This article is from page 8 of the 2011-02-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
CLARE County Council is bracing itself for further jobs losses in the coming months following the revelation yesterday that the local authority may only be half way through its restructuring programme.
The workforce of Clare County Council has been reduced by around 150 employees over the past two years and according to county manager Tom Coughlan, the local authority may be forced to shed even more jobs in the coming months.
Speaking at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council, Mr Coughlan said that he expects the council to be hit hard by the reduction in public sector numbers promised by some political parties ahead of the General Election.
“There are not all going to be guards and nurses, there is going to be cuts right across the entire public sector. We are looking at severe losses in local authority as well as in the other across the public service,” he said.
Mr Coughlan was commenting on a discussion about the possibility of increasing the numbers employed by the council in roads maintenance. Mr Coughlan said that there was “no point in saying that there is a chance of us increasing our staffing levels” at the current time.
Under the terms of the Croke Park Agreement, wage levels cannot be reduced so any proposed reduction in the overall staffing costs of the local authority would have to come reducing the numbers employed.
“It is a bleak outlook and it looks certain that there will be a further cut in the numbers employed by Clare County Council, as with other areas of the public services,” continued Mr Coughlan.
Speaking on the motion, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) urged the local authority to take advantage of any national schemes which would allow the local authority to take on unemployed people as part-time council employees without adding to Clare County Council’s wage bill.
“We need to look at different ways of doing things if this is going to be the way it is in the Council,” he said.
“There is going to have to be very much more about working with communities and with the unemployed.”
Speaking on the motion Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) described the jobs cuts in the local authority as “a fundamental attack on the local authority” and “privitisation by stealth”.