COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, October 13, 2025

QUESTION NO. 12

QUESTION: Councillor J. Sinnott

To ask the Chief Executive to advise what recourse the Council has when footpaths and other parts of the public realm are damaged by private construction work, can the costs for repairs be levied on private companies?

REPLY:

Any contractor who wants to work in the public road is required to obtain a road opening licence prior to work. Part of this application will include the contractor attaching pre-construction photos of the site.

As part of the granted licence there is generally a number of conditions attached to the licence including the re-instatement requirements.  Fees are also charged as part of the licence application.

Following completion of the work, the site is inspected and if the re-instatement is correct a portion of the fees are returned. If there is any remedial works required these will be flagged to the contractor for them to action. If the contractor fails to carry out remedial work then the fees are used and the contractor can be locked out of the licencing system.