Councillors want clarity over 25 liability claims in West Mayo
There were 25 public liability claims, including 16 relating to potholes, in the West Mayo Municipal District last year.
Local councillors want more clarity on the background to 25 public liability claims made against Mayo County Council in the Westport-Belmullet Municipal District last year.
Of the 25 claims in the district, 16 related to potholes, seven were the result of trips/falls and two related to road traffic accidents.
The process of a public liability claim involves an injured party proving that the defendant, in this case, Mayo County Council, was negligent and that this negligence caused their injury or loss.
At last week’s area meeting, Cllr Christy Hyland requested a report into the public liability claims, including the total amount that was paid out, the average payout on claims and where in the district the incidents took place.
Cllr Brendan Mulroy also sought information on whether or not there were multiple claims in the same location or if the same pothole or footpath was the cause of multiple claims.
"Is it a case that there could be numerous claims on the same pothole or is it one claim per pothole? Is the first person who hits a pothole able to claim and then is a second or third person who hits it? It would be great to get clarity on that," he said.
Senior management said a report would be made available at a future meeting.
