Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill as a common-sense and workable proposal to ensure public safety during extreme weather events. Before I discuss the Bill as a whole, I especially welcome Part 2, which deals with dangerous activity in public places during severe weather events. During Storm Ophelia many of us were shocked when we saw on television and in reports in the newspapers people going swimming and going for walks along cliff faces during a red alert. These people were not only putting their lives in danger but also those of our emergency services. Anything that discourages people from such reckless behaviour has to be welcomed.

As for the Bill as a whole, during Storm Ophelia there was a lot of confusion over what actions employers and staff should take. This led to situations where staff travelled and put themselves in danger in fear of the consequences of losing a day's works. It saw staff commuting to workplaces in Dublin city and other urban centres and becoming stranded because bus and train services shut down early. The Bill will provide guidelines to employers to put the safety of their staff first. These red alert weather warnings are very rare but they are there for a reason. The reason is public safety and public good. I could not believe my ears when I heard the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government say his Government believes private businesses would do what is in the best interest of the safety of their employees. While I am sure most businesses have the interests of staff at heart, there are many others which do not. Meanwhile, the Government is supposed to have the best interests of its citizens at heart. The Taoiseach acknowledged there was a lot of confusion at the time of Storm Ophelia so clearly there is a need for clarity on this issue. Despite the warnings and the alerts three people lost their lives. In two of these cases, it was due to trees falling on cars. In one case the person was travelling home from a day's work. No worker should be expected to put his or her life at risk to travel to work during a red alert. No emergency service worker should be placed in additional danger by individuals acting in a reckless way during extreme weather events. The Bill provides clarity and hopefully it will help ensure that no such tragedies happen again. I appeal to people to back the Bill and protect workers.

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