Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for the constructive way he is engaging on this issue. I am very conscious that this is still a very real issue in his own constituency. While we talk about the next steps, and he rightly talks about the lessons learned, I am conscious we are still seeing in many parts of the west and north west a significant number of people - around 12,000 premises - without electricity. It is down from 13,000 this morning and 22,000 yesterday. This is going on a very long time for people and I genuinely appreciate that. I thank the Deputy for his comments about the work of the Minister, Deputy Calleary. We are grateful to him for the work he has been doing and being out on the ground engaging with communities. So far in that humanitarian assistance scheme more than 4,000 claims and, I think, in excess of €800,000 have been paid out to date. We have been prioritising and putting a particular focus on those who have been without power or indeed those who are most vulnerable. Households who lost power and submitted claims for costs will have those claims dealt with as soon as possible. I provide the Deputy's constituents with that assurance.

I take the point the Deputy makes in the way he subtly but rightly differentiated between the ESB and the ESB crews. I thank the ESB crews, the more than 3,000 men and women out doing incredible work. There are absolutely lessons to be learnt for the ESB and for Uisce Éireann, Departments, agencies and local authorities. There is just no doubt about that. Even in a country as small geographically as Ireland, the response varied very significantly depending on which county people happened to live in. We need to look at that and look at how there can be a much more standard and consistent approach. We need to look at how we can support the communities to be more resilient. I take the Deputy's point. I was in Monaghan recently engaging with the Civil Defence and others. The phone network had gone down there as well. They were dusting off old phones in the Civil Defence. Old technology, if you like, was the only technology left working. What do you do when the technology goes down? If we can manage to do this in many parts of the world, surely we can manage to do it in this country as well.

I think the Deputy is right on trees. We are going to have to make big calls in this situation. He has spoken to me about this before. The idea that we are spending millions, and in this storm a hell of a lot more than that, restoring power lines that have been knocked down by trees and then putting the lines back up among the trees again does not make any sense. It is a danger and Government is considering all options in this regard. The ESB already has significant powers and we need to consider if there is a need for any further clarity on this. My colleague, the Minister for agriculture, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, had a specific meeting yesterday on that issue of windblown wood. I am conscious the TAMS scheme is available for farmers too but we need to see if there are gaps there that need to be plugged. We remain engaged. I am ruling nothing out, nor is the Government. We are keeping an open mind and engaging constructively. There will be task forces and reports to review, but that is separate to and distinct from helping people in the here and now with the emergency they are feeling in their homes, their businesses and on their farms.

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