Councillor Ted Tynan has said that the closure of local Cork City Council offices around the city, including the one at Ardbhaile in Mayfield, is a backwards step and will have a negative knock-on effect for both the public and the council alike.
The Workers’ Party councillor said that the move, forced on the City Council due to cutbacks in government funding, would cause difficulties for people who find it difficult to get into City Hall to report local problems or simply pay their rent.
Cllr. Tynan said that the local offices, such as the one at Árd Bhaile, had proved their worth and had been essential in building better links between the local communities and City Council staff and officials.
“The value of these local offices is that people can get to know the officials who in turn can build up a working relationship with people in the local community. They can also deal with people on a one-to-one basis and for instance, if a person runs into difficulty with rent they can identify the problem sooner and can make an arrangement with that person. It also provides a link for people to report local problems be it broken street lights, pavements or housing maintenance issues”
Councillor Tynan praised the work of staff at the local offices and said it was a disgrace that all their good work was being undone by a petty cutback but he laid blame squarely at the door of the Fianna Fáil / Green Party government. “This is just another one of the many effects of their slash and burn policy of cutbacks. It is also short-sighted as the closure of these local offices will cost the council and the state money in the long run”.
