Pressure on council to hire road safety officer

MANAGEMENT at Kerry County Council (KCC) is coming under increasing pressure to hire a Road Safety Officer given the carnage that continues to occur on the county’s roads.

A plan to hire a dedicated officer was proposed and agreed on by KCC in December 2023. But at Monday’s full meeting, councillors criticised the time it has taken to fill the vacancy.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Michael O’Shea tabled a motion stating that due to the growing number of fatalities on roads, KCC should immediately put in place a Road Safety Officer that would liaise with all young students in the county.

“I’m asking that we immediately source that person to roll out this scheme, and who would work with all educators, primary, post-primary, and third-level,” he said.

“It is most important that education about vehicles, and our roads, should start at school level and even childcare. If there is anything we can do to promote that officer asap, it would be a massive help to the county going forward,” Cllr O’Shea said.

The motion was seconded by Cllr Sam Locke, while Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae criticised the time it has taken to hire the safety officer.

He asked ‘where is the council’ in terms of the hiring process. In its reply, the council said both the adopted budget and Road Safety Plan for 2024 includes provision for a Road Safety Officer and the recruitment process is proceeding in line with established procedures.

But when pressed by Cllr Healy-Rae, KCC CEO Moira Murrell stated the position is going through the normal recruitment process and the ‘standard approach’ that this takes.

“I cannot discuss it in the council chamber because we have individual applicants who have to be dealt with accordingly. They will have to be corresponded with,” she said.

“I don’t know what stage we’re at but I do know we are in the process of recruiting a safety officer along with a whole lot of other roles. We have over 100 vacancies in the last 12 months. This (safety officer) has been given priority so I expect the process is moving at pace,” Ms Murrell said.