Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Reilly for tabling this motion tonight. The scale of the damage and the hardship caused by Storm Éowyn was unprecedented. I thank all those at the coalface who helped with this. However, there is a sense in many rural areas that poor planning compounded the hardships borne by ordinary families because the extent of damage and hardship is sometimes not known. In my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan many were left without power for more than a week following Storm Darragh which was only a few weeks earlier. In the first instance there is a clear need to examine the basic utility infrastructure in rural areas. EirGrid's cabling infrastructure needs to be undergrounded. As these types of adverse weather events become more common, are rural people simply to accept that they will go without power, water and electricity for weeks on end?

The Government's administration of emergency assistance was not good. Some received assistance while others did not. There was a clear lack of co-ordination, with individuals assisted on a seemingly ad hoc, case-by-case basis. This is not an acceptable standard in the course of an emergency response. Storm Éowyn also had a very devastating impact on farmers who were excluded from assistance even though many were to the fore in providing assistance and clearing roads in the aftermath.

Businesses have also been undeservedly excluded from the supports. These businesses have struggled in the aftermath. In particular, those in the tourism industry face a potential crisis arising from declining visitors in the successive months. What faith can they have in the support that the Government offers when a global trade crisis comes before us, given that it has utterly failed in a domestic adverse weather event? The Government needs to set this right now.

TDs across this House should support Sinn Féin's motion to ensure that all those entitled to supports have access to them and to expand the scheme to farmers and businesses.

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