Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

We will have statements on the matter today but what we need are questions and answers with the Minister to find out where the Government was. Where were the Ministers? What were the Departments doing? How were they actually connecting? The one thing that has consistently come across from all the people who were caught up in this awful storm was they were being left absolutely on their own. We will have statements on the matter but we want a questions-and-answers session. We need to have an opportunity to ask questions and for the Minister to tell us where the gaps were and what the Government is going to do to ensure people will be not left in that situation again. It has been completely unacceptable. The Taoiseach's own Ministers have said the Government was not prepared and was too slow with its response.

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