BLAME GAME

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen was last night accused of ignoring the Government’s emergency response plans, instead, trying to pass the blame for poor handling of the severe weather crisis onto local authorities.

As the nation faced into another week-and-a-half of Arctic conditions, Environment Minister John Gormley warned essential salt supplies needed to grit treacherous roads could run out “within days”.

Fine Gael said the cabinet had wasted three weeks “in hiding” before the Emergency Response Committee was convened yesterday when Mr Gormley was installed as the minister in charge of co-ordinating the national response.

Mr Cowen defended the Government’s handling of the biggest freeze for nearly half a century as even Fianna Fáil TDs demanded Transport Minister Noel Dempsey cut short his holiday to take charge of the severely hit road and public transport network.

Mr Gormley said 50,000 tonnes of gritting salt had been used in the past three weeks and only 14,000 tonnes remained and that would run out “in a few days”. With fresh foreign supplies expected to take at least a week to arrive, Mr Gormley said alternatives, such as more expensive commercial salt, was being looked at by the NRA.

The Taoiseach dismissed accusations of inaction, insisting local councils had been in the driving seat for the past 20 days.

Fine Gael defence spokesman Jimmy Deenihan attacked the claims as “clueless”, pointing to the Government’s emergency plan which stated weather emergencies should be dealt with at a national level.

Defence Minister Willie O’Dea said the Government had only decided the Arctic weather gripping the nation since before Christmas was an emergency “the other day” when ministers saw new weather forecasts.

Mr O’Dea said the defence forces had helped the HSE in Galway when asked, but it was up to councils to be proactive in such situations.

Mr Cowen was accused by the opposition of “passing the buck” onto local authorities when he stated: “The response here is a local response. The local authority response has been there for the past 20 days dealing with the weather conditions that have emerged and evolved. I want to emphasise this is an operational matter dealt with by local authorities. There is no lack of funding or lack of personnel.”

Despite Fianna Fáil TD Mattie McGrath demanding Mr Dempsey cut short his holiday as the situation was now “beyond a joke”, Mr Cowen would not be drawn on the Transport Minister’s absence, saying he would return “in a few days”. Mr Cowen said he had not spoken to Mr Dempsey yesterday, despite the traffic gridlock which paralysed Dublin on Wednesday evening.

The Taoiseach said the army was available on request from any local authority. However, Mr Gormley said troops were not needed in gritting operations.

Fine Gael insisted thousands of troops, with experience of severe weather in Kosovo, should be deployed to make roads and footpaths safe, using beach sand, if that is all that is available, as has been used in Britain which is also facing a shortage of salt.

The extreme weather was also taking its toll across the worlds of business, agriculture and education, as disruption to national life intensified. The Emergency Response Committee was told by weather experts the extreme conditions could last for another 10 days.

Freezing fog was proving a new danger for motorists in Dublin and the north-east as fresh snow was forecast for west Munster and Connacht.

Mr Gormley accused opposition-run local councils of “playing politics” with the weather crisis.