Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I have three brief final points. When will the Minister announce the budget for the regional roads? The Minister will agree that he will be forever known as the "Minister for snow". Since the catastrophe of the big freeze, has he made any changes to the protocols for clearing footpaths or estate roads? Is there any procedure whereby the country can call a national emergency? What is being done about that?

Finally, regarding road safety and N17, for example, besides a small amount of funding the NRA has announced this year, when will the full works on that road be carried out in Galway and Mayo? When will the Wexford road, the N11, and the Mayo road, the N5, be finished? When will the Sligo road, the N4, be done? The Minister says that 2010 will see the end of the national road building programme. That is a desperate prospect for many commuters all over the country. The Minister has failed a large part, if not all of the island, as the "Minister for snow".

See this speech in context