"TERRIBLE, SHODDY" REINSTATEMENT OF ROAD SURFACE IN RATHCORMAC

The road surface on Rathcormac's main street has been left in a substandard, terrible and shoddy condition following waste water connection works by a contractor working on behalf of Uisce Éireann, it was claimed this week.

Cllr William O’Leary slammed the condition of the temporarily reinstated road surface at a council meeting on Tuesday and asked the council to call on the contractor for a "proper reinstatement of the section in question owing to the substandard and shoddy temporary reinstatement that was put in place.”

"Not to mention all the chaos they caused when they were digging up the road at three in the morning, this is the main street of Rathcormac and this is something I can’t stand over," Cllr O'Leary told the Fermoy MD committee meeting this week.

"We’re held hostage to Irish Water (Uisce Éireann) but the issue needs to be highlighted. The reinstatement job is terrible and you’ll feel it and see it. At Cois Bhaile, every time a car or truck hits the manhole covers it makes a racket. They did come back and make some improvements but it’s worsened since then again."

NOT BEING TREATED 'LIGHTLY'

However, Cork County Council are not in the position to negotiate directly with the contractor and must contact Uisce Éireann and ask for them to intervene, it emerged.

"We will ask again for Uisce Éireann and their appointed contractor to comply with the terms and conditions of their governing road opening permit and use the powers of the state to ensure said reinstatements are completed correctly," senior engineer Brendan O'Gorman said.

He noted that because the contract was not between the local authority and the company who carried out the work, the council could not withhold payments until work was satisfactory.

However, he did say the council retained the right to refuse to permit a particular contractor from opening up roads again in some circumstances. "We are not treating this lightly," he said.