Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1. To ask the Taoiseach if he will outline the engagements he has had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [6356/25]

Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

2. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [6488/25]

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

3. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [6490/25]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

4. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [10820/25]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

5. To ask the Taoiseach if he will outline the engagements he has had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [10847/25]

Martin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

6. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he has had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [11060/25]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

7. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he has had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [12470/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

8. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [13484/25]

John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

9. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [13732/25]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

10. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [13742/25]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

11. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he has had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after, storm Éowyn. [13818/25]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

12. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he has had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [15506/25]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

13. To ask the Taoiseach the engagements he has had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [15509/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 13, inclusive, together.

The National Emergency Co-ordination Group is the central Government platform, established as part of the response to a threatened or ongoing national level emergency, under the strategic emergency management framework. All Government Departments, local authorities, emergency services and agencies are represented on the NECG.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which is the relevant lead Department under the strategic emergency management framework, activated the NECG when it became clear that Storm Éowyn would be a severe weather event. The first meeting of the NECG was held on Wednesday, 22 January, and the NEC continued to meet daily up to and including Monday, 10 February. The Department of the Taoiseach was represented at all meetings of the NECG and its related subgroups over the period 22 January to 10 February.

During this time I was briefed on the work of the NECG daily by senior officials and advisers in the Department of An Taoiseach. I also received personally a number of briefings from the chair of the NECG. I also had briefings with the Ministers, Deputies Browne, Calleary and O'Brien, and senior officials from their respective Departments regarding the co-ordinated response being overseen by the NECG, the humanitarian assistance scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection and the progress being made by energy, water and communications utilities in restoring services. Further, since the standing down of the NECG and its various subgroups, I have met with the relevant Ministers, officials, including the chair of the NECG, and State agencies to discuss responsiveness and lessons learned with the aim of improving our resilience and informing future preparedness for severe weather events.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

While the storm may be over, the impacts are still being felt heavily in Galway East and in the west of Ireland. In my own community of Monivea, our beautiful woods have been completely destroyed as have Coillte properties and community GAA facilities. What lessons have been learned and what actions will we take in the future? Just because the storm is over now does not mean we can forget about it. It is vital that we move forward progressively to ensure we are ready for the next storm and, as the Taoiseach said, resilient.

Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Taoiseach knows, parts of my constituency of Sligo-Leitrim and south Donegal saw some of the worst damage, with areas still reeling from the effects, particularly in forested areas of Leitrim and Sligo. As recently as yesterday, we had constituents contacting our office whose phone lines are still out of service, some of them since Storm Darragh. I have said on the record before that it is crucial for landowners, including forestry operators, to understand their responsibilities in maintaining safe distances between trees and power lines. We need a comprehensive survey of all forestry areas where power lines are in close proximity to trees. This survey should be conducted by officials from the Department of agriculture rather than Coillte or private forestry owners. We have to identify trees that pose a future risk to power lines to ensure the necessary actions, including removal, are taken to mitigate these risks. The programme for Government includes a commitment to develop an extreme weather event assistance scheme for homes, community, organisations, farmers and businesses. It is crucial that we provide specific supports for each sector to ensure we have the funding to respond to future extreme weather events.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I agree with colleagues who have spoken about the need to prepare for the next storm or the next major weather event. For a number of years I have been highlighting the dangers posed by falling trees every year. My west Cavan area, along with Deputy Eamon Scanlon's area in south Leitrim, have for many years annually suffered due to trees falling and interfering with and damaging ESB transmission lines. We need a robust approach to proper maintenance of forests, be they in public ownership or of private landowners. We also want to ensure that the electricity grid is upgraded and more resilient. Allied to that, we need to ensure that the grid of our telecommunications networks is resilient as well. I have had constituents on to me today from both Monaghan and Cavan who have no landlines and no broadband. There are many elderly people living on their own who depend on that button that they can press if they are in any difficulty. That emergency call system does not work if they do not have a landline or broadband. This is extremely urgent. There must be major Government investment along with the public utilities in ensuring that those grids, be it the energy grid or the telecommunications grid, are up to standard to literally weather any future storms.

