Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I am very pleased to be able to speak to this motion. As others have done, I wish to praise the efforts of local county council outdoor staff, the Garda, the Civil Defence, fire brigades, families and communities. There was an emergency although it was not declared a national emergency but I have seen worse and I am not so old. There was a good deal of over-reaction. I take it on the chin at a national level. If not enough was done, I lay the blame at the door of the Minister for Transport. I have stated so publically and I state as much again this evening. There was not much point in his coming back from holidays, to which he is entitled. Some people made a joke about the matter, stating he could not do it or whatever. Leadership was needed and the public was willing, ready and able to the best of their ability to carry out the necessary work, but they could not get access to the tools of the trade.

I am delighted to hear previous speakers remark that some councils provided grit at certain stations. I am aware this was the case in Wexford and Laois. However, the director of services in South Tipperary County Council, Mr. Billy McEvoy, refused to engage. The IFA and FÁS offered to help as did ordinary people. I sourced thousands of tonnes of ordinary grit, not salt. Molasses are sometimes put on the roads now. They were first used on the roads in this country some ten years ago and it is possible to see the damage to the roads now. Ordinary common grit, run-off from a quarry, can be procured for €7 per tonne and collected from any quarry. This could have be acquired and made available for communities. I was able to get some for my village but I was informed it was a privileged village and this was the reason it received the material from the county council.

A good deal of blame may be placed here or there. Muintir na Tíre was one national organisation that set up manned help lines, but there were several others. I manned a local help line myself for several hours one Sunday. I was delighted to hear some of the calls. What was striking was not the number of people looking for help and assistance, but the number of people who offered assistance, including ordinary people from throughout the country who offered help in many ways. All that was needed was a structured system and for people to be able to help each other and our elderly.

Given the flooding in recent years a committee was established in Clonmel town. This provided a very good, quick response following the recent flooding. That template could be used elsewhere because, sadly, we have experienced several floods and have perfected it. I have asked our director of services, although he has not yet responded, to put that type of emergency response committee in place throughout the county. It could be copied in many other counties as well. We can learn lessons from what happened and be ready for the next time it will undoubtedly occur.

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