COUNCILLORS have claimed that morale at Limerick City and County Council has never been as low since directly-elected Mayor (DEM) John Moran joined the organisation.
That’s according to Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Collins at a heated meeting in County Hall last week.
According to Cllr Collins, the local authority is “haemorrhaging good staff and can’t attract staff”. He called on the Mayor to explain people going out on sick leave and leaving the organisation.
“Since you came in, Mayor, I’m telling you morale has never been so low. We used to be the envy of all the local authorities in this country in how we attracted staff,” Cllr Collins claimed.
Fine Gael councillor Adam Teskey fully supported the sentiments of his Fianna Fail colleague. He also questioned why the Council’s “best resources and assets” are leaving the organisation.
“I would have to say that we have lost some fine people, in my own opinion, in this organisation in the last number of months,” Cllr Teskey commented.
“I’ve certainly heard things, and I’ve heard mutterings, I’ve heard rumours, I’ve heard innuendo, and it’s certainly not positive. What is coming out of City Hall at the moment has to stop. If the rot doesn’t stop, it’s going to take over the tree, and we will have nothing.”
Cllr Teskey added: “I don’t know where we go from here today, but I think it is time now for the senior representatives of government to get their ass down here quickly. This is a sh*t show, and someone needs to come down and address it.”
In response, Mayor Moran told Council members that he himself at one point had asked the local authority about people leaving the organisation, adding that “I was told there was nothing unusual about the level of churn that we have in the organisation at the moment. So I don’t know where or why there’s a suggestion that it’s anything extra.”
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme