CEO says he needs 7 new staff to keep service open
Ciaran Hayes does not want to be remembered as being the man who closed Sligo’s libraries but he admits that his back is up against the wall and he is fast running out of options.
Of course everyone knows that he is dealing with a debt legacy issue handed down to him from a predecessor. It’s never easy to take over at the helm of the most indebted council in the country.
That aside, the reality facing Sligo County Council right now is grim. It has yet to pay for the Lissadell debacle and cannot manage to operate the financial plan set out to central government last December.
CEO Ciaran Hayes has said on record that the plan is no longer fit for purpose. Under it, staff has to be culled by 42 percent and the council must budget to reach a certain surplus every year as laid down in the four year plan. But this over- ambitious document is failing at a spectacular rate. It is crippling front line services - most notably the county library service which is now under threat of closure.
Mr. Hayes says: “This is a staffing issue. We do not have the staff to keep the library open. We need in the region of 7 or 8 new staff to keep this service going. Up to now we have been able to juggle people from different departments around to cover shifts at the libraries but this is not sustainable.
“The library staff themselves have kept the service going for the public and their efforts have been heroic and unparralleled; the manner in which they have given of themselves, working under serious pressure and at weekends. They are hurting with added work loads but they have gone over and beyond what is expected of any employee so that a library service is available for their community.”
So what has Ciaran Hayes done apart from try to implement the plan as is? He says 237 staff have gone, which equates to a 37 percent cut in personnel already. He says he has put it to the Local Government Minister Simon Coveney that the plan needs to be revised to allow him hire at least 7 extra people.
“The department is forcing us to reduce staff by 42% yet they are not taking any responsibility for the impact that this is having on the services,” explains Mr Hayes.
“We’ve had to close our cash office in city hall, pull back on motor tax services, the housing office hours, close a lab in Cleveragh, and now the library. The issue for the council is across the board, all services are being hit while there are increasing demands from other services, like arts, festivals, roads, improvements to existing infrastructure. We are not able to provide the services that people expect to receive,” he added.
The Sligo Champion put in a request for an interview with Minister Simon Coveney but he was unavailable to talk with the paper. His department did however issue a statement: “Under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, local authorities are responsible for their own staffing and organisational arrangements, including in relation to the library service. The department accepted the financial plan proposed by Sligo County Council last December, and is in ongoing engagement with the Council regarding compliance with the targets agreed in the plan.”
Minister Coveney is meeting with Mr Hayes on Wednesday to discuss the situation.
LIBRARY STAFF HAVE BEEN HEROIC AND UNPARRALLELED; THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY HAVE GIVEN OF THEMSELVES WORKING UNDER PRESSURE