Executive members of Monaghan Co Council expressed confidence on Monday that the programme of works on non-national roads in the county for 2021 will be delivered in full despite current restrictions on the work of outdoor staff arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. Fears were voiced by Fianna Fáil councillor P J O’Hanlon that the Council might find itself in a position where it was returning roads money to the Government at the end of the year because of the reduced working capacity of their staff under Level 5 Covid- 19 restrictions.
Director of Transport Services Patricia Monahan assured Councillor O’Hanlon that the Council did not envisage such a scenario at present, and her comments were endorsed by senior roads engineer Gareth McMahon and Council Chief Executive Eamonn O’Sullivan. The condition of roads in some parts of the county was a source of concern for some councillors, with Sinn Féin’s Noel Keelan calling for a substantial once-off allocation in the post Covid-19 period to enable substantial resurfacing work to be carried out and a move away from the practice of repeatedly patching the same problem locations on the county’s roads network.
Councillor O’Hanlon told the meeting that that they were all aware that, as a result of Covid-19, their roads staff were operating on a week-on, week-off basis. He asked if there was a possibility that the Co Council would have roads money left over at the end of the year – if this was so, he thought they should be writing a letter…
