The National Roads Authority has bought a total of 95 new salt spreaders and snow ploughs to help combat another "big freeze" this winter. However, it has also maintained that "in the main" local authorities were "successful in keeping national roads free of snow and ice during last winter's severe cold weather" in December and January.

Despite this, it has moved to introduce a number of measures – at a combined cost of some €8m – to improve the response to such extreme weather events.

These include the purchase of some 30 new salt spreaders and 65 snow ploughs, the construction of an additional 10,000 tonnes of salt storage capacity, and upgrades to the Ice Net information system which monitors road and weather conditions on the entire national primary and secondary road network.

It also intends to circulate a new winter service manual to local authorities shortly, and says that under a new contract it will have access to an "initial call" of 80,000 tonnes of salt, with additional supplies also provided through mini-competitions as needed. During last winter, local authorities combined had over 260 salt spreaders and 180 snow blades, and salt storage capacity for over 36,000 tonnes, an NRA spokesman said.

"The level of salt in stock in the run-up to Christmas would have been adequate in normal winter weather conditions. However the early onset of adverse weather and its protracted duration meant that salt stocks were under pressure by the end of December," he said.

"Almost 6,000km of national roads were regularly treated and kept open to traffic (last winter)… It is understood that local authorities cumulatively held about 24,000 tonnes of salt (at the start of December 2009).

"These (new) arrangements will ensure that adequate salt supplies are available at the start of the winter maintenance period and that the initial call-off of 80,000 tonnes can be supplemented in a timely manner should the need arise."

A spokeswoman for Dublin City Council said it used approximately 2,400 tonnes of salt during last winter, and expressed confidence that there "won't be a problem" this year.

"We will have 1,800 tonnes of salt in storage, with plans in place to replenish this salt stock as it is being used," she said."The issue for Dublin last winter was not funding but a difficulty in sourcing and delivering replacement stocks when everyone else was looking for the same material at the same time.

"No more than anyone else, Dublin City Council has no special ability in predicting long- term weather conditions and cannot offer certainty about the future. Nonetheless, the council has taken all reasonable precautions to meet a weather event of magnitude equal to last year."