On the motion for the Adjournment to-day, Deputy M. J. O'Higgins gave notice that he would raise the subject matter of Question No. 12 on to-day's Order Paper.
Private Members' Business. - Adjournment Debate: Relief of Wicklow Snowbound Areas.
I gave notice I would raise the subject matter of this question on the Adjournment. The question I put to the Taoiseach was to ask him if he had received any representations urging that action be taken by the Government to relieve the hardship caused in many areas in Wicklow by the recent severe weather; what reply was sent by him to such representations; and what action was taken by him in the matter. The reply I got from the Taoiseach today was as follows:
I received a communication from the Deputy. As the text of his letter had appeared in the daily newspapers of the same date, I did not consider it necessary to forward it to the Minister concerned.
I want to draw the attention of the House, and of the Taoiseach in particular, to the fact that I asked him three specific questions: (1) whether or not he had received representations; (2) what reply he had made to those representations and (3) what steps he had taken in the matter? The Taoiseach's reply to that was to acknowledge that representations were received. He gave no reply, good, bad or indifferent, to the question as to what reply was sent by him to such representations. Of course, the reason the Taoiseach gave no reply to that part of my query was that he did not bother to send any reply to the representations made to him.
The third part of the query was to ask him what steps or what action was taken by him in the matter. The Taoiseach also avoided reply to that part of the query. Again, I suggest the reason he avoided replying to that part of the question was that no steps whatever were taken by him and by the Government in the matter. The Taoiseach was brassy enough to say in reply that he did not even bother sending on the communication, that he did not deem it necessary to send it on to the Minister concerned. Quite apart from any question of courtesy or lack of courtesy involved in the Taoiseach's attitude in this matter, I feel I am justified in raising this, in view of the deplorable inaction of the Government in relation to the situation which arose in my constituency and in other constituencies due to the recent very severe weather conditions.
Whether the Taoiseach likes to admit it or not, I have no doubt that there are supporters of his own Party in County Wicklow who will assure him of the fact that for the first few weeks since the beginning of this month, there has been a situation of very definite emergency approaching crisis proportions, and in some cases approaching near disaster proportions, in large areas of County Wicklow. There has been tremendous work done in that county by local authority officials, by the workers of the local authority, by voluntary organisations, by local clergy, by local Gardaí, by individual members of the local council, including members of the Taoiseach's own Party, who recognised that a very serious situation had arisen. There has been magnificent work done by a private concern—I think it is no harm to mention it and pay tribute to it—the Independent newspaper group and in particular the Evening Herald—who shouldered the responsibility which should have been shouldered by the Taoiseach and the Government in this matter.
Bull. The Deputy does not know what he is talking about.
I know precisely what I am talking about. It may not suit Deputy Paudge Brennan and other members of the Fianna Fáil Party.
Deputy Paudge Brennan was in the middle of the snow. He knows more about it than the Deputy, who sent telegrams from his centrally-heated office in the city of Dublin.
My place of residence has no relevance to this discussion.
(Interruptions.)
It may be a matter for jocose remarks, sneering jibes or laughter from members of the Fianna Fáil Party, but Deputy Paudge Brennan is not going to thank his colleagues who laugh at the people of Wicklow. I can assure them of that. I give Deputy Paudge Brennan every credit as a man who did his part, who went around the constituency and who knows the difficulties encountered there. There were other members of his Party who did likewise. I made it my business as soon as it was possible to gain access to some portions of the constituency to convey my own congratulations to a member of Deputy Paudge Brennan's Party and the Taoiseach's Party for the work he was doing in a particular area. My complaint is not against Deputy Paudge Brennan or any other member of the local council in Wicklow, all of whom did their part and more than their part. My complaint is that they were let down by the Government.