Martin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am well aware that the Taoiseach visited the Roscommon-Galway constituency in the aftermath of the storm and witnessed first hand the devastation that was caused. I think he was taken aback by the level of devastation caused by Storm Éowyn. It is clear that up to 80% of the power outages were caused by forestry falls. We really have to learn the lesson about the establishment of tree corridors and proper forestry husbandry. Even in the aftermath of that, in many places in my constituency there are still trees causing hazard to telecommunication lines and electricity poles. I pay due respect to the ESB network crews who worked on the ground, but the ESB has to plan better to make its system more resilient. It is in the national interest.

As regards people being without water for up to 21 days, we really have to ensure that Uisce Éireann makes sure that water supply is again more resilient and generator-ready and the same with water schemes. Telecommunications was another element that was not restored in quick time. Electricity came back and water came back, but some of the telecommunications companies did not re-establish proper telecommunications in our area for a considerable time after the storm. I think there was a lax attitude to that. It is simply not acceptable in this day and age, when we depend on telecommunications and Wi-Fi communication.

The emergency hubs worked very well. We should continue to invest in our local infrastructure, whether it is in sports or community halls. I think the Taoiseach saw that first hand in Ballaghaderreen and in Kiltoom, in Athlone.

We need to have a review of the humanitarian assistance scheme and outline how it is used, what the rules are around it and what the benefits are to people in situations of distress.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The lack of urgency in the Government's response to the storm was quite bizarre. The storm was on 21 January, and the Taoiseach said there was a meeting on 22 January, but - and maybe he can correct this - warnings of the ferocity of the storm were sent out days in advance, yet there was no effective co-ordinated plan in the aftermath. I will tell the Taoiseach what I think the problem was. Whatever co-ordination there was at a national level, it did not seep down through. We will discuss this in fuller detail in our Private Members' time tonight, but what we need to make absolutely certain is that we have a proper, co-ordinated plan going forward as to who does what, when they do it and what the outcome of that is. People are still absolutely perplexed that the Army was not brought in, particularly to clear the trees and to clear the way for the workers from the ESB. We need to do much better the next time because there will be a next time.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There have been question marks as to how prepared we were for a storm that we realised was coming. What we do into the future is about ensuring we have not only a plan but the capacity built into the system to deal with these sorts of circumstances, of which we will see more. Has there been a review by the NECG as to how the storm was dealt with and what we can do as regards ensuring we deal with these better into the future? Others have talked about the energy grid, water and communications. My constituency did not get the worst but many people there were out of action as regards communications and energy for long periods. We have huge issues with water infrastructure, and while water charges will not be the means by which these will be dealt with, we need to make sure we put the correct resources in to ensure that we have something that is properly robust. We need to look at the likes of CFRAM, natural flood barriers and all those other necessary technologies that can improve situations. We also need to look at our schemes. The humanitarian assistance scheme needs to be looked at as do schemes to pay farmers or whatever, because we will have more of these instances of extreme weather into the future.

John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is difficult for people to believe that in the ten weeks since Storm Éowyn, people are still suffering landline and broadband outages. As my colleagues have said, that is across many parts of the country. We must ask what obligation the companies with whom we entrusted the responsibility for communications infrastructure to the citizens of the State have to the Government and to the people. It seems that some of that responsibility has been lost. There are still locations experiencing residual impact from the level of damage done to the electricity network. In fairness to the ESB, it has engaged with elected representatives around that issue and there has been an acknowledgment that some of the restoration and the remedial work that has been done has been of a stopgap nature.

We must now try to make sure that the proper infrastructure is in place to ensure the network does not suffer further outages. The public deserves to be reassured by all of these agencies in a public forum that they will all continue to be conscious of the impact another such weather event might have. I advocate for these agencies, including the NECG, to be invited to presented to a Dáil committee, when committees are established, to reassure the public about the future and about their preparations for such events.

