Assessment begins into local authorities' big freeze response

An investigation is to get underway today into the impact of the recent big freeze on the country's roads and water supply.

At a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Environment later, the response of City and County Councils to the cold snap will come under the spotlight.

Representatives from the County and City Managers Association will face questions regarding the repercussions the cold spell had on road conditions, as well as on the current status on the supply of drinking water.

Committee member and Labour TD for Cork South Central Ciaran Lynch said severe weather conditions were no longer one-off events.

"We now need to start planning for them as expected events, not as one-off events," he said.