This was a situation which, as I say, was approaching near-crisis proportions. In those circumstances, surely the people were entitled to look to the Government for some leadership, for some activity, for some assistance? What leadership did they get from the Government? What assistance did they get from the Government? What sort of activity did they get from the Government or any member of the Government? I—and I am sure my colleagues in the constituency were in the same position—was inundated with telephone calls, letters and requests to try and get something done. In face of those requests I first communicated with the Minister for Transport and Power by telegram and urged on him, as I thought he would be the Minister concerned with the problem, which at this stage was principally a problem of transport, that the Government should organise an air-lift for the relief of the isolated areas. At least the Minister for Transport and Power had the courtesy to send an immediate reply. On 3rd January I received a telegram from him in which he states: "Have referred your telegram about relief of snowbound areas in County Wicklow to Minister for Local Government who is the Minister concerned."
Perhaps it is unnecessary to remark as an aside at this stage that I have not heard from the Minister for Local Government with regard to the representations which were passed on to him by the Minister for Transport and Power. I felt it was not good enough that one Minister should be in the position of passing on representations like that to another Minister on the basis that he was not the Minister concerned but that another Minister was. It was in those circumstances, and having regard to the stories which I had heard and which I had no reason to disbelieve because they came from men on the spot, that I wrote on 3rd January to the Taoiseach. In the course of the letter, I mentioned to him the appeal I had made to the Minister for Transport and Power and the fact that he passed it to the Minister for Local Government who was, apparently, the Minister concerned. I said to the Taoiseach:
It seems to me that the situation is one which requires the coordinated efforts of a number of State Departments. I, therefore, now appeal directly to you as head of the Government to ensure that immediate and effective action is taken to relieve the great hardship in many areas in Wicklow caused by the severe weather conditions.
Reports which I have received from the Valleymount-Ballyknockan area show that the situation there is appalling and I believe the same is true of a number of other areas.
I then drew the attention of the Taoiseach to specific cases of sufferers from diabetes in the area who were running short of the insulin with which it was necessary they should be treated. That had a sequel in that, with the assistance of a member of the Taoiseach's Party, a priest crossed the reservoir at Poulaphouca and brought the necessary supplies. That was done without any help from the Government, as, indeed, were the efforts made by all the local people.
I do not know if it is permitted, and I do not want to go into any great detail, but in order to try to convince the Taoiseach that the inaction of his Government in this matter was, as I have said, truly deplorable, I want to refer briefly to the reports of the situation which appeared in the local paper, The Wicklow People. I have no doubt that Deputy Brennan and others who are familiar with that publication will agree with me that it is entirely independent, fair minded and objective in its reports. It is completely without political ties or political bias in its reports. It is not endeavouring to make political capital for one side or the other and it has not done so in any of its reports which I want to bring to the attention of the Taoiseach.
Its leading article in the issue of 19th January opens with the words:
The people of the south-east of Ireland have, in the past three weeks, experienced one of the most severe periods of wintry weather in living memory. Heavy snowfalls have caused great hardships, inconvenience and expense. Freezing temperatures persist, delaying the removal of hardships in isolated districts and the restoration of travelling conditions to normal.
That is a comment from the local paper in case the Taoiseach thinks anything I am saying is in any way exaggerated. Indeed, there is no need to exaggerate because the situation was extremely bad and extremely grave. It was the mercy of Providence, and thanks to the work of the organisations I have mentioned and the volunteers who went in from outside to help, that the situation was not far worse. It was no thanks to the Government.
In the previous issue of The Wicklow People reports and comments from the various members of the local authority and others were given with regard to the dimensions of the gravity of the situation which had arisen. It was stated that:
The hardships endured during the period of isolation are regarded as the greatest ever imposed on the people of the affected areas through weather conditions.
One member of the local authority is reported as saying:
The amount of damage and loss to livestock still had not been assessed, but it was expected to be considerable. There had been an acute shortage of milk earlier in the week. This was relieved by farmers who were able to get into the village with milk and divide it among inhabitants in cans. Main roads are now passable but generally speaking just for one-way traffic.
