Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Stoirm uafásach a bhí ann, is dócha an ceann is measa a bhí againn riamh. Níl aon amhras faoi sin. Caithfimid a bheith an-bhuíoch do gach éinne a thug cabhair agus tacaíocht do dhaoine ar fud na tíre. This was a severe, unprecedented storm, the likes of which we have not witnessed in living memory. It caused widespread devastation throughout the country, particularly along the western seaboard and in the north west of our country. Many people have suffered a lot during this period because of power outages, lack of water and, very worryingly for many people, the collapse of the communications network as a result of the ferocity of the wind and the storm itself. It was the worst storm, I would say, in a century.

The first priority of all involved in planning and of the national co-ordinating group was to protect lives. Unfortunately, we had one fatality in Kacper Dudek. There could have been many more. The red alert warning was effective and impactful, and we should never lose sight of that. There are issues we have to re-evaluate in respect of how we do the red, orange and yellow system. That is under way.

In terms of the grid, I have already taken action. I met with the Minister for climate, the Department and the Tánaiste. I asked, and it is happening, that we accelerate the grid infrastructure capital plan and bring elements forward. We want that done within the next month in order that we move very fast to make the grid more resilient. I agree that the severity of storms and the frequency of such severe storms is only going to increase. In fact, if we look at the figures over the past 20 years, there is a dramatic increase in both the volume and severity of storms. We have to make our country more resilient. That will mean substantial funding for adaptation in the updated national development plan, which we need to do far more on across the board. In respect of the grid, there are some practical things we can do very quickly. We have to cut through a lot of regulatory frameworks to enable us to do that in terms of proper corridors for the grid, where we do not have trees and forests impacting on the grid as they did in this particular storm. Human safety and health have to be the priority. That is going to happen in respect of the grid.

In respect of water, and I will be meeting with the utility companies in this respect, it was not good enough that Irish Water did not have generators in place at all locations. That is now happening and the same situation will not happen again.

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