Athlone Council members request public liability claims report
Athlone-Moate Municipal District has been called on to present a report on the number of public liability claims it has received for the past three years.
The request was made by Cllr Frankie Keena at the monthly meeting of the Municipal District during which he called on the executive to provide relevant information "covering such matters as the status of each claim" and an "update on what work has been carried out to prevent any further accidents at these specific locations".
"What are the total number of claims received by our Municipal District in the past three years? What was the nature of each claim and at what locations did the relevant incidents occur? What is the status of such claims? Are they settled or are there many ongoing? Were many withdrawn?
It is important for us, as Councillors, to know this information," Cllr Keena queried.
Cllr Keena also requested information regarding the "financial implications" attached to each claim and if work had been completed at the locations where incidents occurred for which claims are currently active with the Municipal District.
"I am aware of a number of claims which have been submitted to the Municipal District due to car damage caused by the poor state of the road surface between Baylin and Mount Temple," Cllr Keena said.
The councillor also said he was aware of an incident at the white gates on the Ballymahon Road where an "elderly lady fell and damaged her face" and queried if "measures were in place" to prevent such an occurrence in the future to "ward off potential claims".
Cllr John Dolan said there was a fund available to the Muncipal District when claims for "trips and falls" came before the executive.
"It would be important that we see these figures even if they are not put out into the public domain," Cllr Dolan said.
In response, District Manager, Jackie Finney, said the issue was one "worthy of discussion".
"This is a detail information request, so unfortunately it wasn't possible to have all the details available at this meeting.
However, we are liaising with our Director of Finance to have the requested information available for the members shortly," Ms Finney said.
The District Manager informed the members that a claim submitted to the Municipal District does not "automatically mean" that it is liable for "that particular incident".
"Once the district becomes aware of a potential risk or hazard an assessment is carried out and appropriate works considered where warranted. We use our public liability fund to carry out these works to ensure the safety of the public," Ms Finney said.
Reinforcing the District Manager's risk mitigation views, District Engineer Willie Ryan said that "localised repair works" are also carried out to minimise potential risks to the public.
"It is up to the Municipal District to defend our good name, but unfortunately there are incidences where we cannot defend the indefensible," Mr Ryan concluded.