Concern over council departures

The Green Party has called for a code of conduct, including a "cooling-off period", for management staff who leave local authorities to work in private development companies.

The call follows the move of a third member of management staff in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to the private sector.

Eamon O'Hare, director of traffic with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, is understood to be leaving to take up a position with Ballymore Homes.

Former Dún Laoghaire Rathdown county manager Derek Brady became a consultant with Alburn Limited, a company associated with developer Noel Smyth, when he retired last year.

Ex-planner with the council, Willie Murray, went on to work with Rathdown Light Rail, a consortium of developers, including Mr Smyth, organised to bring the Luas to Cherrywood in south Dublin.

And in South Dublin County Council, former county manager Frank Kavanagh took up a position with developer Jim Mansfield after retiring from his local authority post.

The Green Party's Ciarán Cuffe TD called for a cooling-off period of two years for management leaving local authorities and said the Government should publish a code of conduct for local authorities to cover the situation.

"There is a clear need to provide regulation in this area," he said.

"Knowledge is power, and some of the major players are getting access to knowledge that the public could never afford."

He said that at the very least a register of interests must be put in place so that people know who ex-council management are working for.