asked the Minister for the Environment when he proposes to recoup the expenses incurred by local authorities in dealing with the recent blizzard; and the amount he proposes to allocate to each authority.

I have asked local authorities by letter of 22 January to furnish estimates of abnormal expenditure under appropriate headings, incurred by them consequent on the blizzard conditions, and I am awaiting this information.

Has the Minister given local authorities a definite assurance that he will allocate funds for the work done following the blizzard?

A circular issued last week pointing out the headings under which they may claim recoupment.

Will this be an allocation separate from the normal road fund allocation?

Yes, there will be a separate allocation.

Will the money be available to cover all the extra expense incurred, including the hire of machinery, personnel employed by the county council, and any other matter arising from the weather conditions?

It will include the hireage of machinery from the private sector, any necessary remuneration of persons other than full-time local authority employees engaged in the operating of hired machinery, where such costs are not part of the hireage arrangements necessary, overtime, where applicable, of road and other workers, full-time or temporary, materials used over and above normal stocks, grit, sand, salt, sandbags used for flood prevention, use of local authority machinery, excluding drivers' normal wages and miscellaneous abnormal expenses, including repairs of installations and immediate road repairs to be detailed in claims submitted for the Minister's approval.