Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)

Storm Éowyn was the largest storm ever experienced by ESB Networks. It followed less than two months after the previous largest storm, Storm Darragh. A total of 768,000 customers lost power.

One of the biggest gaps revealed by the storm response was the slow speed at which engineers from other countries were drafted in to help the ESB with repairs. Some homes did not see their power back until 18 days after the storm. The Government published the report on Storm Éowyn yesterday. There are plenty of good recommendations in it. However, there is only one line in a 100-page document about development of new mutual aid agreements with other European countries so we can boost the number of engineers we have working to restore power at short notice. A consequence of climate change will be more frequent and more severe weather events like Storm Éowyn. Is the Taoiseach confident that enough is being done to put in place agreements with other countries so we can get extra engineers quickly the next time we have a storm like this?

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