"Awful" time to lay off Leitrim council staff

A number of outdoor temporary staff from Leitrim County Council were laid off after their contracts were completed on November 30. Around four of the staff let go were allocated to North Leitrim. Manorhamilton area councillors expressed their disappointment that skilled staff were let go before Christmas, noting that many of the men have young families and need to sign on to welfare now.

Cllr Padraig Fallon raised the issue on Monday at the Manorhamilton Municipal District meeting. The Sinn Féin councillor asked if the local authority has any plans to replace or recruit additional outdoor staff. He said the staff “were missed” and could have been put to use during the recent frosty weather last weekend. He said the staff are highly skilled tradesmen and it may be difficult for the council to reinstate them when needed as tradesmen are being recruited by the private sector.
He acknowledged a lot of great work is being undertaken by the council but pointed out this is “an awful time to let people go.” The other councillors echoed Cllr Fallon's statement with many noting that more and more projects need to be finished by a deadline and these staff could have aided many projects that have had to be shelved for 2022.

Cllr Justin Warnock asked how many out of the council's 280 staff are on such temporary contracts. He said he has raised this issue with the Chief Executive Lar Power and called the nine month temporary contract agreements “distasteful.”
Leitrim County Council said the outdoor staffing levels are currently under review and this should be finalised in the next three months. Director of Services, Mary Quinn said employees understand when they sign on to work on a temporary contract that it will end on November 30.
She said these workers were specifically tasked with the roads project.

She said the council are “well up on numbers” of outdoor staff. Should temporary staff be required for the period of the 2023 roads programme, they will be recruited from panels in place at that time. All temporary staff allocations are reviewed annually and are recruited in conjunction with the budget held by the council for projects.
Ms Quinn said the views of the councillors have been noted and will be discussed by the executive.