Salt supplies running out at critical time

We started off with 80,000 tonnes of salt but now there's just 10 days of the supply left for treating our treacherous roads.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) believed it had us covered by bringing in an extra 20,000 tonnes of salt on top of the average total salt stocks over a complete winter - usually 60,000 tonnes.

The reality is that with weather conditions set to worsen over the weekend, as sub-zero temperatures continue, there is now only 10 days of the supply left.

Only 5 per cent of our roads actually get treated which although low, still covers around 50 per cent of total national traffic.

Dublin and the east of the country have been worst affected by the adverse weather and the focus will most likely be on treating roads in-and-around the capital.

The RSA has issued a series of leaflets for road users during wintry weather including ‘Advice for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists in snow and icy conditions’, ‘Top 10 Tips for driving in Winter Weather’ and ‘Severe Weather Advice for Road Users’. These leaflets are available to download from the RSA website www.rsa.ie.

The agencies (Irish Rail, Bus Eireann, Dublin Bus, RPA, DAA, NRA, etc) say they will keep the public informed of any changes to services on a daily basis through their own websites, which can now also be accessed via the Department of Transport homepage (www.transport.ie).