James Carroll (Fianna Fail)

A Member of the Opposition has already proclaimed he would love to take down the Government, regardless of how this might be done. Such a proposal would therefore seem to indicate a desire on the part of the Opposition just to get its pound of flesh, as opposed to focusing on the issue at the centre of the problem.

On a separate issue I encourage the Leader to facilitate the examination by the House of the consequences of the bad weather we have had over the Christmas recess. I believe a national strategy is needed, as I was inundated with phone calls over the Christmas. In other counties, for example, Donegal, Wexford, Cavan and Monaghan, there was a degree of flexibility as regards how local people could treat their roads. As the representative of a very large rural area in south Louth, I heard from a great many people who were willing to do this work if the facilities were provided. The problem is that disparate county and city councils are working under different rules and regulations and a centralised, co-ordinated response by the Minister for Transport, Deputy Dempsey and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, should be the way forward.

I conclude on those points while urging the Leader to arrange for debates on those two motions as soon as possible.