On the necessity for the nation to be prepared for such events, the west is suffering disproportionately from climate change. We know that. The weather data highlights that. Of the 14 storms of last winter, the west had the highest sustained wind speeds and gust speeds in seven. The impact is greater there. With regard to climate adaptation measures and the funds and investment necessary to make the country more resilient, the west should be prioritised.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We have spoken in this Chamber before about the significant delays in the Government's response to the scale of Storm Éowyn. With climate change, there are likely to be stronger storms in future. We need preparations. Some years ago, after flash floods in Louth, the then Minister, Simon Coveney, committed to putting business flood relief schemes on a permanent statutory footing. I believe that is the Government's plan. With Storm Éowyn, however, we saw that, while the Department of Social Protection can activate its humanitarian assistance scheme very quickly, it can take longer to source supports for community groups and small businesses. That must be addressed.

There is a further key problem in that, even where flood defences are put in place, many insurers continue to refuse to offer flood protection to homes and businesses. In the UK, there is Flood Re, a reinsurance scheme to promote affordability and availability of insurance for British households that are at a higher risk of flooding. This is a very serious issue in my own constituency, particularly in coastal communities around Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount where it can be very difficult for households to get flood insurance even where there are flood defences in place. I know we are not the only constituency affected. Will the Government act to introduce a similar reinsurance scheme to offer protections for households and businesses that are really concerned about the likely impact of future flooding?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I note the poor oppressed Government backbenchers are getting plenty of opportunities to speak today. As of tomorrow, they will have half the time to raise important issues like our response to storms, despite the Taoiseach's claims that he is standing up for their rights.

One group that we will not be able to talk about as much is the ambulance drivers of the National Ambulance Service, who are critical to responding to emergencies. Storm Éowyn and the Covid pandemic should be warnings about having the capacity to respond to emergencies where lives can be at risk. Before Storm Éowyn, I met representatives of the National Ambulance Service. These workers said that Ireland had about half the ambulance cover that Scotland, which has a similar population, had and that there were not enough paramedics, so even if ambulances got there in time, they did not have the paramedics to deal with incidents. There are also threats to the helicopter emergency medical service arising from a lack of staffing and to the emerging threat team due to a lack of funding and staffing being provided by the Government. Will the Taoiseach engage with the representatives of the National Ambulance Service and their unions? This service provides the emergency services. Will he ensure it has the proper funding, staffing, infrastructure and cover to save lives when we have emergencies?

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

One of the things that Storm Éowyn exposed was the lack of resilience in our monocultural forestry model. Unfortunately, this is set to get worse due to Coillte's recent decision to silently scrap Coillte Nature, its not-for-profit wing that is supposed to be dedicated to the restoration, regeneration and rehabilitation of nature across Ireland. In Orwellian fashion, Coillte claims that scrapping Coillte Nature will allow it to reach its climate and biodiversity targets. Is this to be done through the Nature Trust, which sells woodland credits to companies in return for investment in planting? Coillte tries to inspire confidence by claiming that this is not a carbon offsetting programme but Bank of Ireland, which developed the Nature Trust woodland credit scheme, describes it as "a carbon offsetting social enterprise". It is clear where the Minister for Sitka spruce, Michael Healy-Rae's emphasis is. Blatant greenwashing and forestry for profit is not going to avert the climate and biodiversity catastrophes that we face. Will the Taoiseach outline how this came about and will he reverse track on the current forestry-for-profit model that is turning counties like Leitrim into biodiversity dead zones?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Are we eating into the time for the next questions?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We are.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is less exposure for the Taoiseach.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Deputies have asked a lot of questions. I welcome them all. To reply to Deputy Dolan on the review and the response, there will be a review. At the most recent meeting of the Government task force on emergency planning on 11 March, it was agreed that a review of the response to Storm Éowyn would be submitted to Government by the summer. That will be led by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and will identify recommendations regarding the response at the national and local levels, reducing severe weather impacts on critical infrastructure and essential services, assisting communities and individuals severely affected by emergencies, key policy issues and cross-cutting responsibilities.

