OPW's failure to attend council meeting is 'an insult'

Councillors have hit out at the Office of Public Works (OPW) after the public body declined an invitation to attend their meeting, describing the response as an “insult” and “arrogant”.

The Claremorris and Swinford Municipal District had written to the OPW on a few occasions asking a representative to attend their September meeting to discuss a number of pressing issues. However, on the day before the meeting, the OPW said it would not be in a position to attend, with no indication if a representative would attend a future meeting.

Cllr Damien Ryan voiced his frustration at the response and said the matter should now be escalated to Government.

“I take great exception to that response. Everybody has a boss, and I am not going to put up with that,” he said. “The OPW is a public body paid for by the public purse. They are not beyond democratic reproach, and if they think they are, we need to go further with this."

The Fianna Fáil representative proposed that the council write to the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran TD, asking them to direct the government agency to attend a meeting.

“They are compelled to attend public forums, we are democratically elected public representatives. We are talking about issues that are of paramount concern,” he said.

Cllr Ryan explained the primary reason he wanted the OPW at the September meeting was to raise an urgent situation concerning public waterways in Cong. He said water levels are currently so low that “you can walk on the river”, warning that this will not be the case in six weeks’ time.

He said there was a “golden opportunity” to carry out maintenance works in Cong while water levels remain low, including on the canal from Lough Mask to Lough Corrib, the exit from Cong to Lough Corrib and other waterways around the village. He also warned that, following a drier than average summer, there was a risk of an “extremely wet winter and a flood season”, adding that the OPW should be willing to meet with elected representatives.

"That response is an insult and I take grave exception to it,” he added.

His proposal was seconded by Cllr Patsy O’Brien, who questioned why no reason was given as to why the invitation was declined.

He said there was a need for a minor flood relief programme in the area, adding that the response from the OPW gave the impression that “if it's not in the Midlands it doesn't seem to matter."

Cllr Michael Burke added it was “ridiculous” that an invitation had been sent to a public body to discuss important issues that have been ongoing for years, only for the invitation to be declined.

He highlighted a “growing tendency” among Government departments and private companies not to meet with public representatives, citing bodies including Eircom and ESB.

“It is getting more difficult to communicate the problem of your constituents to those bodies, and that is not good enough. There has to be better connections between the different state agencies,” he said.

Cathaoirleach of the municipal district, Cllr Neil Cruise, concurred with the councillors, and described the OPW’s response as “a touch arrogant”.

“It is a reasonable thing to ask. Let's be honest, there should be a reasonable response. Come in and meet us and cut out this nonsense. There is too much of this arrogance and BS going on,” he said.

The meeting agreed that issues affecting their constituents deserved the time and attention of the public bodies responsible for them, arguing that problems could often be addressed in minutes through a face-to-face meeting rather than through months of emails with no resolution.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.