Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I am only raising points that have been raised by Mr. Goss's widow. Essentially, there was no shutdown in the private sector. We do not have laws in this country that state that in a status red weather emergency workplaces generally must shut down and workers must be asked to stay at home in the interests of protecting life and limb. There should be legislation to that effect. Mr. Goss's widow, Ms Pamela Goss has spoken out publicly in support of that position. I am asking Mr. Hogan to comment on that. Does he think it would be of assistance to the work of the co-ordinating committee if such legislation were in place? Would it be a factor which would assist in the saving of lives?

My second question related to a topic that Mr. Hogan zeroed in on, which is homelessness. Mr. Hogan referred to the important role the organisations out on the ground played during Storm Emma.

One of the organisations on the ground assisting homeless people in such weather emergencies is Inner City Helping Homeless. It went public regarding events during severe weather conditions in the capital on 29 January of this year. The temperature in Dublin dropped below zero that night. The picture presented by this organisation which works on the ground night in, night out and day in, day out was different from that Mr. Hogan presented to the committee five minutes ago. It was not a picture of ten or 12 people staying out for complex reasons best known to themselves in spite of being coaxed inside and beds being made available for them. Inner City Helping Homeless states that it counted 86 people in this city on 29 January for whom emergency accommodation could not be found during that period of very freezing temperatures. Its spokesperson stated, "We know for a fact there were no beds available when our teams tried to get them last night." He further stated that people were not told to call back later:"They were just told straight 'no'." He was responding to a claim by the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive that some people were told there were no beds available at the time but that they should ring back later, at which stage a bed would be available. Inner City Helping Homeless strongly contested that claim and stated that in addition to beds not being available later that night, people were told not to call back. I ask Mr. Hogan to comment on those claims by Inner City Helping Homeless. Obviously, this is a serious and vital question in terms of ensuring that the number one priority during a weather emergency, namely, the saving of lives, including those of people who are homeless, is to be attended to.