Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The first issue is in the names of Deputies Declan Breathnach and Pat Casey. I call Deputy Breathnach.

Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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In opening this debate I wish to acknowledge, first, the progress made in the winter gritting programme across the country over many years and especially the outdoor staff who work ungodly hours to deliver the gritting programme, which is often and mainly dictated by local authority officials and budgets. As the Minister, Deputy Ross, rightly knows, ice and snow bring a Christmas thrill but not to many motorists, cyclists or pedestrians for whom icy conditions are a time of anxiety for many people who go about their business, often in scary driving conditions. The Minister might pardon the pun but any public representative worth his or her salt would tell him that, apart from the public complaints about potholes and poor road surfaces, at this time of the year as temperatures plummet many become justifiably frustrated. Constituents call our offices complaining about there been no salting of the roads, not to mention the irate parents who often ring to say their child has just written off his or her first car.

My purpose in raising this matter in the season that is in it is to hope that winter gritting programme would be publicised more widely in terms of how it works and to make road users more aware of how it operates and to offer an exchange in terms of the ways in which the programme could be improved and expanded to be responsive and more impactful in the interests of safer driving with fewer accidents and a more co-ordinated approach and understanding of the way local authorities can respond.

The IceCast system, as I described it, is now known as the Vaisala road DSS manager – it is difficult for people to get their tongue around that. One can call it what one likes but all we need to know is that there is an effective and efficient system and that the road user who pays his or her motor tax, property tax and income tax achieves equity in reaching his or her destination in the shortest possible time on the most suitable salted route. The aim of the programme is to keep the major routes as free as possible from hazardous road conditions but with the current process, which involves weather forecasting in terms of the Vaisala system I referred to, the system is only 85% effective.

Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Breathnach has raised most of the issues. We have all seen practical examples, despite all the technology used now, where the system has failed road users on certain mornings. The Minister is very familiar with the N11, which we often see being gritted in the evening and late into the night. However, we have had significant rainfall overnight recently and a refreeze but at that stage it is too late to grit. The cars are on the road and the damage has been done. We have seen that happen quite a few times in recent years. While technology has brought more advances, it is about getting the grit quality right, the density of the grit and so on. All of that is improving.

In terms of the regional and local roads, different standards apply and there is a different approach to the regional roads. I recall getting a call from a constituent at 6.30 a.m. one morning to say that the long hill was completely covered in ice. That was because the road had been gritted but it rained and the surface froze over the gritting. The long hill was an ice rink that morning and by the time word got to the local authority to get the staff back out on the roads, almost two and a half hours had passed, which caused major problems.

Many national roads, including the M11, have been taken over privately in terms of providing maintenance, which is contracted. There is a different contractor on the M50 but the two roads inter-link. Is there co-operation between them to ensure all of them spread grit at the same time and with the same consistency to ensure the road user knows that the road will be cleared from one end to the other? The Minister might reply to the few points I have raised.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the two Deputies for what appear to be constructive suggestions. It is extremely appropriate at this time of year that this issue should be debated and it is one that has been. It would be fair to acknowledge first that the response to emergencies to which the Deputies referred has been good in recent years. There is always room for improvement and the suggestions they made, particularly the one in Wicklow with which I am familiar, are constructive. I will certainly convey both Deputies’ suggestions to the appropriate local authorities and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, for their comments.

As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding regarding the national roads programme. The planning, design and operation of the national road network, including winter maintenance operations, is the responsibility of TII under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Within its current and capital budget, the assessment and prioritisation of expenditure is a matter for TII in accordance with section 19 of the Roads Act.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority. The selection and prioritisation of works, including winter maintenance programmes, are also a matter for each local authority.

As the Deputies will have heard previously, Ireland has just under 100,000 km of road in its network and the maintenance of national, regional and local roads places significant demands on local authorities. Each local authority prepares an annual winter maintenance programme which outlines its plans for managing winter operations, including gritting.

In this context, TII operates the IceNet road weather information system, previously known as IceCast, to assist local authorities in the management and delivery of each local authority's winter maintenance activities. TII operates a network of road weather stations across the national road network, providing up to date information on road weather conditions. In addition, in conjunction with Met Éireann forecasts, the IceNet system provides weather forecasts for the national road network. This information is also used by local authorities to plan their treatment of regional and local roads.

I understand from TII that the system has been continuously improved and upgraded since the road weather information system was first developed in the 1990s. In the period since the severe weather episodes in 2010 the number of weather stations has increased from 60 to 100 and about 75 of those stations now have cameras installed with infra-red lighting capability.

Each year, in advance of the winter season, TII convenes an annual winter maintenance conference, attended by all local authorities. After that, decisions on delivery of winter maintenance activities, including the prioritisation of routes for salting, and where necessary snow ploughing, are operational matters made by local authorities.

Local authorities will make the call-out decision having considered the forecast, prevailing road conditions and local information provided by the relevant roads engineers and inspectors.

Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his response. Technology is playing a major part in making further improvements. However, it would improve matters if additional weather stations across the network to those to which the Minister referred, were installed, particularly in my council area.

I look forward to the installation of two additional stations, one on the N53 at Deerpark and one on the N2 at Funshog near Ardee. I understand that a further two weather stations are required on the R166 and R173, which needs to be funded by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. We talked about thermal domains. They need to be changed to more accurately forecast temperatures, especially on local roads. Most of these thermal domains are on main roads which already have a gritting programme.

While technology is fine, the Minister mentioned local knowledge. I firmly believe that An Garda Síochána and the post service could provide an excellent service for the issues Deputy Casey mentioned. Where black ice occurs and rainfall dilutes the salt, there should be a link to the director of services responsible on a particular night to ensure that, where these black spots arise again, there is a programme to get out onto those roads.

Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. He acknowledged that this is a positive engagement, not a criticism, as we hit the winter season. It concerns all road users that the roads are gritted as much as possible. The area that is always left in abeyance is the local roads. We all know that some of our local roads are the most dangerous roads. There is no clear policy across local authorities of how to manage and grit local roads. Some local authorities put boxes of ice on dangerous hills or corners. Other councils do not bother. There are many inconsistences across the nation with local and regional roads. I would like to see if we can move forward to make it standard for a certain level of facilities to be provided on all local roads. Deputy Breathnach mentioned the hard work that council staff do at all hours of the morning in very tough conditions. I wish to put that on the record too.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Much of what the Deputies are saying depends on who makes the decisions about when to treat roads and which roads to treat after the data have been made available to them. That is taken by the local authority duty engineer. Decisions on the delivery of winter maintenance activities, including salting and, where necessary, snowploughing, are made by the local authorities. Local authorities are responsible for providing engineering staff, operational staff, drivers, helpers and yard staff, plant including trucks, demountable salt spreaders and snow blades, and managing the drawdown of road salt. Winter treatment of the motorway network is the responsibility of the relevant public private partnership, PPP, operator or motorway contractor. In addition to providing the Vaisala road weather information system, RWIS, the role of Transport Infrastructure Ireland is to co-ordinate the annual winter operations programme. The authority provides support, back-up and funding to the local authorities each year in advance of the winter season. The authority convenes an annual winter maintenance conference, attended by duty engineers. Although I am satisfied with the way this has operated in the past, I am sure it can be improved and I will bring the references which Deputy Casey made to the N11 and which Deputy Breathnach made to the R166 and R173 to TII and the local authorities for attention and ask them. I cannot tell them what to do but I will refer the Deputies' remarks to them and ask them to respond accordingly.