COUNCILLORS IN Monaghan and Kerry have called for extra efforts to ensure the safety of school-going children and their parents during the cold spell.
Monaghan Fianna Fáil politician Robbie Gallagher said the Department of Environment and local authorities should initiate a joint plan which will ensure that all roads are made safer in areas close to primary schools.
He said gritting materials are stored close to schools to facilitate this move.
The call comes in the wake of the disclosure yesterday that the National Roads Authority is arranging for more road-gritting materials to be made available to local authorities.
Kerry South Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae is to call on Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe to extend the Christmas breaks for schools in the light of the “unprecedented bad weather”.
Councillor Michael Healy-Rae, said his father has been “inundated” with calls from parents over the past few days who are worried about having to travel.
Most schools are due to re-open on Thursday and Friday.
However, the cold weather will still be in train, Mr Healy-Rae said. “This is an unprecedented situation, and my father is to contact the Education Minister about it tomorrow to see if schools would consider extending the break until Monday at least,” the councillor said.
In addition to transport to and from school, heating and water provision in schools in the current cold spell had also to be considered, he said.
Kerry, which has one of the largest networks of rural and secondary roads in the State, is badly affected by the cold weather, but the situation extended beyond Kerry and schools everywhere were affected, said Cllr Healy-Rae.
Meanwhile, former Mayor of Galway, Cllr Donal Lyons, said that he had been inundated with complaints over the Christmas period, especially from residents in housing estates after Galway City Council concentrated their supplies on the main roads.
He called for urgent funding to be provided so that more roads could be treated with grit and salt.
“Just because we have had snow and frost over the past two weeks does not mean this will not continue into January and we can’t afford to allow the roads go untreated for all that time,” said Cllr Lyons.
“Money is very tight but we have to ensure our roads are safe,” he added.