€1.2m for footpath claims - that’s in North Cork alone
NEW figures have revealed that more than €1.2 million has been shelled out in insurance payouts and settlements relating to incidents on footpaths in Cork County Council’s northern division over the five-year period between 2014 and 2018.
The figures for the division, which covers the Fermoy and Kanturk/Mallow electoral areas, were obtained by Cork East Labour TD Sean Sherlock on foot of a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request placed with Cork County Council.
They showed that a total of €1,255,675.56 was paid out in relation of 56 separate claims, including court awards and out of court settlements, over the period in question.
The figures showed there were 19 claims in 2014, costing a combined total of €456,785.20. The following year there were also 19 claims, resulting in payouts totalling a slightly higher figure of €456,895.82.
However, the number of claims and resulting payouts have dropped over each of the following years, with 10 claims made in 2016, resulting in payouts totalling €207,880.65.
The number of claims dropped to six in 2017 with €98,726.89 in payouts and last year there were just two claims amounting to €35,387. According to the figures there have been no claims made this year.
The cumulative figures showed that the average paid out in per case over the five year period amounted to €22,422.78.
While Deputy Sherlock had also asked the reasons behind each of the payouts, the authority denied this request due to the number of records it would need to retrieve and the time it would take to examine them.
Commenting on the figures, Deputy Sherlock said that while €1.25 million was a lot of money to pay out it was important to acknowledge the fact that the figures had reduced over recent years.
“That means the council is getting to grips with the issue. The overall figure is still too high, though. That kind of money would have repaired a lot of footpaths,” said Deputy Sherlock.
“Every TD and councillor in the county has a long list of footpaths they want to see done. The council could now look at a fully dedicated programme for footpaths now that revenue from property tax will increase,” he added.