Almost 170 claims against Kerry County Council for falls over last five years

The data was outlined to Cllr Michael Cahill (Fianna Fáil), who asked how much had been paid out to individuals for injuries sustained from falls while walking on “pavements and footpaths” over the last five years.

Cllr Cahill raised the query at the most recent Kenmare Municipal District meeting and asked for figures specific to the area, but the numbers were not broken down on a Municipal District basis.

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KCC explained that it holds public-liability insurances with IPB Ltd, which works with the Council Insurance Unit to investigate claims and ensure infrastructure improvements where needed. The data returned to Cllr Cahill did outline the number of claims made but did not provide any figures on amounts paid out.

There were 41 claims in 2019, and this number dropped year on year to 2022. There were, however, 33 claims in 2023, an increase of four (13.8 per cent) on the previous year.

There were 168 claims made in total between and including 2019 and 2023.

Cllr Cahill said he believes the costs of successful claims “far outweigh” what it would cost to upgrade the county’s footpath network.