Fears that local rep's request would up Kildare County Council's workload

A local rep’s request, if granted, would increase the workload of Kildare County Council (KCC) workers, who are "already stretched" with work.

The claim was made by Eileen Hanlon, KCC’s head of Finance, Digital Services, Innovation and Governance, in response to a motion from Social Democrats Cllr Chris Pender at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District meeting.

At this meeting, which was held on Wednesday, April 16 last, Cllr Pender motioned for KCC to "provide a written monthly Active Travel Report in tabular format for this meeting and all future monthly meetings, to include (a) the projects identified within the municipal district, (b) the funding source or likely funding source for each project, (c) the current stage of progress for each project and any other relevant information".

Cllr Pender’s motion was seconded by his party colleague, Cllr Pat Balfe.

However, KCC said via its report at the meeting that this information is already provided as part of the monthly Chief Executive’s report to Full Council.

"The Sustainable Transport Section will review the suggested format to determine if there is a more optimum way to present the data," KCC added.

Commenting further on his motion, Cllr Pender said: "I don’t see why something like this can’t be extracted from the monthly meetings."

In response, a representative of KCC told Cllr Pender: "I think it is better to see the information in the Chief Executive’s report, all in one go."

Referring to Cllr Pender’s motion, they added: "I don’t see what purpose it would serve."

‘TIME LIMITED’

"You could say the exact same thing about the progress report," Cllr Pender countered. "The Chief Executive’s report very long, as as councillors, we are very time limited.

"It would make our lives so much easier as councillors."

However, Eileen Hanlon, KCC’s head of Finance, Digital Services, Innovation and Governance, said that "duplicating the report down to MD level creates more work for the council’s staff, who are already stretched".

"I think they have more valuable work to be doing," Ms Hanlon added.

The representative from KCC then suggested to Cllr Pender: "We can make a commitment that anytime there is an update [on specific developments], we can notify the members."

"I get where you are coming from, but to say that duplicating sections of the report would not benefit us is wrong."

Social Democrats Cllr Chris Pender (File photograph)

Cllr Pender then claimed: "You can laugh all you want, but we are time constrained.

"All I’m asking for is to have an insight of what is being updated, and when."

Ms Hanlon relented: "I don’t agree with duplicating the information. I think to most people, including you, Chris, it would be a waste of effort and resources."

"Give it up, like," Fine Gael Cllr Kevin Duffy, who is also Cathaoirleach of the County of Kildare, remarked.

Eventually, a compromise was decided upon: it was heard that the reports would be reformatted by KCC in such a way as to make them more accessible for the general public.

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