Quangos and councils shown up by Arctic spell

A NEW concept for 2010 … joined-up thinking. The prolonged cold weather has shown us yet again how bad our quangos are. County councils have the responsibility for gritting our roads. So can we assume there is duplication in each county of the operational structures required to purchase, store and distribute the grit?

And lately, when the AA announced that the N7 and N9 should not be travelled on, what were we expected to believe?

1. That these national routes were not treated at all?

2. That there wasn’t enough grit purchased and stored by individual councils for this “prolonged and unexpected” cold snap?

3. That all of these duplicated county council structures got it wrong and/or don’t have access to a two-week weather forecast?

Equally important is the position of the NRA and RSA in all of this? Christmas ads had Gay Byrne encouraging us to buy high-vis vests as presents. Yes, Gay, thank you, as it turned out these were very useful to those who had to abandon their vehicles on non-treated primary routes. The RSA has a serious credibility problem in a situation where several families are now grieving lost relatives, specifically because of the non-treatment of icy roads.

The NRA will now probably hide behind its 52 well publicised road weather stations which, according to its website, “enable local authorities to make informed decisions during winter weather”.

So the NRA is off the hook because, in that one line, it hands all “decisions” to local authorities. N-ice one!

However, the most basic starting point of any authority interested in or given the responsibility for road safety issues must be that our roads are made safe at all times, in all weathers, and that road surface gritting and safety stays at international standards.

Over the holiday period it was obvious this was not the case. Perhaps at their next meeting, the 11 NRA board members could consider this, just after they pay their condolences to the families who have lost loved ones on untreated roads. Perhaps then, and only then, the board could also discuss a brand new and perhaps startling concept … the coordination and control of gritting operations on all national routes by one regulatory body … with teeth.

This joined-up thinking comes from the NRA itself … if it can impose unwieldy and mostly smashed traffic calming structures in villages and towns on all primary routes it can, by the same legal mechanisms, take responsibility for gritting, surface quality/maintenance, signage and all other basic safety issues on these routes.

But is it the semi-state quango to do so at all? Perhaps we need another brand new quango solely to look at the gritting of national roads (not to mention secondary or any other busy rural bus routes).

To the Government may I repeat … joined-up thinking. The abolition of all quangos which procrastinate and stop the job being done efficiently and effectively. In this case it is too late for several families who have lost loved ones on icy roads over the holiday period.

So next time when grit runs low in one council area, why not pick up the phone and have it transported in bulk from a neighbouring county depot which has the stuff? Oh, yes, how silly of me, you can’t do that … problems with the road surface, insurance, the staff Christmas rota and that big no-no, the inter-council invoice.

Gerry MacBride

Baile Mhuirne

Macroom

Co Cork