Ireland 'well stocked' to salt roads during cold weather

Almost €2m has been spent on salt supplies to keep roads open during cold snaps this winter.

The Government's Task Force on Emergency Planning has today launched its annual 'Be Winter Ready' campaign.

State agencies and transport providers say they are more prepared than ever before to deal with severe weather events.

Sean O'Neill - from the National Roads Authority - says there is an ample supply of road salt in stock.

"From a national perspective, we have 211,000 tonnes plus and additional 27 with our PPP - so you're looking at about 238,000 total," he said.

"The spend to date has been €1.8m.

"During the worst years that we experienced we went through about 150,000 tonnes - so we're well stocked."