Staff shortages at council office a ’cause for concern’

STAFF shortages in the Ballyfermot Council Office are a “cause for concern” as Dublin City Council says there are no panels currently in place to fill staff.

According to Ballyfermot councillor Daithí Doolan (SF), staff numbers in the Ballyfermot Council Office have continued to decline, with the office losing staff such as housing officers, area officers and estate management officers, which he says is “deeply concerning”.

“The numbers of staff in the Ballyfermot Office have continued to decline, despite that the workload has increased and despite the fact the area hasn’t changed. It is still a high demand area, there are a lot of council properties, management issues and sports sector issues.”

Cllr Doolan put forward a motion at a recent council meeting, asking for more staff to be made available as a “matter of urgency.”

“The motion was never questioned or queried, the manager totally agreed with it but still in the response it says there is no panel to fill those spaces – in other words there is no will to fill those spaces and no action going to be taken,” Cllr Doolan told The Echo.

In their response to the motion, Dublin City Council said that while there are a number of vacant positions available in the Ballyfermot Office, there is no panel to fill staff from, adding: “However, a replacement area housing manager is due to be appointed in the near future.”

Cllr Doolan said the effects of the shortage of staff will be “catastrophic” if something is not done: “At the moment, the people in the office cannot provide the service to the public, and this is at a time when things are relatively quiet because of summer and Covid, but when things go back to normal it will be catastrophic. Important tasks simply won’t be done, and important deadlines won’t be met.

“They are basically putting band aid after band aid on an open wound. I thought the response would say at least that they intend to replace the staff, it is very very concerning”, said cllr Doolan.

When contacted for a further comment on the matter by The Echo, Dublin City Council said that they do not wish to comment.