REACTION:MINISTER FOR Transport Noel Dempsey and Minister for the Environment John Gormley are bearing the brunt of Opposition parties' criticism of the Government's response to the severe weather conditions.
Fine Gael’s road safety spokesman Shane McEntee yesterday called on Mr Dempsey and Mr Gormley to take control of a co-ordinated response to the situation as a matter of urgency.
“The absence of both Ministers throughout this crisis has been a disgrace. Both Ministers receive large salaries for their jobs, and the least you would expect is for them to be available,” he said.
Mr McEntee posed for photographers outside Leinster House yesterday with life-size cardboard cut-outs of the two Ministers in an attempt to highlight “their absence during the current crisis”.
He also said Defence Forces personnel should be deployed immediately. “We’ve got to get the Army involved in this . . . We have 10,000 men, most of whom were drilled in Kosovo and know how to handle conditions like this. The Army have the trucks, they have the equipment, they have the personnel and they also have got the qualifications.”
With local authorities struggling to salt roads, Mr McEntee said alternative materials, such as grit from quarries and sand from beaches, must be sourced. He claimed that “all our businesses will close down within 10 days” unless footpaths were treated.
Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore was also critical of the Government’s response. He said the Coalition had not demonstrated leadership and described as “totally invisible” Ministers who were responsible. “Nobody blames the Government for the weather, but people are entitled to ask questions about why the response at national level has been so lacking,” Mr Gilmore said.
“Unfortunately the experience with this Government has been that whenever there has been a crisis you can depend the response will be too little, too late.”
Mr Gilmore suggested one Minister be given overall responsibility for co-ordinating the State’s response. He said funding should be allocated to allow local authorities take on temporary staff. Local authorities should be authorised to sub-contract clearance of secondary roads and suburban estates to private contractors. The fuel allowance should be increased temporarily and the Defence Forces mobilised to assist in the clearing of pavements.
Mr Gilmore accused the Government of ignoring the situation in parts of the northwest and west.
Marian Harkin, Independent MEP for Ireland North West, said the Government must guarantee payments to salt importers.
“Local authorities will not pay for salt to stockpile in the expectation of future use and it is up to the Government to step in and provide the necessary assurance of payment,” Ms Harkin said.
