Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Today at last and after an unnecessarily long break, we have arrived at the first Leaders' Questions session of this new Government term. I want to raise the emergency situation affecting communities all across this island, that is, the ongoing fallout from Storm Éowyn. At the outset, my thoughts and those of my Labour Party colleagues are with all those families and households that have been so severely impacted by the storm. Many households are still continuing to suffer the consequences of the storm itself along with the weakened infrastructure and insurance and cost implications they are now facing into the future. I am sure all of us agree that our thanks go to the front-line workers who have been working tirelessly to restore power and water supplies to communities, often in dangerous conditions. People from affected communities have a multitude of justified concerns about the Government's response to the crisis. They speak with one voice when they say they need help. They have been really severely impacted. I have heard from families who were tragically forced to wake their dead relatives by candlelight, from parents unable to cook a hot meal for their bored and cold young children, from older people left terrified and isolated by power outages and fallen trees, from people with chronic health conditions whose appointments were cancelled or they could not access them. I heard today from one family in Roscommon who are still without power and will likely remain so until this coming weekend. They say they have had no electricity, heat or water since 24 January. This has been the case four times now in the last ten weeks. They ask what the Government is going to do about this. They need greater supports, as do all those affected. They cannot afford the financial cost the ESB is now saying it may pass on to all consumers to cover the cost of repairs. This is especially wrong at a time when the ESB is reaping operating profits of nearly €500 million.

It is projected that Ireland will face more frequent weather disasters as global temperatures rise. We are already witnessing more regular awful weather events such as hurricane Ophelia and storms Babet, Darragh and Eunice in recent times.

More storms, freezes and floods are likely, due to climate change, which will bring more disruption and more damage. There is a careful balancing act. We must take decisive climate action to play our part in mitigating climate chaos but we must also build real resilience against inevitable weather disasters by building up security in our energy sector, our water systems, our broadband and our transport networks. We must ensure the necessary transition to cleaner energy will not leave communities behind. The first national climate change risk assessment will be published soon by the EPA and will help us better to understand how to adapt our infrastructure.

What will the Government do on behalf of the families and households we have all heard from to protect our infrastructure and to support struggling households trying to cope now with the aftermath of the storm and struggling to meet bills? What urgent supports will it provide to communities to restore infrastructure?

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