No definitive timeline given for the repair of broken street lights in Clare

No definitive outline for when broken street lights in Clare will be fixed has been given by senior engineers of Clare County Council. 

At the latest meeting, councillor Rachel Hartigan put forward a motion outlining her frustration with the lack of clarity on the issue. 

She said: "I wish to put forward a motion that Clare County Council, in conjunction with the ESB and Enerveo, will address the backlog of broken streetlights needing repair across the county - and that a timeline for repairs would be provided to the elected members of this council." 

In response, senior engineer Cyril Feeney said that while they are aware of the issue and that Clare County Council currently has only 2.1% of its 15,145 lighting units awaiting repair, it is unclear when the lights will be fixed. 

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"Clare County Council continues to engage with its maintenance contractor, Enerveo and ESB Networks (ESBN) on an ongoing basis to expedite fault repairs. Where this is a direct replacement for an existing light there is a 10-day response time.

"However, the more recent requirement to meet ESBN’s additional civils works and electrical interface works requires further interactions between the maintenance contractor and ESBN and results in increased repair times."

Mr Feeney continued by telling councillors that replacement works to introduce LED lightbulbs are also underway to achieve Climate Action Plan energy and emissions targets.

"It should be noted that these additional works will reduce delay times for future repairs on the same network and is currently also allowing for the continued replacement of old lighting stock with LED units which reduce power consumption," he said.

The existing maintenance contractor Enerveo is exiting the street light maintenance market at the end of July.

Clare County Council in conjunction with Limerick City and County Council are at present engaged in a tender process to allow for the appointment of a new maintenance contractor to replace Enerveo.

Public lighting faults can be reported online or by phone on 0818-372772.