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Minutes of Special Meeting of the Shannon Municipal District April 2025

Location:  The Park Inn by Radisson Shannon Airport, Shannon, Co. Clare.

On:      Friday 4th April 2025

Time:  9.45am

Present:

Councillors attending in person:

Councillors Pat O’Gorman (Cathaoirleach), John Crowe (Leas-Cathaoirleach), David Griffin and Tony Mulcahy.

 

Councillors attending remotely:

Councillor Rachel Hartigan

 

Officials attending in person:

Suzie Clifford Senior Executive Officer (Meetings Administrator) – Deputising in the absence of Alan Farrell, Director of Services, Cyril Feeney, Senior Engineer, John Strand, Executive Engineer – Deputising in the absence of Tom Mellett, Senior Executive Engineer, Liam O’Connor Administrative Officer, Patricia O’Neill, Staff Officer.

 

Apologies:

Cllr. Michael Begley, Cllr. James Ryan, Alan Farrell, Director of Services and Tom Mellett, Senior Executive Engineer.

 

Presiding

Cathaoirleach Pat O’Gorman opened the meeting and welcomed all present.

 

Item no. 1: Schedule of Municipal District Works 2025

Mr. Cyril Feeney, Senior Engineer was introduced to present the Schedule of Municipal District Works 2025.   

Mr. Feeney outlined the factors that influence the allocation of funding throughout the Municipal Districts in the County and the challenges that exist.

  • Road Network – total length of road in the county is 4,454km, this is made up of National Primary, National Secondary, Regional and Local Roads. Shannon MD accounts for 9.5% of the total road network. In regard to traffic volume, the National Roads which comprise of 6% the road network carries 45% of the traffic, Regional Roads comprise of 13% of the network carry 30% of the traffic, and the remaining Local Road Network carrying 25% of the traffic.
  • Pavement Surface Condition Index Ratings (PSCI) used across the entire country by the Department. Rating system 1 – 10, with roads rated 1-4 in poor condition, 5-8 fair to good and 9-10 very good to excellent.   Staff use the specific software on tablets to monitor the condition of the roads which collects the data and in turn provides a rating system which is centralised and allows the Department to view these ratings. A chart depicting the PSCI Ratings across the 4 Municipal Districts was presented to the Members via a PowerPoint presentation.
  • Compliance with the Memorandum of Grants for Regional & Local Roads issued by the Department of Transport which defines the conditions governing the allocation and payment of grants for Regional and Local Roads.  The Memorandum states that projects applied for should be prioritised taking account of the condition of the pavement, traffic levels and drainage. Roads selected in rural areas are expected to have a PSCI rating of between 1 and 6 and those in urban areas to have a rating of between 1 and 8.
  • 3-year programme for Restoration Improvement projects (2025-2027).  The Municipal Districts put forward roads within their district.  The focus is on roads that come within the PSCI Ratings of 1 to 6. Programmes must be submitted in order of priority at County wide level and not at MD level.
  • Funding – majority of funding comes from Central Government and Local Authorities are expected to contribute from their own resources.  State grants for road work on regional and local roads are provided on the basis that they supplement realistic contributions from local authorities’ own resources. Significant challenges for local authorities due to construction inflation.
  • Road Grants – subject to audits by our own Internal Auditors and the Department Auditors.  The Department can carry out a full onsite or a desk-check review on regional and local roads expenditure in order to ensure compliance with memorandums and circulars. 
  • Department funding covers expenditure from March to November and own resources funding is challenged due to covering operational costs in January, February, November and December and unforeseen expenditure not covered by Department grants.
  • Challenges exists whereby the Department focus on the PSCI rating at county wide level, but the Council operates at Municipal District level with staff allocated to those districts.  The funding calculation applied is based on 50% PSCI rating and 50% on the road network length. Due to the length of road in Shannon MD and categories of road under the PSCI rating this has resulted in a reduction in funding allocated to the MD.   
  • Allocation for Shannon in 2024 was €3.25m and proposed funding for 2025 is €2.9m.  However, it is considered that the funding allocations throughout the districts will level out over the years as roads are improved in other MDs and the formula applied will correct itself every year going forward. Own resources funding has been increased to €623,000.    

The Members raised the following:

  • Overall, the Members expressed their disappointment with the level of funding made available to the Shannon MD and the criteria used in determining the allocation of funding.  Consideration should be given to the volume of traffic in the district, population density, the largest Industrial estate in the region which contributes significantly to rates in the county, employment generated and an International Airport in Shannon.
  • The necessity to maintain the staff level in the Shannon MD was highlighted and a request for an update on the allocation of additional staff to the MD that was sanctioned last year. 
  • The level of bureaucracy involved in the grants process. 
  • What percentage of roads will be improved in the current year.
  • Where works are being carried out on roads that cross Municipal District boundaries that the MD’s liaise with each other for the completion of works along the entire road. 
  • A copy of the Vehicle Usage Policy was requested. 
  • Other sources of funding such as development contributions to be utilised to proceed with projects, such as footpaths. 

In reply to points raised by the Members, Mr. Feeney responded as follows:

  • Acknowledged concerns of the Members. 
  • In respect of the additional staff sanctioned for the Shannon MD, this process has now commenced. 
  • Ideally 10% of all roads should be either surface dressed or remediated/strengthened every year to provide the level of service that is required.  However, based on the 2025 allocation 5.70% of the roads will be improved.
  • Bureaucratic accountability in the expenditure of public funds is an important element of all levels of government.
  • A copy of the Vehicle Usage Policy will be circulated to the Members.
  • Based on priority a case can be made for funding for project work under development contributions. 

The schedule of Municipal District Works 2025 was proposed by Cllr. Pat O’Gorman, seconded by Cllr. Tony Mulcahy and agreed by all.

This concluded the business of the meeting

 

 

Signed:                                                                 Signed:                                                                        

                    Meetings Administrator                                        Cathaoirleach                          

 

Dated:            May, 2025

Page last reviewed: 27/05/25

Content managed by: Shannon Municipal District

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