More staff needed for housing maintenance

Cllr Padraig Fallon said that Leitrim County Council need to increase the amount of staff they have in the Housing section of Leitrim County Council, at the most recent meeting of the Manorhamilton Municipal District. 

Cllr Felim Gurn also asked if there are enough staff to carry out repairs on council owned tenant housing saying that "frustrated tenants are ringing elected representatives to get repairs done and it is taking too long to get the works complete."

They were advised by the  Mary Quinn, Director of Services, Housing, Corporate Services, Community  and Cultural Services that there are "currently two Housing work crews available to undertake routine housing maintenance in the Manorhamilton area and there are no immediate plans to increase Housing staff numbers. Each crew currently consists of a craftsperson and a general operative."

The response continued that these "in-house crews are supplemented by external contractors for specialist works such as electrical and plumbing repairs and building works when they are required.

"The recent increase in Notice To Quit being served on HAP tenants and the risk of homelessness has resulted in the housing crews working to turn around all casual vacancies as quickly as possible so as to have these houses available for tenanting and help prevent homeless presentations."

Cllr Fallon acknowledged that there are two teams in north Leitrim who do "fantastic work" but said that "issues will arise when those staff go on holiday or have to take time off for any other reason."

He said that it was “practically impossible at this stage now to get contractors to do work, certainly within a six month period".

He said: "I do think we need more outdoor staff and another team here, I would suggest, within this municipal district."