Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

This Bill provides for the safety of workers when certain red alert severe weather warnings are issued by Met Éireann. It will enhance public safety during status red weather warnings and ensure the safety of rescue service personnel during such warnings. We have had to contend with two such events in recent months - Storm Ophelia in October 2017 and Storm Emma in February and March of this year. This legislation was proposed in the aftermath of Storm Ophelia, during which three people tragically lost their lives. It provides for clear guidelines in an attempt to avoid the utter confusion with which many employers and workers had to deal during previous storm events in the absence of such legislation. In the immediate aftermath of Storm Ophelia, the Taoiseach rightly acknowledged that there was significant confusion regarding the action that private sector businesses and self-employed people should take when extreme weather warnings are declared. A clear mechanism was in place in the public sector to close schools and public offices. Emergency services and local authorities responded to the crisis as best they could. When the same problems arose during Storm Emma, there was confusion with regard to people working in the private sector. Thankfully, no lives were lost during Storm Emma. I take this opportunity to commend the work of the emergency services and the local authorities during that event. During Storm Emma, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government asked non-essential businesses to close for safety reasons. That was good practice because a status red warning means action has to be taken to ensure public safety during an extreme weather event.

For safety reasons, it makes sense for businesses to close for the duration of such a warning. It makes no sense, therefore, that the Government will not support the Bill, which is designed to provide clarity for businesses and workers on the safety measures they should take while a status red warning is in place. During Storm Emma, non-essential personnel were asked not to go to work but workers were very much at the mercy of employers. We would like to think that most businesses would do the right thing and it is fair to say that most businesses did the right thing. Nevertheless, there were those which did not. In the absence of legislation, many businesses would seek to exploit the confusion that surrounds action or direction for workers and employers. This Bill would provide protection for those workers.

Another matter addressed in the Bill is risky behaviour during a status red warning. We witnessed such behaviour in many counties across the State, with people swimming in rough waters and walking along piers and causeways during the red alert. Their behaviour was reckless, incredibly dangerous and stupid. It put their lives and those of members of the emergency services at risk. We a seeking, via this Bill, to give An Garda Síochána enhanced powers to pursue such behaviour under the law. It would make it an offence to engage in behaviour of this kind if a member of An Garda Síochána deems such behaviour to be reckless or without reasonable cause or excuse. It would be a criminal offence, with the penalty of a €1,000 fine, up to six months imprisonment, or both.

There is nothing in this Bill that has not been previously recommended by the Government. For it not to want to enshrine in legislation the safety of workers during a status red alert is both reckless and myopic. I urge all other parties to support the Bill and, in doing so, protect the safety of all workers and rescue service personnel. If the Bill provides for anything, it is clarity, certainty and safety during a status red alert. There is simply no justification for not supporting it.

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