I will make a point in terms of the role of NECG in particular. Storm Éowyn was named by the UK Met Office on Tuesday, 21 January. It was the fifth named storm of the 2024-25 windstorm season. It was set to track to the north west of Ireland, producing strong south-easterly winds that would then veer west to south-westerly and intensify through the morning of Friday, 24 January. NECG met well in advance of the storm.

I will make one overall point to everybody: do not underestimate the importance of the warning. That red warning saved a lot of lives. Of that, there is no doubt. Unfortunately, one person lost his life. This has been examined. I had meetings with everybody after the storm. There is an issue with transitioning too quickly from a red to an orange warning. An orange warning enables people to move about the place but the damage during the red period can impact or manifest itself during the orange period. People may be returning to work when a tree comes down, for example. We have to examine that again. We also have to re-examine warnings and directions to schools. I have ordered a full and comprehensive review of all of this.

Deputies Scanlon and Martin Daly and others talked about communications networks. There is an onus on the companies to do better in that regard.

Deputy Brendan Smith spoke about the need for tree corridors. That has been the most frustrating discussion I have had so far. The Minister for agriculture and I met the Department of agriculture and others. We need to improve the resilience of the grid. That means proper tree corridors. We need to engage with Coillte, private farm owners, private forestry owners, the ESB and EirGrid. Once and for all, we need a comprehensive programme to protect the grid from falling trees. It seems elementary. The issue is the lack of a single focus. Different people all say it is somebody else's problem. I am keeping a focus on this. I want to make sure that progress is made before the next winter with regard to the necessity for tree corridors.

One interesting positive outcome of the storm, if one can even say that, is the degree to which communities rallied. There is very strong community resilience in Ireland. We now need to institutionalise that a bit more. By that, I mean that we need to resource communities. Deputy Martin Daly referenced my visit to Ballaghaderreen. There was a tremendous community focal point there. There was tremendous co-ordination and all of the various schemes were used, from the rural social scheme to the solidarity grant payment scheme. The rural social scheme was used to purchase vans to get food to people living in remote areas. GAA clubs, soccer clubs, rugby clubs and so on need to be provided with generators. This needs to be done by way of a programme, as they cannot be provided to everybody but they can be provided where there are identifiable focal points in a given community. Some did not have generators. If, by the grace of God, such a focal point got power back quickly, it could then make the facility available to the public. We need to develop a support scheme, probably through the Department of Rural and Community Development, that enables us to strategically put in place essential provisions for communities, enabling there to be focal hubs to which people could come to shower, to charge phones, to contact people and so on. I am very keen to see that developed.

4 o’clock

The Defence Forces are brought in by the civil authority. They can only come in if they are asked by the local authorities. Local authorities lead on the ground. Under the national emergency plan and planning structure, every county has to have an emergency plan formulated and published. We tend to get different responses from different local authorities. We have to work to make that more uniform in the future.

The ambulance network is an ongoing issue and not just in the context of the storm. I will talk to the Minister for Health in that respect. I was at the recent launch of the helicopter emergency service in the south. Significant progress has been made. I am aware there are staffing issues but I hope negotiations can resolve that.

We have moved from a monocultural form of forestry.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We have not.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

More recent plans are much more towards broadleaf trees and a proper mixture. We need commercial forestry as well. Deputy Murphy called it for-profit forestry. We need timber. Timber-frame housing is more climate friendly than cement. We need a better balance. We cannot just ridicule forestry for profit. We need a commercial forestry sector. We also need greater biodiversity and varied plantations of trees. I am very keen on that. A comprehensive scheme was announced last year and significant grants are available to farmers in particular. The traditional main commodities are dairy, beef and the rest. It is not as easy to move people over to forestry but that work will continue. I have exhausted as much as I can.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach did not answer the question.