Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move:

To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "commends the rapid response by local authorities, Electricity Supply Board (ESB) Networks, Uisce Éireann, Community Welfare Officers, Department of Social Protection staff and others, following Storm Éowyn, and this response, supported by the Defence Forces, Government agencies, Civil Defence and the Voluntary Emergency Services, working with community volunteers, non-governmental organisations and community organisations, is an example of the collaborative approach we have in place to ensure a rapid response during such events;

acknowledges and appreciates the solidarity shown by our European Union neighbours, in the activation of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, and subsequent donations of generators to provide additional power and resilience to assist restoration across key sectors;

extends sincere thanks to crews from Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, Austria, Finland, Germany, Scotland, France and Norway, who came to the aid of our ESB crews to support the recovery effort, and to those ESB crews and skilled ESB retirees who deployed to the most impacted areas in response to the damage caused by Storm Éowyn;

commends all voluntary and community initiatives supporting individuals, families, communities, and businesses through this exceptional and difficult time; and

recognises the contribution of the media, both local and national, in providing effective safety messaging and information to the public prior to, during and after Storm Éowyn; and

notes that:

— Storm Éowyn was unprecedented in living memory in terms of its scale and impact;

— the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS) was activated on 23rd January, 2025, ahead of the arrival of Storm Éowyn, to ensure that urgent support was made available to those who needed it;

— the HAS operates as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme and is delivered by the Community Welfare Service in the Department of Social Protection;

— the Community Welfare Service was available on the ground throughout the storm to assist the most vulnerable customers, including offering out of hours supports and travelling to the islands to ensure people got the help they needed;

— when activated in response to a storm, the HAS operates over three stages:

— Stage 1: payments are made on an urgent basis during and in the immediate aftermath of an event, to assist people with urgent needs with respect to shelter, sustenance and clothing, and given the urgent and immediate nature of these payments, assistance is not means tested;

— Stage 2: payments are made on an exceptional basis to help people replace furniture and other household goods lost or damaged during a storm event, and these payments are made to people who have a valid reason for non-insurance and who do not have the resources to fund repairs or replacement themselves; and

— Stage 3: payments are made on an exceptional basis to help people with structural repairs to homes, and these payments are made to people who have a valid reason for non-insurance and who do not have the resources to fund repairs or replacement themselves;

— the HAS is not a compensation scheme to recognise disruption, damage or losses incurred as a consequence of a weather event;

— such losses are proper to be recovered from insurance policies, but the scheme will provide support where a person has a valid reason for non-insurance and can demonstrate that they do not have the resources to make good the losses incurred;

— up to 27th March, 2025, the Community Welfare Service has registered almost 76,000 claims as part of the Stage 1 response;

— all applications received continue to be registered on the Department of Social Protection systems, and will be fully processed;

— up to 27th March, 2025, over 28,000 claims have been awarded, with a total of over €6.8 million being paid in respect of Storm Éowyn related claims;

— in recognition of the extended nature of the power and other utility outages caused by Storm Éowyn, Stage 1 applications continue to be accepted for a longer period than would normally be the case after the onset of an event, and claims under Stage 1 will continue to be accepted until Friday 25th April, 2025, over three months after the storm event;

— this exceptional extended period allows people who may not have had the opportunity to submit a claim in a timely manner to make an application;

— Stage 2 and 3 payments also remain open for applications, in respect of losses incurred, and will remain open for some months to come;

— any applicant who is not satisfied with a decision in respect of their claim for assistance, under any stage of the HAS, can seek a review, and this will be dealt with promptly; and

— in terms of future planning, the Programme for Government - Securing Ireland's Future includes a commitment to develop an 'Extreme Weather Event Assistance Scheme for homes, community organisations, farmers and businesses'.".

I thank Deputies for raising this matter. At a time when there division in the Chamber, I thank all Deputies, particularly those on the other side of the House, for their work on the humanitarian assistance scheme and on the storm response generally. Most Deputies in the affected areas put in huge shifts. Many were in contact with me on a constructive basis. As we all acknowledge, the damage caused by Storm Éowyn on the morning of Friday, 24 January left approximately 768,000 homes, farms and businesses without power, 84,000 without access to water and the loss of connectivity and broadband for more than 1 million homes, which continues today. I witnessed the immediate aftermath and devastation. Lives were upended and property was destroyed. While this was hugely impactful, we must also be thankful to so many who responded in very difficult circumstances. When the red warning was issued, local authority workers, ESB workers, communities, gardaí, ambulance workers, HSE personnel and many others were involved in trying get the response under way immediately.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the lead Department for the response to severe weather events. This means that it is responsible for the co-ordination of the response. The Department activated the national emergency co-ordination group when it became clear that Storm Éowyn would be a severe weather event. The Department of Social Protection administers the humanitarian assistance scheme. On the evening I was appointed Minister for Social Protection, my first action was to activate the HAS. That was on the night of Thursday, 23 January. The purpose of the HAS is to prevent hardship by providing financial support to people when they need it most. This support is provided to help people meet the immediate and exceptional costs of shelter, sustenance and clothing that are directly attributable to and arise during and in the immediate aftermath of a storm event. In addition, and subject to a means test, the scheme offers support to people who do not have home insurance to cover replacement or repair of household goods and structures. The HAS operates in three phases. In stage 1, payments are made in the immediate aftermath of an event to assist people with urgent needs. Given the urgent and immediate nature of those payments, assistance is not means-tested. Stage 2 payments are made on an exceptional basis to help people replace furniture and other household goods lost or damaged during a weather event.

