'Undermines faith in local government' -Staffing and funding issues rearise

Issues surrounding funding and staffing levels bubbled up again at the latest meeting of the Waterford Metropolitan District. 

Councillor Mary Roche (Social Democrats) asked for the prioritising of two long-standing projects in local parks, saying that they had been on the back pedal for 'quite a long time'. 

She said: "The Ballygunner Park went through before the last election, the consultation had been had with young children in the schools so an expectation has been raised. 

"The longer it goes on, it just undermines faith entirely in local government."

She continued: "I would ask that Mr Quinn take that back to senior management group that we would prioritise People's Park in particular." She noted that the lighting issue in People's Park has gone back nearly a decade. 

Councillor Seamus Ryan (Labour) asked for 'clarification' on the budgets set aside for such projects. He said: "To be told today that because we don't have staff, I think we should've been told that previously.

"In the upcoming budget. do we now need to prioritise and set aside funding for this project, again?"

Complicated 

Director of Services Michael Quinn spoke about the current difficulties related to staffing, with officials preparing to retire. He said: "The issue is a resource issue."

He compared the economy to a moving train, saying: "There are consequences to that in terms of getting staff, getting work done, getting contractors to do stuff. It's not as easy as allocating money and - hey presto - the job is done. It is an awful lot more complicated than that."

Mr Quinn said: "In relation to more of a sales role, there is an opportunity for a BID scheme (Business Improvement District). We have paper on that if I recall which we are proposing to bring forward that needs to be given due consideration before we bring it anywhere from a public point of view .

He went on: "It's something we are looking at which would give resources to the business community in the city."