I point out before I start that the reason we had no questions on promised legislation yesterday was the calling of an unnecessary vote by the Rural Independent Group. They are now calling for the Ceann Comhairle to be fair with them, so I would like to remind them that actions have consequences.

We are rural independents.

They know who I am talking about.

We do not know what he is talking about.

Regarding the response to the storm, has the Minister issued the local authorities with letters of reassurance that money will be forthcoming for emergency works necessitated by the disruption to the roads caused by the freezing of snow? Snow on roads freezes and expands and causes havoc. That is really necessary because those works need to be carried out right now, and the local authorities need the reassurance that they will be funded.

I welcome the fact that the Cabinet has met and agreed to provide extra funding, but I note that there was a red alert rain warning in Kerry in November. Several roads were washed away. I wrote to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, requesting emergency funding, and six weeks later he replied that it was the responsibility of the local authority. Red alert events that happen outside Dublin have equal consequences and impact. I ask the Minister to treat the rest of the country fairly. When the east coast is affected, we all get a positive response, but when it is not, we are ignored.

On behalf of the people of Kildare, I express my gratitude to Kildare County Council, Civil Defence, the Department of Defence, the community volunteers and the farming community for doing such incredibly hard work over a sustained period of time. There is absolutely no doubt that people's lives were hugely impacted, and will be adversely impacted for quite a while. People are still snowbound. We have a situation where people do not have water and in some cases do not have electricity. The necessary emergency operations will cost Kildare County Council more than €1 million, and that is without mentioning the damage that has been done to our roads. What commitment can the Government make to Kildare County Council regarding the restoration of that €1 million and what money can it promise for the upgrading of our roads after the horrific events? I note that Kildare was one of the counties that was impacted most adversely.

I too compliment all the staff in Galway County Council and the local farmers in the county. One of my observations, which the Minister could perhaps incorporate into his review, is that despite the talk about a code red alert and a co-ordinated approach, the fire service was available in Offaly and Tipperary, but the fire service in Galway was not on standby. When a co-ordinated approach is considered in the review, can it apply across all county councils so that a template is set for how all county councils can respond when alerts are issued?

I remind Deputies that the review has already commenced. At the end of the final NECG meeting this morning, we began with a debrief on how people felt initially. We heard their initial concerns and views on what approaches might have worked better. Everything will be co-ordinated in that way. The local authorities are represented on the NECG, and they will be part of that review.

On the issue of funding for roads, what I said to the local authority representatives is that we would be there to meet the expenses that have arisen in responding to the storm. As such, they would have no doubt that if they needed to contract people to help clear roads or keep staff on overtime, the Government would be there to help them manage, as we did in Storm Ophelia and previous storms. That commitment was made in advance, and we confirmed it through the memo that I brought to Cabinet yesterday. That memo informed the Cabinet that the process has begun. We are asking local authorities to give us an assessment of the costs incurred in response to Storm Emma as soon as they can. We will then meet those costs as we can.

The Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, and I have talked about the possibility of creating a standing fund because these severe events now seem to be coming more frequently. Thus, there would never be any doubt and I would not have to issue that clarification or that statement at the NECG to the local authorities in advance of a weather event. They would know it was there and how to draw it down.