However, by-roads were in a terrible condition and they would be "digging till February" before they were cleared.
Another member of the local authority, a supporter of the Taoiseach's Party, referring to his area, said:
The people here have had it so bad in the last two weeks that they now realise that Rome wasn't built in a day. Many roads are still isolated but the people are prepared to wait for the County Council to clear them. They appreciate the great work which is continuing.
He concluded by saying:
I guarantee that there will still be traces of the snow in this district in June.
There are other comments on the same lines. There is a comment that in Baltinglass about two dozen families had not been heard of for, I think, a week or so. Only to-day I was informed of a family at present living in Dublin but who originated near Knockanarrigan in Wicklow who went on a visit there on New Year's Day and had to stay for three weeks because they could not get out. These are not exaggerated reports.
That one is a bit exaggerated.
I do not think so.
Knockanarrigan was open within three weeks.
If the Deputy challenges that, I shall not insist. I am merely reporting what I have been told. I know the family and I have no reason to disbelieve them. They may possibly have been——
Maybe they did not want to come out. Maybe they were enjoying themselves.
——nervous of travelling. I do not want to take up any of the time due to the Taoiseach but Deputy Brennan is well aware, I feel sure, that not very far from him there was an elderly couple, a blind husband and a wife of about 80 years of age, to whose house access was gained only on Thursday or Friday of last week. I think Deputy Brennan will not deny that.
We have been accustomed to this type of thing for years.
Is that the Government's attitude?
It is my attitude.
If it is not the Government's attitude, the Parliamentary Secretary should not interrupt me in that way.
We see more snow in one year in Donegal than was ever seen in Wicklow, and we never say a word about it.
If the Parliamentary Secretary's interruption is merely to try to prove to Deputy Brennan that Donegal men are better than Wicklow men, let him take it up with Deputy Brennan in the Fianna Fáil Party Room.
They are not as good as Wicklow men.
I side with Deputy Brennan in that.
(Interruptions.)
The Deputy does not know his geography.
I know where I live.
Order.
The people were fortunate that this occurred immediately after Christmas when comparatively large supplies of food and fuel were in stock. If it had occurred at any other time, the disaster would certainly have been a very grave one. I feel there is a responsibility on the Government in cases such as this to show some action and leadership. The Government have failed, and failed deplorably, in that and it is only because of the public opinion and the public criticism of their actions that we heard today from the Minister for Transport and Power that they have at last come to a decision to purchase helicopters and provide a helicopter service which we hope will be used effectively if these conditions return in other years.
I would be the first in this House to applaud Deputy O'Higgins for the action he took in sending a telegram to the Minister for Transport and Power and a letter to the Taoiseach if he had not gone the step further and tried to gain political kudos out of it by sending both the letter and the telegram to the Press. As the Taoiseach said today, it would appear as if the letter was first sent to the Press before it was decided to send it to the Taoiseach. If that is the only way in which Deputy O'Higgins can hope to get votes in Wicklow, I am sorry for him.
We in County Wicklow have come to regard the type of storm we have experienced as something that happens occasionally. As a matter of fact, every year in my village we have snowstorms but we do not get anything like the storms they get in the northern part of the county. We have come to expect these things and the people in the areas referred to by Deputy O'Higgins are accustomed to these conditions. Only yesterday I was speaking to a man from Hollywood who told me that every farmer in that locality expects a snowstorm after Christmas that can last for two or three weeks.
There were similar storms in 1933 and 1947 and I doubt if you would get out of a group of five people in Wicklow any two to agree as to which of the three storms was the worst. They still talk about the 1933 and the 1947 storms. We are a neighbourly people and we do not stand idly by and allow our neighbours to die. In this instance what happened is that the county council, of which I am a member, was on the job right from the word "go" and by Thursday most of the villages in the county were open. Mine was one of the last to be opened. That was on Thursday. There were a few smaller hamlets such as Ballyknockan, Lacken, Manorkilbride, Knockananna, and a few others that had not been reached by that time. By Saturday they were opened and I spoke by telephone to a man who was marooned in Lacken on Sunday. He was in Blessington and spoke to me from there and it had been opened by Sunday.
