Concerns raised in Waterford over council’s response to engineer’s retirement

Concerns have been raised over Waterford City and County Council’s response to the retirement of one of its engineers.

Sinn Féin councillor Donnchadh Mulcahy spoke on the subject at the April plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

Cllr Mulcahy said: “We are currently down an engineer in West Waterford and from my understanding, the council was well aware of the retirement long in advance, approximately a year ago.

“Can I ask if this situation is replicated across the rest of Waterford or is it just West Waterford that is being left short because to be honest, it raises concerns.

“If you were running a business and you knew a key member of staff was leaving, you’d plan in advance.”

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He continued by asking a number of questions in relation to the council’s response to the retirement.

“You’d have someone in place early to allow the handover, to make sure the knowledge and experience weren’t lost. That simply hasn’t happened here and it doesn’t make sense.

“So I’d like to know why was there no succession planning? When will the position be filled and what impact does it have on the service delivery in West Waterford right now?

“This does not make business sense and will cost the council more time and money in the long run. It also adds a lot more pressure on the teams that are in place already.”

In response, Director of Services Gabriel Hynes rejected these comments, saying that the council did have a plan in place.

Mr Hynes said: “We had contingency in place and we had a staff member in place prior to a previous retirement.

“I’d also like to state that the engineering [team] in the Dungarvan / Lismore District has increased by 33 per cent in the last two years with an additional technician being appointed.

“The other point I’ll make is that we’ve appointed a new Senior Executive Engineer looking after certain assignments across the districts, to do with flooding of piers and harbours and new storm drainage.”

He concluded by saying that the number of council engineers in West Waterford has increased in recent years.

Meanwhile, in response to a separate question on pharmaceutical companies, Chief Executive Sean McKeown admitted that the council is facing issues in finding the right staff.
Mr McKeown said: “There’s difficulties at the moment in a full employment economy in getting staff. Particularly of certain grades and even the issue that Donnchadh has raised there in relation to engineers.

“They just can’t be got at the pace with which we’d like them and that’s an issue for some of our larger employers as well. It’s getting the right skillset.

“A lot of our young people as we know are emigrating, even when we have jobs here, and fair play to them and good luck to them, to get that experience.”

He concluded by saying that the number of young people emigrating is causing issues for the broader economy but the council has to deal with that.