Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Is lá bródúil é dom a bheith anseo ag tabhairt mo chéad óráid. It is a proud day to be here giving my first speech in Dáil Eireann. It is a great honour to be here on behalf of the people of Meath West who I will represent every day with integrity and passion. My first thoughts in rising to speak are for the thousands of people who have suffered the loss of power and water over the past couple of weeks, the people whose lives and businesses were badly affected for days and in some cases up to the present day, and the farmers and business owners whose livelihoods have been disrupted severely as a result of this storm. I pay tribute to all those involved in the work that was required in the aftermath of the storm including the local authority workers, especially those in my own Meath County Council, the ESB, the telecom workers and the very many individuals and groups, such as the Civil Defence, who worked to alleviate the worst effects of the storm. In that, I include many of my colleagues here in the House today. As a recently elected Deputy, it was an experience I will never forget. I received hundreds of calls, texts and emails from constituents all across Meath West, such as Tommy, who was released from hospital to a freezing dark house and whose neighbours had to put an extension lead in through his windows to run the medical equipment he needed so desperately. Ruth, a mother of four school-age children with animals to feed and shelter, had a freezer and fridge full of food that had gone to waste. Annette has a family-run business and was unable to power the machinery to keep their business going. They are obviously only a flavour of the people with whom I have been in touch. I know we all have many stories like that, and some much more heartbreaking accounts.

Our community has not let us down during the aftermath of this storm, however. Hubs such as the Athboy community centre and Ballinlough, Simonstown, Kilskeer, Carnaross and Saint Brigid's in Oldcastle, which were all GAA clubs that opened their doors and hearts to the local community. These and many more voluntary and community-based groups have responded, as they always have and as they did for the Ukrainian crisis and many others, to unprecedented events with a hot cup of tea, a phone charge or a shower and a chat, reconnecting people to the outside world.

Storm Éowyn, an unprecedented natural event, must teach and has taught us many lessons. First and foremost, storms of this magnitude can no longer be called unprecedented or unexpected. We must cater for them more into the future. Our TDs and Ministers and our Taoiseach were on the ground dealing with the aftereffects of the storm over the past 13 days and played vital roles in the aftermath. I commend their leadership and hard work. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, in particular, has done fantastic work in the social protection brief as part of the humanitarian assistance scheme. I thank him for the alleviation of stress for many people.

National and local government must engage with our landowners, farmers and agricultural contractors and ensure they can and will work hand in hand with our State agencies and public bodies as part of clean-up operations in the future. Landowners must take responsibility, as must the ESB, to ensure our power lines are clear of vegetation into the future. We cannot forget those who are still without power and water, and while some might dismiss the lack of broadband and phone coverage as a First World problem, sometimes this is people's only connection to the outside world. We must ensure the ESB, Eir and all other parties are prepared for future events like this. I welcome the statements made here by some of the Ministers that future events will be catered for more appropriately in the future.

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