-assessment of existing and requests for new assisted school crossings which was unavoidably delayed due to resource limitations.   As a result of this no new school crossings have been approved in recent years in any of the electoral areas.  

Notwithstanding the above, it must be noted that significant works have been undertaken in locations as part of our Active Travel Schemes as well as our involvement in the Safe Route to Schools Scheme which is an initiative that aims to make it safe, convenient, and fun for children to walk and cycle  to and from schools, as well as improve childrens' safety which is also aimed at minimising dependency on, or requirements for School Wardens.