These payments are made to people who have a valid reason for non-insurance and who do not have the resources to fund repairs or replacement themselves.

Stage 3 payments are made on an exceptional basis to help people with structural repairs to the home. My Department’s community welfare officers worked closely with local co-ordination groups and public representatives across the country in the days and weeks following the storm to ensure that people affected were aware of and had access to these supports. CWOs provided a full in-person, phone and email service right across that time, including over the first two weekends. The service was delivered not just by staff in the areas most directly affected but by staff located all around the country, with some staff relocated to the areas most affected to be available on the ground. Staff also travelled to the islands to ensure people got the help. That is why I want to specifically acknowledge the work of the community welfare service in the amendment.

Where an immediate need presented in the aftermath of the storm, claims were paid on the day, effectively, by way of a cheque payment by a community welfare officer. To date, the community welfare service has registered almost 76,000 claims as part of the stage 1 response, with more than 28,000 claims awarded totalling in excess of €6.8 million. That stage 1 funding has generally been made to people to meet the additional cost of feeding themselves or their families in the immediate aftermath of the storm where people remained without power or water. In addition, people have been supported, where required, with the cost of alternative accommodation. I am frustrated to continue to hear that people are in the situation, such as the case raised by Deputy Kerrane. I will follow that up with her.

The level of support provided in any case reflects the individual circumstances of that case. It is important that the scheme does not cover costs and losses that are normally covered by insurance policies. This is because it would be inappropriate for the State to step in and take on liabilities for losses that are privately insured. Insurance companies must step up and reimburse people to whom they have sold policies. However, where a person has a legitimate reason for non-insurance, payments can be made under stages 2 and 3 of the HAS subject to an assessment of need and means.

The scheme is not closed. Normally, stage 1 payments finish a number of weeks after the event because they are emergency payments. That has been the practice. In recent events, they were paid for two to three weeks. However, we will continue to accept stage 1 applications until at least 25 April, which is three months after the event, and we will continue to look at stages 2 and 3 applications.

In reply to Deputy Conway-Walsh, I acknowledge that we have a challenge with regard to stage 3 because we have to get loss adjustors involved. We are getting those involved in working towards cases at the moment. I also want to emphasise to every Deputy that anyone who is not satisfied with the decision, either if they have been turned down or with the amount, can seek a review. By outlining in detail the kinds of expenses they had as a consequence of the storm and as a consequence of the loss of power, they will be engaged with. To the point in the Sinn Féin motion about this being done in a timely manner, we have a dedicated team managing the review process and engaging by telephone with applicants for reviews in order that we can get the precise details and maybe capture from a conversation what may be lost in a paper-based application. Again, I am more than happy to work with Deputies to assist review cases.

I want to acknowledge the work of the staff in the Department of Social Protection who worked incredibly hard in trying to deal with this. Normally, humanitarian assistance schemes deal with applications in the early thousands. As I said, we are now approaching 70,000 applications. That is why there is a programme for Government commitment, which predates Storm Éowyn. An extreme weather event assistance scheme to support homeowners, homes, community organisations, farmers and businesses will be delivered. This is something the Taoiseach has asked us to work on ahead of the next winter period. Work is under way on that.

With regard to community centres and community organisations, I reiterate and endorse the congratulations and thanks to the volunteers and local authorities who established hubs right across the country. Since the Storm Éowyn event, we have announced a further €22 million investment in community centre refurbishments as part of the Government review of Storm Éowyn and the future response. Tá an ceart ag an Teachta Farrell. Tá sé tábhachtach go bhfanaimid chun tosaigh le hathrú. We will examine investing in generator facilities for community centres and we will examine designating in advance hubs that will be open when it is safe to open in extreme weather events. People will know in advance where that hub is. They will know in advance what kinds of services can be provided. We will work to put the generators, etc., in place that can give the kinds of services that those hubs provide.

Uisce Éireann is examining requirements for additional generators and alternative power solutions to ensure it will have enhanced levels of readiness for future extreme weather events. We have also asked ESB Networks to produce an enhanced winter action plan so that the storm response will fit what Storm Éowyn brought to us, and we will be ready for that level of storm. As I said previously, we always say it is a once-off event. Unfortunately, it is not. The kind of storm and the kind of wind we saw under Storm Éowyn will become much more regular and we have to adapt our preparations accordingly. I am not saying this response is perfect; by no means was it perfect. However, we need to prepare for the next event. I will continue to work with Deputies across the House on HAS and work with them on cases they have. The team in the Department of Social Protection is working through all the applications. Once again, I emphasise that the review process is trying its best to deal with the decisions that were taken and give people a chance to give us the kind of information of the expenditure. HAS 1 will remain open until 25 April, and we will be communicating in detail with regard to HAS 2 and 3. I look forward to working with Deputies from all sides with regard to what a future scheme might look like in terms of the commitment in the programme for Government to setting up an extreme weather event assistance scheme. I want to get that done as quickly as possible, and the kinds of suggestions that are coming from the other side of the House will form part of that scheme in terms of guidelines, response times and the kind of response we need to produce.

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