Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is always possible to learn lessons and strengthen future responses in the case of a national emergency. Today the Cabinet decided that it would undertake a full evaluation of our response once the clean-up was complete and power and water had been restored to everyone in the country. It will take place prior to the next meeting of the Office of Emergency Planning in November.

I very much agree with the Deputy's sentiments about people disobeying safety warnings. Not only did those who disobeyed safety warnings put themselves at risk, but they also risked the lives of members of the emergency services. There were two incidents yesterday which almost cost the lives of members of the emergency services and we were close to many more fatalities than were suffered yesterday. It was the worst storm to hit Ireland in 50 years or more. It was the first time there was a national alert which was declared on Sunday, 15 October at 1 p.m. As the Deputy noted, the storm did take three lives, those of Clare O'Neill, Fintan Goss and Michael Pyke. Everyone in the House offers his or her condolences to their families, friends, communities and all those grieving today.

What I witnessed on Sunday and yesterday was public service at its very best. We can all be very proud of the public service today. The national emergency co-ordination centre and the national emergency co-ordination group worked very well. I extend my particular thanks to the staff who all continue to work from Kildare Street today, the emergency services, local authority staff, the staff of Departments, Met Éireann, the transport companies, health service staff who worked extra shifts and often covered shifts for others who were unable to get to work, the Defence Forces, volunteers, including those in Civil Defence and many others. Decisions were made swiftly and communicated well. As a result the loss of life and limb was minimised. Today the clean-up is under way; roads are being made passable, while homes and businesses without power are being reconnected. Some 170,000 homes and businesses have been reconnected since 3 p.m. yesterday. There are 6,700 staff and contractors on the ground assisting in the clean-up and making repairs.

This morning's Cabinet meeting discussed routine business and also Storm Ophelia. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, updated the Cabinet on this morning's meeting of the national emergency co-ordination group which he had attended on the Government's behalf. We have informed local authorities that they will receive additional resources to enable them to continue with the clean-up and that the provision of additional resources needed for road and infrastructure repairs will be considered in the normal way once they have been assessed and costed. The Defence Forces remain available to assist and aid the civil power on request.

Some 515,000 homes and businesses remain without power. By tomorrow morning all will have an indicative date for reconnection. Most will be reconnected within three to four days, but in some cases it may take up to ten days. Extra crews are coming here from Britain, Northern Ireland and France. I ask people to bear in mind that it is highly specialised work which cannot be done by anyone, only by trained staff and we must always ensure their health and safety.

Schools will reopen tomorrow when school buses will run as normal. The national emergency co-ordination group will continue to meet.

When it comes to water supplies there are about 80,000 homes without water, but tankers are being deployed as necessary in areas where water is not available.

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