Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have been across County Mayo and across the country in recent weeks and I have seen at first hand, as many colleagues have, the very devastating real effects of Storm Éowyn on communities and families throughout the country. I assure people in every community, in rural and in urban areas, that we are working hard and doing all we can to get their power, water and communications back up and running. While Storm Éowyn was unprecedented, it is now the precedent and we have to prepare accordingly based on this precedent.

On the day I was appointed as Minister for Social Protection, my first action as Minister was to activate the humanitarian assistance scheme on Thursday, 23 January. This was done in advance of Storm Éowyn's arrival to ensure there was certainty for people about the supports which would be available. Up to yesterday evening, the community welfare service of the Department of Social Protection has issued 3,818 payments, totalling €727,792, to people left without power and water following the storm. My Department’s community welfare officers have been visiting people affected by the storm and we continue to work closely with local co-ordination groups around the country. The community welfare service provided a full phone and email service, including over the bank holiday weekend, dealing with 523 calls and 242 emails on Saturday and Sunday. We have relocated community welfare officers from across the country into the affected areas. I thank all the staff in the Department of Social Protection who have been working incredibly hard on the humanitarian assistance scheme.

The humanitarian assistance scheme is in a number of stages. Stage 1 is available to people who are currently impacted by the storm, and our focus is on those who continue to be without power or water and who will need immediate support while without that power or, indeed, water. Stage 1 funding issued to date has been to cover the ongoing cost of food, given that many people remain unable to either refrigerate or cook food without power. In addition, people have been supported with the cost of alternative accommodation. The level of support provided reflects reasonable rates based on local cost availability. The scheme has also supported the purchase of necessary items such as gas heaters and torches. I thank the Deputies from many areas who have been in touch with me regarding cases and pointing out clogs in the system. I thank them for bringing them to my attention and we will continue to try to work through to ensure we get to those who are immediately impacted and that we prioritise them at this stage.

Stages 2 and 3 will kick in once we have all power connected. Stage 2 generally involves the replacement of white goods, basic furniture items and other essential household items after a severe weather event. Stage 3 is to identify the longer term financial support required to make a person’s accommodation habitable again in the aftermath of a severe weather event, which could include funding for work such as plastering, dry-lining, relaying of floors, rewiring and painting. Stages 2 and 3 humanitarian supports are subject to income limits of €50,000 for a single person; €90,000 for a couple, and €15,000 per dependent child. I emphasise once again that stage 1 is not subject to income limits. It should be noted that the scheme does not pay for damage that is covered by insurance policies nor does it cover commercial, agricultural, or business losses.

A key focus for me as Minister for Rural and Community Development over the last period has been to work with colleagues in the NECG and local authorities to identify locations for emergency response hubs and get them set up in order that people could access water, hot food, shower, charging facilities, and clothes washing facilities. At the peak of the storm and response, more than 380 hubs were in operation last week, and that is now roughly 330.

As part of the recovery effort, we were also working hard to source generators, particularly for our island and rural communities, to ensure people stayed safe during the recovery phase. The provision of generators to support communities during extreme weather events is an issue I feel strongly about. There are lessons to be learned in terms of the shortage of generators, which we have seen over the past week, and I have asked the Department of Community and Rural Development to engage with local authorities on this crucial community resilience issue and to provide me with a number of proposals.

A key concern was the effective collapse of many communication networks. Mobile phone, broadband connectivity and emergency services are a key resource for every community, especially rural communities. We need to ensure a more resilient network, and this is something I and the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, plan to focus on over the coming weeks by working with mobile phone and broadband operators and with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer on the functioning of the disaster relief network, TETRA Ireland. This network facilitates the operation of emergency services and related communications, and it is clear we need to ensure a more resilient system for vulnerable communities.

I met with communities across my own constituency of Mayo but also in Connemara and on Inishmore to offer support and to thank those who responded to the needs of their neighbours and of their community, whether by opening community centres, helping to repair damage or even just checking in on others. I join colleagues in thanking all of the workers in ESB, their international colleagues, in Uisce Éireann, in our local authorities and in our communication companies for their work.

Chas mé go díreach le pobail i Maigh Eo, i gConamara agus ar Inis Mór an tseachtain seo caite chun tionchar na stoirme a fheiceáil agus chun buíochas a ghabháil le heagraíochtaí pobail a raibh baint acu leis an obair théarnaimh i ndiaidh na stoirme. Is léir go bhfuil obair ollmhór théarnaimh déanta ag go leor daoine, lena n-áirítear na háisíneachtaí Stáit agus, ar ndóigh, na pobail iad féin. Mothaíonn daoine atá ag maireachtáil sna ceantair thuaithe seo leochaileach i ndiaidh ócáidí aimsire mar seo. Is gá é sin a aithint. Is gá tacú le fostaíocht agus seirbhísí a choinneáil sna ceantair Gaeltachta seo agus a chinntiú go mbeidh daoine in ann a ngnó a dhéanamh in ainneoin na drochaimsire. Is gá infreastruchtúr tuaithe níos láidre sna ceantair seo a fhorbairt sa tréimhse amach romhainn, agus beidh mise ag cur béime air sin le linn mo théarma mar Aire na Gaeltachta.

As Minister for Rural and Community Development, I was proud to visit community spaces supported by my Department under schemes such as the community centre investment fund, CLÁR, the local enhancement programme and LEADER, and through the RSS, SICAP, and community employment workers, who are assisting their neighbours and colleagues throughout the country. Many of the emergency response hubs have received capital support but also public support. We will continue to invest in that scheme but also to look at the lessons from the past number of weeks to make them more resilient.

Government and its various agencies have been working tirelessly to support those affected by the storm and we continue to do so. Teams are working around the clock to restore power and water. I assure the House of both my Departments' commitment to supporting those who continue to be impacted by the storm. The humanitarian assistance scheme remains open and I remain available to discuss issues on that with Deputies and Senators. I reiterate my thanks to all involved in the response in emergency services, ESB, Uisce Éireann, the staff in the Department of Social Protection, local authority staff and community staff and volunteers throughout the country who have stepped up. We have to learn from this and make improvements to recovery plans in the future to reflect the new precedent that was Storm Éowyn to ensure those lessons have been learned, that the changes will be implemented and that we are able to respond to something we have not had before but which will probably become a more regular event.

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