Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)

In January of this year, Storm Éowyn hit Ireland and left the country reeling. We were not prepared for it and the havoc it wreaked on communities was devastating. Some 750,000 people were left without power and it cost over €300 million to deal with the damage. We were actually quite lucky in that storm because it could have been a whole lot worse. The Climate Change Advisory Council has today been quite critical of the Government's response. At the time, the Government promised it would prepare Ireland for any future storms, yet we still have not seen the promised cross-government report on response plans. We still have not seen things like emergency hubs and the structures for getting those up and running quickly. How will the Taoiseach ensure that if a storm like this hits again, and the chances are it will, we are prepared and local communities are able to deal with it?

See this speech in context