Footpaths prove costly for Fingal County Council

Fingal County Council has paid more than 77% in compensation compared to 2014 for individuals claiming for trips and falls on footpaths.
Fingal revealed to The Gazette that the total sum paid in respect of trips and falls on footpaths for 2015 was €870,000. This is compared to €196,900 paid out by the council in 2014 – a difference of €673,100.
Speaking to The Gazette, a spokesperson from Fingal said that this increase does not represent any significant upward trend in the overall cost of claims.
“The figure given includes the sum paid in respect of settlements and associated legal, medical and engineering costs. The figures given represent the sum paid out in these financial years regardless of when the incident occurred.
“The sum paid in 2015 is significantly higher than 2014. This is entirely due to a small number of relatively high value claims that were settled in 2015 and related to incidents that occurred between 2011 and 2014. This does not represent any significant upward trend in the overall cost of claims,” said the spokesperson.
Cllr David McGuinness (Ind) said that Fingal County Council have recently approved €250,000 to improving footpaths in 2016, adding that “priorities seem to be very wrong here and I will put questions to the Fingal Chief Executive Officer”.
Although the amount of money paid out for claims regarding trips and falls is based on Fingal as a whole and not on single electoral areas, Cllr McGuiness said “accidents do happen and liabilities always lay with someone, a four-fold increase should raise some serious concerns and the public deserve to know all the details involved.”
Residents who notice path and road defects anywhere in the Fingal area are asked to report them to www.fixyourstreet.ie.