Mr. Kieran Kehoe:

It was not. I am very sure of the facts. Once the red warning goes, every local authority mobilises, and we did mobilise. Within 24 hours, the bulk of the roads in this country were clear. The only ones that were not clear were the very local roads and the access up into the forestry, and we worked in support of the ESB in getting access to those. Regarding bringing in contractors, before the Deputy came in I mentioned that I personally rang the Association of Farm Contractors in Ireland to mobilise, exactly as the Deputy has said, people with that machinery, those skill sets and that training, to work. I acknowledge the huge work done by the communities all across the country. The country is dependent on it and will always be dependent on it. That is what meitheal is; that is what community is. We support that fully in the local authorities and will always do so.