Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Social Democrats, I express our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and all the loved ones of the young man who died in the storm. The heartbreak and pain from having the life of a loved one, a young person, cut off are unthinkable. I wanted to express that sympathy.

I also pay tribute to the incredible work done by the ESB and international crews in restoring power. They have put in a massive effort and huge hours. We are all very proud of the work they have done. The Dáil should have met last week. There should have been accountability from the Government on this. It is very regrettable that there was not. There is a sense of abandonment. People feel they have been forgotten about and abandoned during this process. To be without electricity, which is crucial for all aspects of our lives, for a few hours causes a huge impact. A few days without it is very difficult for people, but to be at this point of almost two weeks causes a massive issue for them. It affects everybody but particularly older people, disabled people, and those with different medical conditions and equipment. It also has an impact on small farmers.

We heard very eloquently from a young disabled woman who uses an electric wheelchair about how this has affected her. Emma Ward from Athenry, County Galway, who has been without electricity since the storm said, "My power wheelchair is very heavy and now I’m having to monitor how long I use it. I get about eight hours of battery. I’m having to pick when I sit in it, which is awful because the cold is making my back and my hips very sore." She went on to say:

I don’t think the Government prepared enough, especially for vulnerable people like myself. I do feel forgotten about. The West was one of the worst affected places, being a wheelchair-user and a vulnerable person at the same time on top of that, it’s very annoying ... We’re nearly two weeks without power.

This is the huge human impact on people. For some, the incorrect information on restoration dates has added to their sense of frustration. Public representatives in some parts of the country have called on the ESB to stop giving restoration dates that it cannot meet. When they work it is very useful information, but when people have been given a restoration date three, four or five times, only for it to fall through, at that point that kind of information which cannot be relied on is not helpful for people. It creates false expectations.

On measures that need to be taken now, there must be short-term measures for some people for whom this has created a lot of hardship. We should bear in mind that a lot of people have been without electricity for a prolonged period. We are talking about rural communities where there are often many households on very low incomes, including small farmers. Some real hardship has been caused by this. There needs to be targeted support for people who are in hardship. On medium-term actions, in case of any future storms like this, we need to have supports in place for affected homeowners, farms and communities. These supports need to be put in place now so we are ready for the next storm. The issue of regulation of forestry and the forestry industry was mentioned. There has to be responsibility and accountability from the forestry industry for their responsibilities in management and maintenance of forestry and the impact it has on people's electricity supplies.

The State's inadequate response to the storm has led to understandable public anger. The calls we made for the Dáil to be recalled should have been listened to by the Government.

It would not have hurt for the Government to have had the Dáil meet last week, which would have meant accountability on this. It would have created a sense of reassurance that there was someone in charge of managing this national emergency and that there was leadership at a time of heightened anxiety and uncertainty. It would have allowed the Taoiseach and the Ministers from the relevant Departments to come into the Dáil to explain their co-ordinated response to the unfolding crisis. Important questions should have been raised last week on the areas most impacted and in need of immediate help and on what was being done to identify the most vulnerable, including the elderly, families with young children, people with serious medical conditions and those living alone and left without light, heat and water in some of the remotest parts of the country. These are the things we rightly would have been raising and that are still relevant. We would have asked what financial supports would be available to households and businesses left for days or weeks without electricity, water or, indeed, functioning mobile phone networks, and how this essential information would be communicated to people with no access to radio, Wi-Fi and so forth.

Of course, we now know why no such plan was brought before the Dáil last week: the Government simply did not have one. There was no proper contingency planning. We did not get the information about the emergency funding that had been set aside to offset financial losses suffered by households, farmers and small business owners, nor did we get information about how those living with medical conditions would be able to contact their GPs in an emergency if their electricity and mobile phone networks were cut off. The Government, by not being accountable to the Dáil on this, was missing in action. We need to know from it what proper, concrete plans have been put in place for future storms and other such events, which will occur, unfortunately.

Saying people feel forgotten, abandoned and betrayed is not in any way to take away from the incredible work that has been done by the thousands of ESB and international crews and their contractors, who really have been working in extremely challenging conditions to restore power to homes and businesses around the country, and the work done by communities, first responders and local volunteers, who have offered invaluable assistance. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for what they have done. Unfortunately, we cannot say the work has been matched at a political level by the Government. For example, there have been inexcusable delays in opening up community hubs in many parts of the country. I refer to places where people could do simple things like wash, charge a mobile phone, have a cooked meal or simply stay warm. Basic facilities such as these should have been put in place well in advance of the storm’s arrival.

The Minister of State should not underestimate the level of public anger over the Government’s completely inept handling of this crisis. As he knows, we have had experts warning that Ireland is not resilient in the face of climate change. The frequency of storms will increase, so it is time for the Government to seriously up its game.

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