A council has told Twitter users it is a “double edge sword” being warned about potholes - because they’d have to fix them all or be open to legal action.
Dublin City Council's hiccup on social media led to some bumpy exchanges.
It held its annual ‘tweet day’ today, encouraging people to have their say about issues in their area through the hashtag #YourCouncilDay.
But when asked by a Twitter user if there was someone employed to report potholes and damaged footpaths, a DCC spokesman eventually said it was problematic because they’d legally have to repair everything or be liable for any accidents.
The council Q&A man, known only as Shane, said there was an officer who he thought filled that role.
He added that the officer probably didn’t have time to focus specifically on the issues the Twitter user had mentioned.
Revealed: Road repairs and pothole funding allocated to each county in Ireland
Shane said: “That might fall under their role (I’d have to check), but I’m not sure they’d have sufficient time to do a specific study like you’re suggesting.”
The user then replied, saying that this role would be very important.
He said: “Perhaps DCC could create a system were the street cleaners could report issues and are given an incentive to do so. If you’re not aware of the issues you can’t fix them.”
Shane replied and said that knowing about the problem could be an issue.
He said: “That knowledge is actually a bit of a double-edged sword.
“Knowing too much can be problem if there’s not enough resources to rectify it promptly.
“Eg, if it’s documented that you’re aware, and someone hurts themselves before you fix it, you’re open to liability.”
Twitter users were quick to slam the reply, with the original poster saying he was “at a loss for words”.
Another said: “Everything that’s wrong with Ireland in one tweet right there.”
But others defended Shane for his honesty.
One said: “The answer isn’t palatable, but it’s honest. I would like more straight talking about the way things are.
“It’s a public service in itself to tell the public where bottlenecks are.
“But out of curiosity, if stuff comes in through Fixmystreet (a website for reporting local issues) would you not have the same liability?”
Shane said that getting reports from citizens is important, and also claimed that he was just trying to clarify their system that deals with reports - which was taken the wrong way.
DCC has been contacted for comment.