A wonderful job was done in that crisis by the Wicklow County Council and they are the only body that was capable of doing it. Who else could do it ? Who knew the roads better than the local engineers?
I want, here in this House, to pay a very special tribute to our county manager who gave the green light to the county engineer to employ whatever machinery he could get and I want to pay tribute to the engineer and his assistants and all the workers who did everything possible, who worked around the clock. The only way in which you could bring relief to the people of the area was to open the roadways. That was done within a week. I do not know what the Government could have done about it. The Taoiseach can answer for the Government and for himself in this case but I know that he could not have melted the snow by waving a magic wand.
He was able to go joy-riding in a Potez plane. He should have gone over Wicklow with it.
Hardships will come with snowstorms and as far as the people of Wicklow are concerned, it is something we have come to expect.
There has been a period of very difficult weather, severe cold accompanied by heavy falls of snow, which was bound to produce inconvenience and discomfort in the areas affected. There is nothing any of us can do about the weather, but the suggestion that there was any failure to take action by the authorities concerned in County Wicklow or elsewhere is just nonsense. As soon as it was evident that the fall of snow was going to be unusually severe and the effects were likely to persist, contact was made with all the public authorities concerned, national and local, and I was satisfied on the first day that every possible activity that could have been put in train had already started and, inded, all the evidence is that a thoroughly good job was done.
Deputy O'Higgins referred to the activities of a particular newspaper in this regard. I content myself with reading this extract from a report from one of the senior officials of the Wicklow County Council:
It is also regrettable that one or two newspapers in their reports had exaggerated the actual position and gave the impression that grave hardship and distress existed in parts of the county and that nothing was being done about the matter by the public authorities. They also failed to give anything like an adequate or true picture of the measures taken by the County Council through its Members, its Engineering Staff and Workmen to open up within a few days almost all the roads in the county which had been blocked to such a great depth by heavy snow drifts. After all over 500 miles of roads were cleared in five days. It is to say the least scarcely giving an objective picture of the situation when reports are given of villages being reached by newspaper correspondents but there is scarcely a mention of the public authority which provided the staff, the men and the machinery which enabled these persons to carry out their tours of inspection without great risk or hardship. It was neither fair to the local authority nor to the relatives of persons in the affected areas that reports should be published which, in the absence of a balanced attitude on the part of those in control of vital operations and on the part of the community generally, could lead to an atmosphere of distrust and even panic.
I said this afternoon in reply to a Parliamentary Question that so far, as a result of all this bad weather, and notwithstanding the discomfort and inconvenience which was caused, no section of the community was at any time in a position of grave distress. There was no shortage of essential supplies in any part of the country. Health services were provided on a fairly satisfactory basis and so far as can be ascertained no person requiring urgent medical attention or medical supplies was unable to obtain them. That satisfactory outcome of this situation was due to the trojan work done by the authorities concerned.
Deputy Dillon made a foolish suggestion today about employing the Army. What could the Army do? There was no scarcity of manpower in Wicklow or anywhere else for the work that was required. The clearing of snow off the roads is a matter for machines. The Wicklow County Council had over 40 machines in operation within a very short time, some from their own resources, some hired from private firms, some borrowed from the Forestry Division, and they used these machines by day and by night to achieve that remarkable result of clearing the snow from 500 miles of road within five days.
The hard weather is not over yet. There may be, perhaps, a repetition of that experience and all I can hope is that we will get, and I am sure we will, the same drive and enthusiastic response from these public officials in the future as we got on this occasion.
The Dáil adjourned at 11 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 23rd January, 1963.