Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me an opportunity to raise this important issue tonight. I am extremely disappointed that neither the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government nor the Minister for Transport is present to respond to this Adjournment matter, which has been raised by five Deputies. I am angry because the Ministers have not taken the time to come to the House to speak about an issue that is affecting every county. Given that they were not here during the freeze itself, perhaps I should not expect them to be here tonight.

This has been one of the harshest winters of the past 50 years. We have had frost and snow in County Clare since 22 December last. I suppose it was not until the bad weather hit the city of Dublin that the Government decided to take some action. We did not have the leadership needed to deal with the crisis, unfortunately. We had no Taoiseach and no Tánaiste. The only response was from the Minister, Deputy O'Dea. When he was asked why the Army was not being called in, he said it had not been asked to come in. The Minister, Deputy Gormley, blamed everybody other than the Government for the crisis.

In the absence of leadership from the Government, local communities and local authorities stepped up to the plate to assist elderly people and grit neighbourhood roads. I commend and compliment Clare County Council, which did a great job in keeping the main arteries open, despite its limited resources. The problems caused by the big freeze were compounded when the thaw set in and the state of the roads became apparent. Motorists have to contend with huge potholes as they go about their daily business. Having driven on the roads of County Clare over recent days, I am familiar with the problems on the R465 between Limerick and Broadford, for example. Roads like the N68 are badly afflicted with potholes.

I remind the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews that the county councils do not have the money to deal with this situation. Road maintenance grants have been slashed by 10%. Like the other Deputies who are about to contribute to this debate, I want funding to be provided in my local area so that the roads which are in an atrocious condition can be repaired. This is a road safety matter, in so far as lives will be saved if action is taken.

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