Holidaying minister calls coverage 'tabloid sensationalism'

The Minister for Transport, Meath West TD Noel Dempsey has described as the coverage of his holiday to Malta last week as "tabloid sensationalism", full of inaccuracies. Mr Dempsey returned from his holiday early on Saturday as weather forecasts predicted that worse weather than last week's conditions, described as Arctic, was to come. However, the anticipated worsening of conditions failed to materialise. The Transport Minister was criticised for being out of the country at a time when roads were impassable due to the big freeze. Meath East TD and Fine Gael road safety spokesperson, Shane McEntee, led the attack on Mr Dempsey, posing outside Dail Eireann with a cardboard cut-out of the minister, whom he described as 'lost', alongside a cutout of Environment Minister John Gormley, with the moniker 'lost cause'. Speaking this week after his return home, Mr Dempsey said he was in his office on Monday of last week, dealing with department officials and various agencies. He was satisfied with the information that was given to him, and the most immediate problem outlined was the problems with the provision of salt. "That was to be dealt with by the local authorities and the National Roads Authority (NRA)," Mr Dempsey said, with his officials co-ordinating the efforts. He outlined that the local authorities and the NRA had priorities for dealing with such weather, clearing national primary and national secondary roads, then important local roads. A plan is in place to deal with such weather, but not for such a prolonged period, he added. Roads were being treated right across the Christmas period, with a few exceptions at times when people wouldn't be out or weren't working. "I checked the weather forecast for the week to see if any severe change in weather was forecast," he said. "It said we were to have the same weather we have been having for the previous three to four weeks," the minister said. Mr Dempsey said the weather outlook was for cold nights, and bright and sunny days with scattered showers, much like what was occurring. He left for a holiday on Tuesday. "Then on Wednesday, it deterioriated. Wednesday was exceptional, particularly in Dublin. And it was forecast it would get more and more severe." On Thursday, following a meeting of the committee in Dublin, he received an update which said the weekend was going to be horrendous, with heavy snowfall from Saturday and Sunday into Monday, and due to the change in circumstances, he began to make arrangements to cut his break short and come home. He said he was happy with the co-ordination of the salt reserves, with those that didn't need as much helping out those who were hit badly. Things worked reasonably well, he added. "It was a once in 40-year event, and things do get difficult when people are snowed in. We're not the same as Canada. Compared to the UK, I think our response was good." said Mr Dempsey. He said the question of footpaths and making them safe for pedestrians as quickly as possible in a freeze was something which would have to be looked at as a priority. However, he described the coverage of his holiday as tabloid sensationalism. Stories concluded the break he took was extended from a week to weeks. He was in Australia, the Grand Canyon and the Algarve, and even at home at one stage. "I had a photographer outside my gate waiting for me to get home. There were photographers and reporters waiting in Dublin Airport. There was someone at the airport in Malta. Some of the newspapers rang 30 or 40 hotels in the Algarve to see where I was, and the same amount again in Malta." Mr Dempsey said that, following a busy three to four months, last week was the only week he could get time off between his daughter's wedding and the first Cabinet meeting today (Wednesday). It was only the second or third time he had ever taken a January break, he added.