Difficulties in recruiting school traffic wardens causes problems

Only six school traffic wardens have been recruited across South Dublin to replace 15 wardens that have retired or are due to retire in the past two years.

A number of relief staff already employed by the council to cover school traffic crossings were made permanent to fill the vacancies.

That’s according to a senior official at South Dublin County Council, who also noted there is “difficulty being experienced nationwide in recruiting and retaining school warden numbers”.

Senior staff officer Barbara Reilly made these comments at the June meeting for the Clondalkin, Newcastle, Rathcoole, Saggart and Brittas Area Committee.

She was responding to calls from Cllr Eoin Ó Broin (SD) that a “school traffic warden will be employed outside of Gaelscoil na Camóige, Clondalkin on all school days of the 2025-2026 school year”.

Cllr Ó Broin said he had been told by a number of parents that “on random days there’s been no school traffic warden there”.

Replying to the councillor in the chamber, Ms Reilly said that as there are also pedestrian lights near Gaelscoil na Camóige on Watery Lane, “when we have very little staff to fill the positions then we have to go where there are no traffic lights – that would take precedence”.

In the written reply to Cllr Ó Broin, it said that an appointment would be made to the crossing at Gaelscoil na Camóige “in time for the new academic year”.

However, it also noted that “going forward it is becoming necessary for all stakeholders to consider alternative options to ensure that primary school children cross public roads safely to get to school”, due to nationwide difficulties.

Difficulty in recruiting new school wardens is being experienced by all Dublin local authorities because “the lifestyle of the target demographic has changed”, according to Ms Reilly.

“People are staying in full-time employment a lot longer and older, so normally they would have been the people who would have wanted to keep working [as school traffic wardens],” she said.

Ms Reilly said the “net increase” of staff to replace school wardens who have retired since 2024 or are due to retire by the end of this school year, has only been six.

Due to training requirements, the six new staff were not able to be deployed for this school year, but they will be able to “go on relief duty in September once the new school year comes up”.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme