Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann: notes that:

— Storm Éowyn made landfall in Ireland on 23rd January, 2025, breaking all-time record wind speeds; and

— the scale of damage and disruption to transport, energy, water, telecommunications and internet services was unprecedented, exposing the fragility of our infrastructure, in the face of an ever-worsening climate crisis;

further notes that:

— the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS), was activated on the 23rd January, 2025, to assist all those affected across the country by Storm Éowyn;

— the scheme was intended to offer immediate supports, including to provide food or shelter (Stage 1); replacement of white goods and other essential household items (Stage 2); or to provide supports to ensure the home or accommodation of the applicant was brought back to a habitable condition in the aftermath of a storm (Stage 3);

— those right across the country were encouraged to apply for the scheme, with the Taoiseach assuring the public that the scheme was "open to those in need"; and

— the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke TD, assured the public that "The Government remains committed to supporting businesses through this recovery period and beyond. We will continue engaging with the business community to monitor emerging needs and ensure appropriate responses are in place.";

notes with concern that:

— some 768,000 homes, farms and businesses were left without electricity in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, with power only being restored to all homes by 12th February;

— some 270,000 homes were left without internet access in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn with EirGrid taking over two weeks to restore broadband to every affected customer;

— figures indicate that damage to households will total almost €112 million, while commercial claims will run to just under €122 million;

— no humanitarian assistance was provided to businesses or farms;

— the HAS appeared to have closed for an unspecified period of time, and without informing the public;

— thus far, of the 133,774 applications from people in need made to the HAS, only 45,744 has been paid out, that is to say, only 34 per cent of applications to the HAS were ever paid out;

— differing reports suggest that Stage 1 claims were compensated on an ad-hoc case by case basis with no clear instructions on what items merited compensation; and

— to this day, the HAS has only paid out €10.5 million in financial support to applicants, and this is blatantly insufficient given the extent of property damage in the wake of the storm;

commends the work of our frontline ESB, EirGrid and Uisce Éireann workers, together with emergency responders, carers, logistics and supply chain workers and community hub volunteers, volunteers from local GAA clubs and men and women's sheds and other voluntary organisations who worked to relieve the effects of the storm;

condemns the Government for:

— failing to provide clear instructions to departmental staff dealing with HAS application forms to determine what was and was not covered under the scheme; and

— closing the scheme without informing the public; and

calls on the Government to:

— provide clarity as to the duration of the scheme's application window;

— expand the HAS to businesses and farmers;

— ensure a thorough and timely fulfilment of reviews submitted by HAS applicants who have been refused or are not satisfied with the amount awarded; and

— put forward a comprehensive climate adaptation strategy to ensuring all communities will be climate resistant by 2050.

I am sharing time.

The fallout from Storm Éowyn was, for households, businesses and farms alike, unprecedented in its scale. While the majority of the country experienced disruptions to essential infrastructure for a matter of days, I remind the House that a significant number of people's essential needs that depended on water, power, transport and telecommunications infrastructure went unmet for weeks, with 133,000 households applying for support through the humanitarian assistance scheme. Businesses and farmers who endured property damage throughout the country were entirely excluded, with no alternatives provided. The overwhelming consensus from applicants is a feeling of being let down and forgotten about. At no time was this more acute than when the Government appeared to trivialise the impact felt by people when the stores of frozen food went bad.

I pay tribute to our emergency services, to the first responders, to those who came from abroad to assist, to the officials in the Department of Social Protection and especially to those volunteers who manned and womaned, if the House will forgive me the use of that word, the community centres and the hubs. We spoke about this during Question Time last week, and one of the things it highlighted was the deficit in infrastructure, in bricks and mortar, in buildings where people could go to gather. It was really stark in some areas that there simply was not a place that was fit for purpose. They had the volunteers and the people who were willing to help but what they did not have was a bricks-and-mortar building to be able to work out of.

Although the Government has tried recently to claim that the cost-of-living crisis is over, people's lived experience, along with the latest CSO figures and recent research from Damian O'Reilly in TUD, show that, as of today, more than 50% of the population are particularly vulnerable to food price inflation, with many households needing to earn an additional €4,000 per year just to stay in the same financial place they were in in 2021. Food poverty is very real today. The humanitarian assistance scheme promised to meet the cost of essential needs, such as food, clothing and personal items. The Taoiseach himself assured the most vulnerable among the public that the humanitarian assistance scheme was open to those in need. These assurances proved to be somewhat wide of the mark. A shocking two thirds of applications were never paid out. The Government's amendment provides up-to-date data showing that 63% of stage 1 applications for essentials were rejected. Scores of people have reported that their applications were denied without any explanation. That is deeply frustrating for people.

What is worse still is that they report being told by administrators in early March that the scheme was no longer accepting applications, although this had never been publicly announced. It was only after pressure was put on the Government from inside and outside this Chamber that the scheme was reluctantly reopened late last month. There must be accountability for potentially allowing people to fall through the cracks like that. I appreciate that responding to an emergency requires agility and that it does not always necessarily move in a straight line but people were really depending on this. They were living on the Government's every word on the radio and that did not match the supports that were available. The intended provision under the humanitarian assistance scheme was very modest. The scheme is not new and neither is it particularly complicated to administer. It boggles the mind that Government could not manage to devise a straightforward guideline as to what was covered under the scheme and what was not.

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the Minister for enterprise emphatically assured businesses that the Government remained committed to supporting businesses throughout the recovery period and beyond. He knew full well that the Government had no intention of extending the scheme to businesses. In practice, the Minister clearly stated that businesses were on their own and put them at the mercy of insurance companies, giving no thought to the fact that excesses might be prohibitively high or that premiums could go up so significantly as to render them unpayable next year. The Government's amendment claims that the scheme will provide support where people have a valid reason for non-insurance and can demonstrate that they do not have the resources to make good the losses. However, even after jumping through these hoops, no alternative was offered to businesses such as those in the seafood sector. My colleague, an Teachta Conway-Walsh, has raised the issue of the oyster farmer in the Minister's constituency. I am sure he is well aware of that case. We have heard of numerous cases of businesses in the hospitality sector that had to shut for the full three weeks. The loss in revenue is particularly acute given that tourist numbers are down on last month.

With each new weather event on this island, we resort to another descriptor but storms like Storm Éowyn are no longer "once in a lifetime" events. Climate change is real. It is happening and it is changing our landscape more quickly than we ever would have thought. Future humanitarian assistance schemes cannot unfold the way this one has. They must be accessible, have clear guidelines and be transparent and there must be timely review mechanisms.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I acknowledge the work of the Minister and his Department on this scheme. Along with many colleagues, I have brought several queries to the Minister and he has responded in a timely manner, which I acknowledge. Every Member wants schemes like the humanitarian assistance scheme to work for people who deserve them, who are entitled to them and who have suffered, in this case, as the result of a storm. Nobody in this House wants to see people who were affected not getting the out-of-pocket expenses they incurred for things they would not normally have to buy while they were without power covered.

In my experience, I have found the scheme to be really messy. I have found a plethora of responses to forms. Just yesterday, I was contacted by a gentleman who had put in for costs incurred while without power and for hotel expenses. He got a letter in the post yesterday. It was just a blank form with a Post-it note. There was no cover letter. He now has to go back to the hotel to ask for another receipt despite submitting one a month ago. I gave him the number for the public telephone line and he contacted it today. He was told that his application had been received and was on the system but that it cannot be processed. I have no idea what that means. He said the person on the phone was very helpful but that he has to do the form again. I know of a few cases of people who have just got the form in the post without any details or letter.

I have also been caught out myself. For example, I have told people that fridge freezers are not covered only to be told that Mary down in the other place got hers covered. There seems to be a variety of responses depending on which officer deals with a case. That has been a big part of the inadequacy and messiness of the scheme. Some people get an amount and are happy enough but others are really unhappy. Last week, I got a call from a lady who had been without power for 14 days. People ring me to tell me they got €150 after being without power for 15 days. They ask how that sounds. I try to advise them as best I can. While there has to be discretion in a scheme like the HAS, better guidelines are needed. There should be one set of guidelines for all staff members dealing with the scheme. Unfortunately, we have not seen that. There have been a variety of refusals. I mentioned a case of receipts being sought in February when receipts were not required for the HAS 1 form unless applicants had them. There has been a big issue for farmers and businesses, particularly farmers whose sheds had been damaged. In some cases, this was the second or third time damage had been done due to a storm but there was no support at all for them. I ask that there be a full review of this scheme, how it functioned after the storm, where it has and has not worked and the lessons we can learn from that.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister will be very familiar with what I am going to say. I acknowledge the work he has done on this scheme so far but we need to tidy it up and sort out the inconsistencies. As my colleague Deputy Kerrane was just saying, some people are getting some while others are getting nothing at all. Tonight, I got a message from somebody whose roof was really damaged and who has been waiting a month and a half. We have to find a way. I do not know if the Minister has resources within the Department or needs to bring them in but we cannot have so many open ends with regard to the scheme three months after the storm. That is the humanitarian scheme. There are lots of things to be done. We need to make sure that everybody is paid. The Minister will want everyone in County Mayo to get paid, just as I do. We do not want them to be given anything they are not entitled to but the damage that has been done should be covered. This might relate to the food in their freezers, what they had to spend while they had no power or other expenses directly resulting from storm damage. I still do not have an Eir connection and, however many months after the storm, I do not know when it will be back. I have to try to make things work while on a Zoom meeting and it is impossible. We want to encourage people to work from home. We cannot expect them to work from home if we do not have consistency.

I have also talked to the Minister about the generators that are needed. He will know Clare Island. We really need a generator for the health centre there. That is urgent and important. Lives depend on it. We can do this but we need to concentrate on it over the coming days and weeks.

My colleagues and I will work with the Minister to make sure everybody gets what they are entitled to. People put it to me all the time, as I am sure they put it to him, that this would be treated much differently if it happened in Dublin. We want equity for people in the west when they experience this kind of damage. I also refer to small businesses. A lot was promised at the time but no scheme has been delivered for businesses or farmers. Deputy O'Reilly mentioned the case of the oyster fishermen who lost €160,000 but other fishermen also have genuine losses. There is no point talking about insurance because some of these are not insured and, in other cases, the excess may be €2,000, which they just cannot afford. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis so I really want to get this sorted out in the coming days and weeks.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I commend the many thousands of people around the country who put their shoulder to the wheel throughout the storm, including those in voluntary groups and agencies across the State who came out, the ESB workers and county council workers who worked day and night to get things moving again and the ordinary people and farmers who went out to cut bushes along the roads and took trees off the roads with their tractors to try to clear the place for people.

The humanitarian assistance scheme has been a real problem. The Minister has to acknowledge that. Many people made applications and thought they were going to get somewhere but were just turned down without any explanation. It is as if the system was just overwhelmed by what happened. I understand the storm was unprecedented and different from anything we had ever seen in the past but many of us, including my colleague here from Sligo-Leitrim, have seen it very often because many of the problems we had, particularly with power outages, related to the forestry problem. There are lines going through forests where the edge of the tree corridor is not far enough back, causing trees to bring down lines when they come down. Hundreds of people were left without power for weeks on end waiting for it to be restored. The reality is that, if there were the same kind of storm in a week's time, the same thing would happen because those trees are still there waiting to fall on the same lines. Last week, I accompanied a number of people with a delegation from Leitrim County Council to meet the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, in this regard. It is a real issue that must be dealt with urgently so that we can ensure that critical power and communications infrastructure is protected, particularly where it runs through forestry.

The people who own the forestry throw their hands up in the air and say there is nothing they can do about it. The ESB says it can do nothing about it. Everybody seems to be passing the buck to someone else. We need firm regulation to ensure the existing corridors are opened up and that where new forests are going in, wide corridors are left for infrastructure to go through.

I mentioned the various community organisations that came together. A lot of these community centres were the places people went to when they got power restored but they had to wait perhaps a week before that happened. There should be a scheme for them to have generators in place so that if a crisis like this happens again, it is somewhere people can go to charge their phone batteries or get a cup of tea or whatever. People were in real crisis. The issue with water was also a serious problem. When power went down, many people were left without water as well. I had no electricity for 13 days. My mother had none for 15 days and she is 92 years of age. That was common across our part of the country. This is a real issue. There was discussion about having a scheme in place but the scheme will only work in limited circumstances. When there is a big crisis like this, a scheme is needed that can ramp up to meet requirements. That needs to happen with urgency.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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Storm Éowyn devastated entire communities. Households, businesses and farmers suddenly had their access to essential power, heat and water cut off. Many were waiting weeks for it to be restored. People could not wash, turn on the lights or heat their homes. For some, the lack of water and power posed a real risk to their lives. I commend my colleague Deputy O'Reilly on tabling the motion to highlight the total inadequacy of the humanitarian assistance scheme and the lack of transparency and broken promises. People felt let down and abandoned. The Taoiseach provided repeated assurances that the scheme would support everyone who needed it and that the most vulnerable would not be left behind. These reassurances proved to be demonstrably untrue. It seemed that the Government was not interested in delivering the type of supports people needed. If the intention was to leave no one behind, will the Minister justify why a staggering two thirds of applications for supports have been rejected, some without explanation? Will he explain why he attempted to wind up the scheme without a public announcement? Will he outline why only €6.8 million has been paid out in response to one of the most devastating storms ever seen on the island?

The actions in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn indicate that the primary interest of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry-led Independents was providing the illusion of support but not delivering the solutions required. In a similar vein, misleading claims were also peddled by the Government, which said it remained committed to supporting businesses throughout the recovery period and beyond. No commitment ever existed. Many businesses and farmers were left out in the cold literally and left to the mercy of unscrupulous insurance companies more concerned with how high excesses could go, raising insurance premiums and making more profit than ensuring people were supported. That is not good enough. We have repeatedly proposed measures to rectify this mess such as the introduction of clear timelines and the expansion of the scheme to businesses and farmers. We reiterate those calls tonight. The devastation was compounded by the failures to build an energy infrastructure fit for purpose over the years. Power outages are not rare in my constituency of Kerry. One resident has had 20 power cuts in the past year. While the Government may accept this as normal, we do not. We have a plan to deliver an affordable, sustainable and secure system that is resilient. We also want to distribute the burden of its maintenance fairly, for example, through the restructuring of network charges and a PSO levy. We also encouraged the Government to introduce goodwill payments to compensate for the prolonged power cuts but our proposals were ignored. As households pay for the grid through standing charges, it is only right they should be compensated for prolonged power cuts. This could be one way to bring down our energy prices, which are some of the highest in Europe. There are also broader structural issues. Our proposal to establish a €2.5 billion investment fund could kick-start the procurement of long-duration energy storage.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Tuigeann an tAire go maith céard a tharla i nGaillimh agus i gConamara le linn Stoirm Éowyn. Caithfimid dhá rud a dhéanamh. Caithfimid breathnú ar céard atá tar éis tarlú agus ar rudaí atá fós ag dul ar aghaidh. Ar ndóigh, tá a fhios againn go bhfuil deacrachtaí fós ann ó thaobh leathanbhanda agus teileachumarsáide. Dhá mhí tar éis na stoirme seo, tá roinnt daoine fós ann nach bhfuil na rudaí bunúsacha sin acu. Chomh maith leis sin, caithfimid breathnú chun tosaigh. Caithfimid breathnú ar céard gur féidir linn a dhéanamh. Tá a fhios agam ó cheist pharlaiminte a chuir mé isteach gur cuireadh isteach 24,917 iarratas ar HAS agus go bhfuil 9,673 duine tar éis airgead a fháil.

Tá daoine tar éis go leor a chailliúint mar gheall ar an stoirm seo, mar shampla, an teach atá acu, an shed atá acu nó rudaí mar sin. Chomh maith leis sin, mar a dúirt mo chomhghleacaí, an Teachta Kerrane, chaill daoine an bia ar fad a bhí istigh sa chuisneoir agus sa reoiteoir acu. Is fadhb í sin mar coinníonn daoine bia sa reoiteoir nuair nach bhfuil airgead acu nó nuair nach bhfuil siad cinnte cén sórt airgid a bheidh acu i gceann seachtaine nó dhó. Tá daoine tar éis go leor a chailliúint mar gheall air sin. Chomh maith leis sin, bhí go leor daoine i gConamara ag fanacht in óstáin. Bhí ar roinnt acu dul go háiteanna eile agus fanacht lena gcuid gaolta i gceantair eile mar gheall nach raibh tada acu. Caithfimid breathnú air sin.

Iarraim ar an Aire dul i dteagmháil le leithéidí Eir agus Vodafone mar níl siad ag teacht ar ais chugainn mar is ceart. Níl sé sách maith go bhfuil daoine fós gan teileachumarsáid. Caithfimid breathnú chun tosaigh freisin. Bhí cruinniú agam leis an ESB inné maidir leis seo ar fad. Caithfimid breathnú ar liosta na gcustaiméirí leochaileacha. Ceapann daoine go bhfuil siad ar an liosta seo ach níl. Caithfimid a chinntiú go bhfuil ár gcuid gaolta féin ar an liosta seo más rud é go bhfuil sé seo ag teastáil. Chomh maith leis sin, caithfimid a chinntiú go bhfuil ár gcuid comharsana nach bhfuil duine éigin sa chlann acu in ann breathnú air sin ar an liosta. Caithfimid breathnú ar céard a dhéanfaimid leis an liosta sin. An é go bhfuil sé ag an HSE freisin ionas gur féidir leis a chinntiú go bhfuil cúram a thabhairt do na daoine sin? Caithfimid breathnú ar céard a chiallaíonn sé seo níos deireanaí. Tháinig Uisce Éireann ar ais chugam agus dúirt sé go raibh sé ag breathnú ar ghineadóirí i gcomhair áiteanna áirithe ach níl a fhios agam cad atá i gceist aige go díreach. Teastaíonn gineadóirí ag na hionaid sláinte agus don uisce. Ar a laghad, má tá sé sin ann i gceantar, cabhróidh sé amach anseo.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I do not know whether the Minister appreciates it but for thousands of people in constituencies like mine, January and February were the first times that they ever had reason to interact with his Department. The overwhelming response I am getting from those people who did so is that was a negative experience. That has nothing to do with the staff of the Department who I acknowledge were incredibly busy. It was to do with false promises. The Government told people in the heat of the storm, when they were out of power and enduring all sorts of challenges, that it would support them. That has been reneged on. Many people applied for the humanitarian assistance scheme on the basis of a commitment given by Government that they would be supported. As I said, that was reneged on. I have to take serious issue with the fact that the scheme has been refused to those people who cited what was the single greatest cost to them, which was the disregarding of frozen food or fresh food in their fridges. It is entirely disingenuous to say that those costs are not recoupable because they should normally be covered by home insurance, aside from the fact that some people just cannot afford home insurance. Any of us who do have a home insurance policy will quickly tell the Minister that on average there is an excess of €350. If people lose €350 worth of food from their freezer, and then with the resulting need to purchase food on a daily basis or to eat out because there is no power or water in their homes, the Minister is essentially saying tough luck.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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That is covered.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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That is what the Department is saying, whether I am saying it or not. That is what happened to tens of thousands who received letters of refusal. A lot of people were incredibly taken aback. This is designed as a hardship alleviation scheme rather than a compensation scheme.

9 o’clock

That language has been used by the Minister. Why then are so many people being forced to go through the rigmarole of providing receipts and documentary evidence to get what turns out in most cases to be a very small payment? He has got this wrong. I appeal to him to ensure these people receive a payment and some acknowledgement for the hardship they have gone through.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Many people have raised the issues regarding the humanitarian assistance scheme, including the lack of consistency, the understanding that certain things would be covered that were not covered and the bureaucratic nightmare it has been for many people. I say that while acknowledging the huge work done by the staff in circumstances that are all far from perfect. As the Minister said, it is a matter of getting the extreme weather event assistance scheme up and running and fit for purpose. We are aware of issues that have arisen following previous weather events. An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach is well aware of the issues on the Cooley Peninsula following the huge flooding there and how long it took to put a scheme in place for farmers. I was over and back at that time with the then Minister, Deputy McConalogue. It is clear that we need to have something on the shelf that can be taken down when needed and would include an element of flexibility, which is absolutely necessary. There is a huge body of work that needs to be done to ensure we have robustness and resilience in real terms.

During Questions to the Taoiseach, we discussed the National Emergency Co-ordination Group and the whole idea that there needs to be a review of how it dealt with certain circumstances and what can be improved in that regard. Unfortunately, it will take quite a while to get a follow-up from the Taoiseach as he has reduced the group by half. We have huge infrastructural deficits in Irish Water that will not be sorted through water charges. Such charges would be utterly unacceptable. We know the issues in regard to the ESB, whether we are talking about forestry or just those bits of the grid that need to be updated. Regarding the Irish Water issue, my constituency was not hit as hard as many others but there were people in places like Hackballscross who were without water for longer because there is a specific issue with that particular infrastructure. I have requested a meeting with Irish Water, which I hope to have soon, to deal with many of the problems, including brown water and the wastewater issues that exist right across Dundalk.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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I echo what has been said regarding the response of the emergency services and those on the front line. I include in that another group, namely, the people who went out of their way who make sure their neighbours were safe. They are very rarely recognised. I know of one instance where an elderly man had been without contact with any other human for three days before his neighbours went out with chainsaws to take away the trees that were on the road and enable him to get out of his property. We should recognise people like that.

My constituents were left with no electricity, Internet or mobile telephone signal and, in many cases, no water. Their homes, sheds and businesses were damaged. Their lives were damaged. An offer of hope was put out initially by the Taoiseach, followed by the Minister for enterprise in respect of businesses, by way of the humanitarian assistance scheme. This followed what was, and was predicted to be, one of the most powerful storms ever to hit Ireland. When that offer was pulled away for some, it really was like rubbing salt in their wounds. The Minister spoke of preventing hardship. A man in my area in his 80s who lives alone was very fearful of the storm. He used what little savings he had to get in some extra meagre supplies in order that he could stay safe by not leaving home. He had to put all those supplies in the bin when his electricity went and his freezer stopped working. He was refused humanitarian assistance. That is a new low. It is finding a new bottom of the barrel to scrape. People were encouraged to apply for the scheme but staff in the Minister's Department seem to have been operating in somewhat of an information vacuum. When I spoke to them on occasion, they did not realise that constituents of mine had been refused payment. Their applications were still shown as pending on the computer system, despite my having the letters of refusal in my hand. Those letters were unsigned and undated. The lesson that should ring home very clearly for the Government is not the mantra that lessons will be learned but the RTÉ headline, "Do they know we're still here?". That is a question that should never have to be asked by anybody after a storm like Storm Éowyn.

The Minister's figures suggest that the €6.8 million that has been paid out is for 28,000 claims, which amounts to approximately €240 per application. A total of 76,000 claims were received but he failed to mention how many have been refused. It is crystal clear that the scheme needs to be reviewed urgently. With the Chair's indulgence, I cannot speak about Storm Éowyn without mentioning another Éowyn, my daughter, who is also a force of nature but for good.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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I commend the motion brought forward by Deputy O'Reilly. The point has been clearly made that there is great frustration at the rate of payout under the humanitarian assistance scheme. In my county of Cork, of the 102 claims made, only 19 were paid out, which is a similar rate to the rest of the country. For those affected, it is far too slow and a cause of great frustration. There are issues in terms of people making claims and not being properly remunerated.

A point I have made before is the need for compensation for clubs, businesses, sporting organisations and community groups. I raised this issue because a number of clubs in my constituency, including Everton AFC and Ballyphehane GAA Club, had goalpost nets, dugouts and buildings damaged by the storm. The response we keep getting is that there is a programme for Government commitment to look at a scheme. That frustrates me for a number of reasons. First, a scheme was opened for sports clubs, community organisations and business in the aftermath of Storm Babet. There was no need for legislation at that stage. I do not understand the delays now unless there is just a desire not to act. It seems hard to imagine the commitment in the programme for Government being implemented. I could be wrong about this, and perhaps the Minister will tell me I am wrong, but it is hard to imagine that whenever a scheme comes to pass, in a year, a year and a half or whenever it is, that clubs and organisations that faced significant costs due to Storm Éowyn, for which they had to fundraise using energy they could have put into other things, will be able to seek compensation after the fact at some point in the future. That seems unlikely. It was very disappointing that the Department of enterprise did not open a scheme when it had every ability to do so. At this stage, while the storm is not completely out of our memory and while the costs arising from it are still being faced, and not only for clubs and organisations in my constituency, I urge the Minister to encourage the other Department to open a scheme to ensure that organisations which saw those kinds of costs can be fairly compensated.

Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion, which I am happy to support. Storm Éowyn swept through parts of Ireland leaving devastation in its wake, with homes severely damaged and businesses disrupted and, in some instances, destroyed. Farmers, who already have enough going on, have seen their livelihoods threatened. In the face of this crisis, we must confront the sobering truth that the response from the Government has been inadequate. It must do better.

Where I am from and represent, Dublin South-West, is a part of the country that, fortunately, was relatively unscathed by Storm Éowyn. There were some trees down, which caused disruption, danger and minor damage to homes, but nothing arose that was not dealt with promptly in the hours that followed the storm. However, I know from talking to my Labour Party colleagues and other Deputies outside of Dublin, particularly in the west, that it was and remains a very different story for them. There is serious upset and even distress. This is because of, first, the amount of time it took to get vital infrastructure like energy, Internet access and water back up and running and, second, the uncertainty around the supports that would be provided both during and after the event. I refer to supports like the humanitarian assistance scheme, which is dealt with in this motion. Households, communities, farmers and local businesses were left despondent for weeks on end and still cannot seem to get a straight answer regarding the supports that are available to them. The Government's response to this event has been a mess. I dread to think where communities, particularly in rural parts of the country, would be were it not for the heroic work done by local volunteers and organisations such as GAA clubs. They really stepped up and a massive debt of gratitude is owed to them.

In all cases, the humanitarian assistance scheme was inadequate. It either was not available or it was closed off in the blink of an eye. People were just getting over the shock of the crisis they found themselves in and the scheme was gone. It is absolutely imperative that we recognise that our strength as a nation lies not only in our ability to weather storms but in how we respond to the challenges they present.

The storms of nature may be fierce, but the storms of indifference and negligence can be even more destructive. Many over the years have lost their homes or suffered extensive damage from storms and yet the support they receive has been slow and insufficient. It is unacceptable that in the wake of such tragedies, we find ourselves again and again listening to stories of people navigating a labyrinth of bureaucracy while they endure the effects of the various natural disasters that have arrived on their doorsteps. Where is the sense of urgency? Where is the compassion that should guide us as leaders in times of crisis?

The business sector, which drives our economy and creates jobs, has also been hit hard. Local shops, restaurants and services are struggling to stay afloat, with many forced to close their doors for good. We need a clear roadmap for recovery that prioritises our small businesses and fosters an environment where they can thrive again.

We turn to our farmers, whose dedication to their land and livestock is unmatched. They work tirelessly to put food on our tables, yet they are often the first to feel the impact of natural disasters. Storm Éowyn has wreaked havoc on many of them, and the repercussions will be felt for years to come. Our farmers need immediate assistance after a storm batters them and their livelihood, not just in the form of financial aid but also in the form of resources and support to help them rebuild their farms. We must rally behind them, for when farmers thrive, our entire nation thrives.

I now want to focus, in the rest of my remarks, on what was really laid bare by Storm Éowyn and this Government's response to it, namely, how ill-prepared we are for what is to come in terms of the climate crisis. In fact, it already has come, because the climate crisis has very much arrived. Ask the people of Valencia, Los Angeles and Pakistan. The floods and the fires experienced in those places were not freak weather events; they are the climate crisis in action.

While we here in Ireland, thankfully, have not yet experienced that level of devastation, it is coming, and we have had our warning signs. Storm Éowyn was a warning sign. Storm Darragh, at the end of last year, was a warning sign, as were Storm Ellen, the beast from the east in 2018 and Storm Ophelia in 2017. They were all warning signs and we need to get our house in order. I listened this afternoon to many Government backbenchers decry that many of their constituents still remain without broadband. No part of this island has been or will be immune to the arrival of serious storms. We have seen devastation arrive in every part of the country in recent times and it is only going one way. It is only going to get worse.

On the east coast, in Wexford alone, we have seen snowstorms wreaking havoc. There is flooding almost annually in Enniscorthy as they await Government intervention on a long-promised flood relief scheme. We have seen flash flooding in New Ross and a tornado wreaking unbelievable havoc in Clongeen and Foulksmills.

Storm Éowyn brought serious damage to communities all over the country. Notwithstanding the fact a life was lost, and we send our deepest sympathies to the family of Kacper Dudek, the damage done by extreme weather events will be multiple times worse in the future as climate change accelerates. More communities will be devastated, more business facing closure and more lives lost.

We need to build up our resilience because Storm Éowyn has clearly shown we are nowhere near prepared to deal with what is to come, and that means several things. It means having a robust and properly functioning standing programme of supports for households, communities and small businesses in the form of financial and infrastructural supports, services and so on. As this motion alludes to, the humanitarian assistance scheme is ad hoc, inadequate and too narrow in its provisions. It means investment in climate mitigation infrastructure such as flood defences, as well as dealing with issues around insurance for households and businesses where they cannot get flood insurance despite being in at-risk areas.

Crucially, it means investing in our renewable and sustainable energy infrastructure as well. Many households went weeks without energy, partly due to the fact they were in particularly remote areas or were one-off homes, meaning it was more difficult and time-consuming for the ESB to restore power to these individual homes. Some got through it using home batteries powered by solar panels. That should be a lesson to us and part of a roadmap for the future. We should be looking at targeted investment and grants for legacy one-off households and businesses that are particularly vulnerable to power outages to make solar panels and batteries more accessible to offer that extra level of protection.

We should also be targeting grants for EVs to rural areas. Besides the obvious benefits in respect of transport emission reductions in areas that have transport poverty and are not served well by public transport, it was noted by Professor Hannah Daly of UCC that many people discovered the vehicle-to-load function on EV cars, which meant they could draw electricity from their EV's battery to power their household essentials like lighting, fridges, medical devices and so forth for up to a week, in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn. There are solutions out there.

Let us be clear: this is not merely a question of resources but a question of values. As a society, we must ask ourselves what we stand for. Do we stand for a Government that operates in a vacuum, detached from the reality of what is happening around it - just ask its backbenchers; we heard them today - or do we stand for a Government that listens, responds with compassion and urgency and puts the welfare of its people at the forefront? The answer should be obvious.

In the face of adversity, we must act swiftly together. We must demand accountability and insist that immediate action be taken when required. We need to build up our climate mitigation and resilience urgently. We must call for a comprehensive recovery plan that encompasses all affected sectors - homeowners, businesses, and farmers alike. This plan must not only address the immediate needs but also lay the groundwork for long-term resilience. We cannot afford to wait for the next storm to remind us of the fragility of our systems.

We must also harness the power of our community. Neighbours helping neighbours, local organisations stepping up to provide assistance and individuals coming together to support one another - this is the spirit that defines us as Irish people. Let us channel that spirit into action, advocating for change and ensuring that our voices are heard loud and clear. We must not let a tide of inaction wash away promises and commitments made after every major weather event.

Ultimately, households, small businesses and farmers around the country are struggling now as a result of Storm Éowyn. They need clarity and support, and I urge the Government to heed this motion and act on it urgently.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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I am conscious that Deputy O'Reilly's motion today is in respect of Storm Éowyn. I commend her on tabling this motion and agree fully with it.

Storm Éowyn did not have such a devastating impact in my constituency of Cork East, but it is one of an increasing number of extreme weather events in recent years that underline the seriousness of climate change and a more general lack of preparedness for those events, and also the lack of consistency and supports afterwards for those impacted.

We have heard themes today of inconsistency that are very familiar to my constituents from Storm Babet, which wreaked havoc in October 2023 in Midleton, Rathcormac, Mogeely, Castlemartyr, Killeagh, Ladysbridge and Whitegate. The inconsistency of financial supports in the aftermath of Storm Babet was the cause of much unnecessary additional stress and anxiety for many people traumatised by the destruction of their properties. I engaged with home and business owners in subsequent weeks and months and it appears the Department of Social Protection fund that was opened to homeowners was much more difficult to access than a separate Irish Red Cross fund that was available to business owners. Many homeowners told me about being tangled up in red tape, being expected to frontload a significant portion of the costs of repairing their homes, and in some cases being offered paltry sums for the replacement of very expensive items such as fitted kitchens. There was an assumption with these financial supports that homeowners would have tens of thousands of euro in reserve to deal with such an event. As well as the fact that we are living through a punishing cost-of-living crisis, how many people have the financial bandwidth to save for a possible natural disaster?

I cannot emphasise enough the additional distress that this bureaucracy and financial burden placed on many east Cork and north Cork residents at their lowest point. Those who had flood insurance had variable experiences. In some cases, residents were able to access supports in a relatively straightforward manner. Other residents had their claims dragged on over many months, and the consequences for those families were nothing short of a source of prolonged anguish.

What we need for all of these events is a one-stop shop system for people who were impacted. We need to make access to supports standardised, based on need and straightforward. It should not be left to chance factors whether you receive adequate support in the aftermath of a storm of flood.

The voluntary homeowners relocation scheme was introduced following a previous disastrous event, the flooding of December 2015. This scheme was based on the premise that some properties are at major risk of flooding and will not be protected by future mitigation measures. This is a sound principle of managed retreat, well recognised in other countries. That scheme was availed of by 31 homeowners, mostly in the north west. Unfortunately, this scheme has not been opened to any residents who were impacted by subsequent extreme weather events. I know of several families in east Cork who remain at extreme risk of flooding, who have undertaken extensive repairs to their homes and who are not likely to be protected by any of the proposed flood relief schemes for north Cork or east Cork.

Therefore, it makes economic as well as moral sense that these residents would be able to avail of such a relocation scheme.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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I too welcome this motion. Gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as ucht an rún seo a chur os comhair na Dála.

I wish to speak to three main points in my comments. I will discuss the impact that these weather events are having on communities, lives and livelihoods across Ireland, our need to build climate resilience and what we really want from assistance schemes in order that they be reliable and effective. The key message is that we are not asking the Government to control the weather. We understand that is not possible, but we have a collective responsibility in the Dáil to protect people from the elements and the impacts of climate change, which are worsening by the day.

When we think about the impact of the recent storms in particular on communities, lives and livelihoods across Ireland, we have to consider those workers, for example, who did not get paid during closures, the small businesses and farms with many losses from those closures and the damage to their property and machinery. We think about the older people and people with disabilities who felt vulnerable, isolated and forgotten as they had to seek power to charge up their medical equipment and to keep their homes warm. My constituency of Dublin Rathdown was thankfully spared from most of the major damage, but we know of the significant damage to people's homes across the country from Storm Éowyn and other recent storms.

What we believe in the Social Democrats is that there is a need to build climate resilience. Again, we are not asking anyone to control the weather, but the science is telling us that the weather is becoming more and more severe. We know that emissions are continuing to rise globally, so this is not going to change. We need to act now to upgrade infrastructure, to deal with the grid shortcomings we have and to invest in these prevention schemes and mitigation measures that will actually mean these storms can be weathered by our communities and our people. We need to protect homes and communities from the change in the climate overall.

I too acknowledge the incredible work done during the storm by communities and front-line workers. Thousands of front-line workers, including those from ESB, Uisce Éireann and EirGrid and council workers, worked incredibly hard to get us back to normal. Their efforts must be commended. Tá mé thar a bheith buíoch díobh. Rinne siad scoth na hoibre ag am iontach deacair.

The assistance schemes have to be more reliable and effective than what we have seen rolled out recently. People generally, certainly in my own community in Dublin Rathdown, are really understanding of the disruption these weather events bring and of the disruption that is required for the State to roll out the measures in response. However, they start becoming very worried and very stressed when there are severe delays in the provision of that assistance. When there is uncertainty about what help is available to people, they feel as if they are completely on their own. It is already difficult to run a business, keep a farm going and make ends meet. We therefore need to make sure that storms such as this one do not cost people further, and certainly that they do not cost people their livelihoods. The lesson we now need to learn from this is that we need to be better prepared, to be more climate resilient and to provide reassurance to ordinary people that they will not be left in the dark and thousands out of pocket by an act of nature ever again.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as an deis cainte a bheith agam maidir leis an rún seo. Tá sé leagtha amach nach bhfuil na figiúirí agus gach rud ann. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an soiléiriú a thug sé maidir le phase 1 agus go mbeidh sé ag dul ar aghaidh go dtí an 24 Aibreán. Is maith an rud é sin. Is rud é sin a bhí á lorg agam, soiléiriú, agus is maith an rud go bhfuil sé ann.

Is dócha go bhfuilimid go léir buíoch go ndearna an Rialtas rud, gur thug sé airgead agus cabhair. Tuigim é sin. An fhadhb ná an bealach ar thug an Rialtas é. Ní raibh leanúnachas i gceist. Is dócha go n-aontaíonn an tAire. Bhí easpa struchtúir agus easpa leanúnachais ar an talamh. Dhírigh an stoirm, an stoirm ba mheasa fós, spotsolas ar an easpa infreastruchtúir ar an talamh. Tar éis na stoirme, d'fhreastail mé féin agus mo chomhghleacaithe i nGaillimh ar dhá chruinniú mí ó shin. Bhí na Teachtaí John Connolly agus Mairéad Farrell ann. Bhí cruinniú amháin maidir le cúrsaí tithíochta agus ceann eile maidir leis an stoirm. An teachtaireacht ba shoiléire ná go bhfuil daoine ar an talamh sásta chuile chabhair a thabhairt d'aon Rialtas. Bhí siad réasúnta, agus na rudaí a theastaigh uathu ná go mbeadh an chumarsáid níos fearr, go dtabharfaí aitheantas do na grúpaí ar an talamh agus go mbeadh córas i bhfad níos éifeachtaí ann tar éis cibé stoirm atá le teacht.

Fad is atá an t-am agam - ní raibh a fhios agam go mbeadh an méid sin ama agam, ach ní úsáidfidh mé an t-am uilig - fuaireamar litir inniu tar éis an chruinnithe a bhí ann mí ó shin. Dhírigh siad ar sheacht bpointe. Tá na moltaí thar a bheith réasúnta agus soiléir: "Go gcuirfí ar a laghad dhá mhol ar fáil i gceantar Chois Fharraige". Two special mols. Chuala mé an tAire ag caint faoi ghineadóirí, agus luaigh siad freisin "Go gcuirfí gineadóirí ar fáil chun fearais leictreacha a mhuirearú" agus "Go gcuirfí gineadóirí ar fáil chun foinsí uisce a chosaint". Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach gur mhol siad "Liosta a chur le chéile díobh siúd go léir a bheadh sásta cabhrú i gcás éigeandála". Tá siad ag rá go bhfuil siad thar a bheith sásta cabhair a thabhairt, ach go mbeadh liosta ann. Bhí plean cumarsáide in easnamh, agus luaigh siad "Plean Cumarsáide chun eolas a roinnt leis an bpobal i gcás nach bhfuil leathanbhanda, leictreachas, trealamh cumarsáide ar fáil". In éileamh Uimh. 6, lorg siad "Go mbeidh pleananna éagsúla ann do thubaistí éagsúla" agus - tá sé seo tábhachtach - go mbeadh pleananna maidir le tubaistí ar nós "tuilte, sneachta, gálaí srl". Dúradh gur cheart go mbeadh "plean ann dá ndéanfaí damáiste don R336" - bóthar thar a bheith tábhachtach agus bóthar atá lochtach amach is amach. Freisin, d'iarr siad "An féidir aonad cosanta sibhialta nó aonad céadfhreagartha a bhunú i gConamara?". Ba mhaith liom cur leis sin gur cheart go mbeidh gineadóirí ar a laghad ar fáil d'ionaid leighis. Bhí glaonna á bhfáil againn ó na dochtúirí éagsúla ar fud Chonamara. Ní raibh cumhacht ar bith acu.

Sin iad na rudaí praiticiúla. Níl na daoine seo ag breathnú ar an rud mar fhadhb - tá siad ag breathnú ar na réitigh. Tá réiteach á chur ar fáil acu agus tá siad ag rá gur mhaith leo obair as lámha a chéile leis an Rialtas, cibé cén Rialtas atá ann, ach plean cuimsitheach agus plean cumarsáide a bheith ann agus cinntí déanta roimh ré. Níor tharla sé sin. Tuigim go raibh an stoirm ollmhór. Bhí wind speeds 183 km/h i gConamara ag Mace Head. Tá a fhios agam go raibh sé deacair, ach tá gá leis seo. I ndeireadh na dála, tá orainn breathnú ar an infreastruchtúr atá ar an talamh. Bhí cruinniú leis an ESB inné. Ní raibh mé ann, ach fuair mé an cur i láthair. Leag sé amach go soiléir na fadhbanna a bhí aige. Thóg sé lá go leith chun rochtain a fháil de bharr cé chomh báite is a bhí an talamh. Leagadh amach na cúiseanna go léir agus cén fáth go raibh moill. Tá ardmholadh tuillte ag an ESB i ndáiríre, ach arís, bhí air foireann ó thar lear a tharraingt isteach agus níl a dhóthain infreastruchtúir ar an talamh. Críochnóidh mé agus mé ag rá gurb é an t-aon rud ag teastáil ná na moltaí ón ngrúpa ar an talamh. Tá an grúpa tar éis na moltaí seo a chur le chéile agus tá siad ag impí orainn, ar an Teachta Connolly agus na Teachtaí eile go mbeadh na moltaí seo san áireamh cibé cén plean a bheidh réitithe ag an gcomhairle contae tar éis an phlean a bheith réitithe ag an Rialtas agus gealltanais. Déanfaidh mé é sin agus seolfaidh mé chuig an Aire é.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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I acknowledge the progress that has been made on the scheme. I am glad we are making progress on the humanitarian scheme. It has been quite disappointing in many regards. There have been major difficulties with it for many of my constituents. It has been quite chaotic and haphazard. Many constituents of mine have got €200, others have got €10, and others have got nothing at all. In fairness to the Minister and Department, we have appealed a number of those and those appeals have overturned the decision. It has surely added a significant amount of bureaucracy for the Department, which I am sure is far from ideal. It seems the guidelines could have been administered much better. From our perspective, I would love to know what the guidelines were, so we can advise constituents. For example, a constituent of mine who is in his 80s was without power for two weeks and got a rejection letter. The letter stated that outages of under two days are not covered, when his power was out for two weeks. Another couple in their 80s are now on their third appeal. I will raise that with the Minister afterwards, if that is okay, and it is to be hoped we can rectify those issues.

I welcome that the scheme appears to have been extended. I raised this with the Taoiseach last week and I understand the scheme has been extended. It would be great to know what the deadline actually is so that we can engage with and advise our constituents. There is significant work to be done and I hope we can reform the scheme, particularly its deadlines, communication about the scheme and indeed reforming it for the next event that will happen. The scheme should be extended to cover business supports. The Minister's colleague mentioned there would be supports for businesses. That has been lacking, especially for farmers.

Regarding long-term prevention, we have made very little progress with the removal of trees on the line. We need to get that done quickly before the next storm. I know the Minister will be reviewing the matter of generators in the weeks and months ahead. The targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, for farmers provides for generators but those grants specifically state they have to be for farm sheds and so on. It is important to address this, especially for houses without chimneys and so on that need support and grants.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. We need to learn many lessons from Storm Éowyn. We can blame and give out, but we need to be prepared for the next one and do a post mortem on what needs to be improved. In fairness, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has been helpful whenever I have gone to him. I would say his Department has no closing date in its letters. You need flexibility for all people because they came through a terrible time. Telling someone to apply online when there is no Internet connection is stupid. I am not saying the Minister did it but the Department said that. I ask the Minister to ask his Department to be flexible with people. I know there are many applications to be gone through yet. If people applied for the wrong thing or filled in the wrong thing, the Department should make sure there is the opportunity to go back and guide them. I commend the Minister on helping us with the few that I brought to him. I will be straight up about that.

We need to learn many lessons. I see Senator Scahill in the Gallery. Regarding phones around the country, including in his county and every county in the west, up towards Cavan, and the whole area that got hit, even though Eir is out on the road fixing things at the moment, someone needs to hold it to account. If I am supplying a service to someone as a contractor, I have to supply it. The phone companies are sending bills to people. What about the people who have an alarm around their neck and are left high and dry? That is not good enough. It is not a Government matter but the companies need to be whipped and the Commission for Communications Regulation should wake up, to be frank about it, because it seems to be in the dark. It should be giving them harsh penalties for the service companies are giving, because it is not acceptable in any world. It would be fine if it was a week or two but the ESB was able to cover half the country. It brought in resources and made an effort. You have to commend it. It has lessons to learn but, in fairness, it got the power back. The wires are still in trouble.

One thing that worries me is we had a meeting with the ESB. You also hear this if talking to the communications crowd. There is no sense of learning that trees caused most of this problem, including, first of all, forestry. Our Department is still giving licences to plant near the road and the lines. A distance of 30 m to either side of a wire should be completely clear, because no one should ever have to go through the torture that people went through. The first thing that needs to be done is for the ESB to stand up and, if it says legislation is needed, it should be done. Letters are going round from people who wrote to the councils about trees. People wrote to the Department of the environment, and it said how this is a matter for the ESB and everyone else, but the problem is that it was a matter for everyone up to now and we see the problem. We have to make sure we learn from this and we do not let it happen again. Where there are trees on the side of the road, I do not care what forestry it might be. It should be 30 m from the road because these trees are growing 30 m high. That is the end of story, with no ifs or buts about it. If people lose out on that, they lose out on it. You can pay them for the ground but they will not have trees on it. That is the way it should be.

Where wires go through forestry or anywhere else, I would be all for planting two smaller trees down in the field or wherever to make up the difference. I am not saying we should leave the country treeless. We need to make sure we consider the costs entailed. If you analyse where trees caused a problem compared with where poles broke in other situations, the ratio is 100:1. That is the fact. If you can eliminate 99% of the problems and reduce them to 1%, you will not have too many losing power.

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Heydon's announcement about generators. I know under TAMS he is doing something with the roofs of sheds. I would have liked if that was happening now because there were weanlings and cows in sheds looking up at the sky at night to see the stars. It would be helpful if that was given now. He has committed to giving it in the coming months, which I welcome. That is a step in the right direction.

I ask Deputy Calleary, as Minister for rural affairs, as we have mentioned before, to look at the likes of community centres to create hubs. Be it a small village or a bigger place, I ask the Minister to create a hub so that if a doctor needs to set up or there are people without food who need to cook in it, there is a facility in all those areas and it works. I ask the Minister and his Department of Rural and Community Development to look into that and to try to get it over the line. People need light and heat. I am a firm believer that many people get sick during the year who are not on this so-called list which the ESB has.

We need some joined-up thinking between everyone to make sure there is a possibility people get generators when they are sick. I have seen people who have a hospital bed and all of that. It is not that a gigantic generator is needed, but it needs to be set up with the plug ready to be put in. These are little things. If a group worked together from different perspectives, be they telecoms, the ESB, the Department of agriculture for the farmers' side of it, doctors from the medical side of it and communities, which are at the heart of it all, to bring up ideas, we could learn and if we got a storm next winter or in a hundred winters' time, we would know what we were doing.

The other issue, which was touched on, is that of small businesses. They were out of action for a good while and have got damn all support. All we hear is that they were not looking for it. The poor divils were trying to keep the lights on and the doors open. I ask that they be recognised for the effort they made. Some small businesses were out of action for a good while. The Minister will know, as he comes from such an area, that small rural shops and pubs are giving a service to their areas. It is not for the money they are making, my God. It is because it is a place of well-being on many a night for people where they will say hello to someone they might not have seen all day.

This is not having a go at the Minister. It is about learning how to make it better for everyone, no matter where the storm is. If it is down in the south of the country, or in the east or north, we know what it is to get a devastating storm. We are only trying to give the ideas, so that we work together to try to drive it forward, and are ever-ready when it comes again. That is all I have to say.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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It is good to see the Ceann Comhairle back in the Chair. I have full confidence in her. Let us now drive on with the work we need to do in this Chamber. This is a very important debate. I have quite a few bits to say. I have three minutes so the Ceann Comhairle might remind me when my time is up.

I will speak about the issue of trees, as other speakers mentioned. Leylandii cypress trees are imports that were brought to Ireland in the 1980s. They were fashionable and were planted around bungalows and as windbreakers around farmyards. They offer nothing for wildlife or habitats. They are ugly, shapeless trees that catch wind and are the first trees to fall when we have a storm. If we look at what Mother Nature gave Ireland, she gave us ash, beech and birch trees that lose their leaves in winter. The wind can run through them and, mostly, they will not fall. It is high time we say that we are not importing any more saplings of these awful trees that have no purpose here. Let us get rid of them. They only came here 20 or 30 years ago. We cannot claim that they are anything native or bring some natural heritage. They certainly do not.

There needs to be some support for farmers in respect of ash dieback. At present, 40% to 50% of ash trees have either advanced or early onset ash dieback. Farmers need to be supported to fell those trees or someone at least needs to do surveys of the roadside trees. I have seen what they are like. They are hollowed out and with a gust of wind, they just snap and fall over. It is not so much that they fall into a field. These trees fall onto roads with trucks or cars. For an oncoming motorist, it is a life or death situation when a tree falls onto a public thoroughfare during high winds.

On the farming community, I am very disappointed to see - I am a farmer so I have skin in the game - that TAMS does not provide for stock-proof bovine barbed wire fencing. Every type of electric fencing, such as pig and sheep fencing, is included but no standard barbed wire fencing is covered under TAMS. At the moment, every ditch around rural Ireland has trees down on fences and there are cattle break-outs. It is just a simple thing that could be included in TAMS so that farmers could have their outer boundaries stock-proofed, and cattle would be retained in the farm and would not be out on public roads or climbing over fences that fell during the storm.

There was a big national debate on homeowners of new houses - many Members were on local radio about it - with their fabulous air-to-heat systems. These are incredible systems that are the envy of all of us, yet Storm Éowyn was a disaster for those people. They had no way of heating their homes. There was a national debate but then there was suddenly radio silence. I would love to know whether there is a Government position going forward on what we can do to help these homeowners to make it a little easier.

I will raise two issues relating to schools. There should not be any obligation on schools to make up days they were closed due to storms or snow. Schools should be encouraged to have an online teaching plan and if we get three or four consecutive days of bad weather, they should revert to it. That was done so adeptly during Covid, there surely should be some plan now. This is not to overburden schools. It is just something that at the start of a new academic year, each teacher might have to submit a little template on how he or she might do things.

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Storm Éowyn caused enormous damage. We are all aware of the difficulties and hardships so many households, farmers and businesses experienced as a result of this unprecedented storm. The humanitarian assistance scheme introduced by the Minister, Dara Calleary, was most welcome. I thank him for that and for moving so swiftly.

Extreme weather events are more common today than ever before. I welcome the fact that the programme for Government has a commitment to develop an extreme weather event assistance scheme for homes, community organisations, farmers and businesses. I am aware that up to 27 March of this year, 28,000 claims had been awarded and more than €6.8 million paid out in respect of Storm Éowyn. The amount of damage done to homes, garages, farms, sheds, warehouses and businesses by Storm Éowyn was extensive. Not all were fully covered by insurance and, therefore, many of these properties cannot be repaired or replaced quickly enough, if cash funds are not available.

We need to have our farmers and businesses back up and running as quickly as possible so that they can survive. Many properties have taken a major hit and emergency support is needed now. Many businesses are struggling to survive. We need to provide a simple application process and proper funding to cover their losses. Many farmers in County Kerry have suffered huge losses, including lost sheds, roofs, etc., in every corner of the county. Farmers need help now. I spoke to the Minister for agriculture about this, and while the replacement of sheds and roofs later this year is obviously welcome, action is needed now. These sheds need to be replaced now. I call for that. Many properties have taken a major hit. Businesses that have struggled will simply not survive.

I will point out that not all farmers are covered by TAMS, as Deputies stated. They need to be covered as well. I am talking about active farmers. Businesses are vital to our economy but so is the farming community. I have been contacted by numerous farmers all over County Kerry, including Kilcummin, Beaufort, Killarney, Killorglin, Glencar, the parish of Glenbeigh where I live, Dromod, Cahersiveen, Brosna, Gneevgullia, Tuosist, Dingle, Rathmore, Lauragh, Kenmare, Barraduff - I might as well mention the last couple - Ballydavid, Knocknagoshel, Castleisland, Scartaglen, Ventry, Farranfore, Ballinskelligs, Waterville and Valentia Island. I have been contacted by farmers and businesses throughout mid, south, east and west Kerry. They all need our support now.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Cheann Comhairle. Déanaim comhghairdeas léi ar an vóta inniu. It is great to be able to talk as backbenchers on the first Private Members' debate for which we have time. Everybody should get time here. I am sharing with Government backbenchers, although Deputy Nolan and I are not in that category.

I praise all the front-line staff, especially those in the ESB, outdoor council staff, the Civil Defence, the Red Cross, contractors, including agri-contractors and plant contractors, farmers, volunteers and nurses, who go out all the time. We used to call them district or community nurses. I lament one fear uasal, John English, who was a wonderful farmer and contractor and a great family man. He died only last week and was put to rest at Castlegrace where he lived. He needed power for equipment he used due to his ill health which, thankfully, he got, and he died peacefully.

Storm Éowyn highlighted the dangers of the Government's energy policies and grants, which left people sitting in the cold, with no grants or planning and no way to heat their homes. It is pure unadulterated nonsense that people are forced to build houses, when getting planning in the country, which is so hard to get, with no chimneys and no way of heating anything. I hope we learn the lessons from that.

We should also support small organic growers, which have been significantly hit. They are not able to apply for the grant because their incomes are too low and are not included in it.

Trees and hedges by roadsides should not be there.

I asked for the hedgecutting period to be extended by a fortnight or a month this time but no because the Government is still being controlled by the Green Party. Health and safety must trump the birds and the bees and all of that stuff. We must also do forward planning for two or three generations, something like the Welsh Assembly did, so we would have generators, power and alternative energy. We are cutting off our nose to spite our face. I know the Greens have been run out of office but the problem is they have people appointed in different official positions who will continue to implement those policies, unless an Rialtas takes this by the horns and goes back to nature. Let nature do its work.

I have to mention ash dieback and the failure of successive Governments over the past 15 or 20 years. Farmers are powerless due to the way the issue has been treated, as are foresters. I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, well because the former Minister of State, Pippa Hackett, single-handedly destroyed forestry. We need to think wisely and smartly, not have all these fanciful schemes because when the storms hit and the power goes out, people are perished in their homes and cannot cook, boil an egg or do little else. They cannot watch the news or do anything else and are switched off from reality. We need to change our policies.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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I am glad to get the opportunity to speak on this motion. I am aware that many people are yet to receive a response to applications they submitted under the humanitarian assistance scheme. I am engaging with the Department to see how this process might be escalated given that it is now almost two months since the storm. Last month, I submitted a number of parliamentary questions to the Minister on behalf of a number of people who had received a payment under stages 1 and 2 of the humanitarian assistance scheme, asking whether additional resources would be allocated given the scale of need. I did this after I was contacted by a constituent who informed me he had applied for the scheme after his family was left with power and heating for over three days. All the food in the family's fridge and freezer was spoiled and their only source of hot food was to eat from takeaways. They had no heating other than a portable gas fire which was moved from room to room to heat the house. Because of all of the food that was wasted and the purchase of takeaway food and bottles of gas to try to heat some of the house, the family decided to apply for the humanitarian aid scheme as the father was in receipt of a social welfare payment. They received a reply to inform them that they had been awarded the measly sum of just €15 to cover the extra costs for a family of four. It was put to me that this amount would not even cover the VAT rate on the costs they had incurred. This is totally unacceptable and needs to be revisited.

This motion calls on the Government to provide clarity as to the duration of the scheme's application window, to expand the humanitarian assistance scheme to businesses and farmers and to ensure a thorough and timely fulfilment of reviews submitted by scheme applicants who have been refused or have not been satisfied with the amount awarded to them. I agree with those calls, which is why I will support the motion. These are reasonable demands, notwithstanding the often unreasonable nature of the party proposing them.

Speaking more generally, the political impact of the recent storm has been to blow the roof off the carefully constructed narrative that Ireland's major infrastructural deficits are a thing of the past. Even allowing for the storm being a relatively rare nature event, it was an international embarrassment to see the country crippled by such extensive damage to its electricity, telecoms and water infrastructure. I commend the communities who worked together to get through it, the many who made their community centres available and the Eir workers.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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Chuala muid an díospóireacht. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis na Baill a thug páirt sa díospóireacht iontach sin agus gabhaim buíochas leo. Go mórmhór, gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as an rún a chur os comhair na Dála. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis na hoifigigh agus leis na baill den phobal a thug cuairteanna agus tacaíocht dá gcomharsana tar éis na stoirme agus gabhaim buíochas leo.

I begin by congratulating the Ceann Comhairle on having the confidence of the House and wish her well in the term ahead. It is important to thank all Members of the House for their contributions and for raising many pertinent, relevant and real issues. I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice, in particular, for his balanced and genuine approach. I thank Sinn Féin Deputies for their contributions as well. I thank the Minister, Deputy Calleary, for his hands-on approach post the storm and the flexibility and compassion he showed.

As all speakers noted, everyone living in our communities understands the challenges posed by Storm Éowyn. They were exceptional. As Deputy Connolly stated, there were 183 km/h winds in Connemara. These hurricane winds were recorded along the western seaboard. Many different people and communities were severely impacted and left without services or power, as Deputy Mattie McGrath eloquently stated. The Government understands the frustration, upset and trauma. We have spoken to many of the people affected. I listened to the concerns expressed tonight in respect of the supports available to householders, businesses and farmers. If we are being honest, we must take stock of the fact that science is telling us our weather events will become more severe. I live in Cork city which was flooded. We were told it was a one-in-100-years event. As Deputy Gould will know, Cork floods regularly now. Some people do not want to see any progress regarding flood relief works in Cork city. They need to look into the science. As the Minister, Deputy Calleary, stated, we must learn lessons from the storm.

Flexibility, compassion and guidance were themes in Members' contributions to this debate and will have to be the hallmark of the Government's response. While I recognise the valid contributions of Deputies who expressed frustration and concern, there were aspects of the response to the storm that worked well. First, the key role played by the community and voluntary sector must be commended and those involved must be thanked. There was a meitheal-type response in many ways and I thank everybody for their efforts and for stepping up to assist their neighbours, families, communities, businesses, sporting groups and voluntary organisations. During Covid and in the response to Storm Éowyn, it was the community and voluntary sector that stepped up and showed how we, as a country, epitomised the best of neighbourliness and showed person-to-person engagement. It is also important to recognise the public sector organisations which worked tirelessly to support people affected by the storm.

If we are to have a post mortem or a reflection on the response to Storm Éowyn, the most important issue will be the protection of life. Sadly, there was one fatality, but the activation of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group saved lives. We need to look at this again. Some people criticise the different colour-coded warnings or say there has been one warning too many or it is a case of the boy who cried wolf. Storm Éowyn showed the importance of storm warnings and colour coding. As previous speakers stated, once the storm passed, the focus was on the restoration of power and services and the provision of humanitarian assistance.

I thank the ESB crews and other crews who went out after the storm to restore power in very difficult and treacherous conditions. The National Emergency Co-ordination Group and its relevant subgroups met every day from the date of its establishment on 22 January until Monday, 10 February, with the Government Information Service issuing daily press releases to keep people informed. The key priority of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group after the storm passed was, and remains, the restoration of power, water, telecommunications and other services to homes, farms and businesses and the provision of humanitarian assistance to those worst affected by the storm.

It should be noted that, as soon as it was possible, local authorities, working with the support of the other members of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group subgroup on humanitarian assistance, led and co-ordinated a local level response to the needs of people significantly impacted by the storm.

10 o’clock

As the Minister said, teams are still working actively on issues and the review is still open. As Deputy Lawless mentioned, they can also contact the Department. Emergency response hubs are activated to assist people with basic needs such as water, hot food, phone charging, broadband access and showering facilities, with approximately 380 hubs established at the peak of the response. We should pay tribute to that enormous community engagement effort.

I agree completely with Deputy Fitzmaurice that the regulator of telecommunications has a role to play. The chief executive of the ESB was very quick to come in and speak about raising prices, but the Deputy is right. That is why the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, met the communication providers and they have a role. The level of customer service by the communications companies leaves much to be desired. I have spoken to people on the islands and on parts of the western seaboard who have been badly affected. They spoke to me about the lack of a person to talk to and engage with in the telecommunication companies. The Ministers, Deputies O'Donovan and Calleary, and I will take that up for the Deputy.

The workers in the local authorities, the ESB, Uisce Éireann and Government Departments worked long and hard to support people who needed support. People tonight spoke about the Department of Social Protection, which is still working to process the humanitarian assistance scheme applications while also looking at the whole issue of social welfare supplementary allowance applications. That is something we should acknowledge.

As Members have said, we must look at the effect of the storm and subsequent outages of power, water and communications on small and medium-sized enterprises. We have listened to the views expressed by Members tonight in that regard.

In his contribution, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, spoke about generators. The Government will look at the scheme for the provision of generators and the Minister, Deputy Heydon, will look at roofs for sheds. I have had communication from members of my party, including councillors from the western seaboard, complaining about shed roofs being blown away. Equally, it is about the community centre being the hub and, as Deputy Fitzmaurice said, about that place of heat, protection and shelter. It is something we should look at again in the round. The community and voluntary sector showed the importance of our community centre investment fund with investment at the heart of our communities.

We appreciate the solidarity shown by our European neighbours, for which I thank them, in terms of 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. On behalf of the Government, I thank crews from the North, the United Kingdom, Austria, Finland, Germany, Scotland, France and Norway who came to the aid of our ESB crews to support the recovery effort.

We should thank local and national media because they provided safety messaging and information to the public prior to and during the storm. It again shows the importance of our local media.

I thank all Members for their contributions to this debate. It was important to hear the articulation of the genuine concerns expressed on behalf their constituents living in communities affected directly by the storm. We must learn from the mistakes as well as what we did right and ensure that will be put to good effect. As science has shown us, there is no doubt that more storms of different types are coming and we must be ready for them.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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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.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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In 2024, the ESB made €706 million in profit. At the same time the ESB and the Government have failed to put the proper infrastructure in place to prevent the loss of electricity that carried on for weeks in some areas because of Storm Éowyn. While the ESB decides what to do with €706 million in profit, some people are struggling to keep the light and heat on, and to pay their bills in the middle of one of the worst cost-of-living crises in the history of the State.

That is not just me saying it or Sinn Féin saying it. Just this week, the ESRI has said that low-income households had to make high-risk changes to their finances to cope with the cost-of-living crisis. People are taking on more debt. They are using up whatever savings they have. They are cutting back on essentials like food, clothes and energy because they are struggling and running into arrears and borrowing money. While I know some people in my constituency are going to the credit union, others have to go to loan sharks because there is nowhere else they can get money. People are struggling and we are seeing high levels of stress and mental health issues, especially for parents with young children. The pressure on them is unbelievable.

In 2023, Uisce Éireann made €329 million and made hundreds more millions in 2024. At the same time, Uisce Éireann cannot supply safe drinking water in Cork. We have a public health crisis in Cork while at the same time we have a cost-of-living crisis nationally. The Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael agenda of privatisation with Uisce Éireann or other aspects has caused huge damage.

The Minister brought forward an amendment here, but he failed to include sporting organisations, voluntary groups and many others which have been affected by the storm but are not being supported. I again ask the Minister to look at those groups.

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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The approach to this scheme has been unnecessarily petty and insulting to many of my constituents who suffered enormously after Storm Éowyn, particularly elderly and vulnerable individuals who were left to fend for themselves in many cases. Many in my constituency feel they were abandoned despite the assurances given by Government that everyone would be looked after.

I have been inundated with queries from people whose humanitarian assistance scheme, HAS, applications were rejected. I have had people who cannot understand how their neighbour who lost electricity for the same length of time as them and faced the same additional costs as them had their application granted but theirs was refused. An individual was in touch who went 16 days without electricity and had their application refused. How can that be justified? It has now been suggested that loss of food is not covered under the scheme or that the applicant must specify that he or she had to spend money on things like eating out rather than just losing the contents of the fridge or freezer. This is a very cruel approach caused by the failure to issue clear guidelines on this scheme even though the Department was repeatedly asked to provide them. If people are without electricity and have lost the contents of their fridge and freezer, they will face additional food costs. They have to eat out or they have to eat somehow. As suggested by the Minister, they cannot claim for it under their home insurance. Policies have excesses and people do not want to increase their premiums.

There was an attempt to close the scheme without anybody being informed. That caused huge confusion. The Government promise to businesses and farmers, many of whom suffered enormous damage, was that they would be supported, but those promises have proven to be empty words. Despite our calls, nothing has been put in place for businesses or farms. That needs to be looked at. The Minister needs to recognise all of the issues with this scheme, ensure people who had their applications refused will be reviewed, and that something will be issued to the people who deserve support. The reality is many people do not want to beg for a payment and they are not going to request a review. For any applications that have not yet had a decision made on them, especially at the later stages of the HAS, please ensure they are assessed fairly and that people are adequately compensated. Please ensure there is proper preparation for future weather events.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister and everyone who contributed to the debate. I reiterate my thanks and that of my party to every person who stepped up and responded in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn. I want to respond to some of the Minister's contribution. We will work with the Minister, and right across the Dáil, to ensure future responses are fit for purpose and that those very famous lessons that have to be learned are indeed learned and acted upon.

There was confusion and the Minister acknowledged it himself. I have been contacted by people who were told by officials that the scheme was closed. The Minister says now it is open. I welcome that it will be open until 25 April, but the Minister needs to publicise that now. There are TDs in this Chamber who did not know. These are people who are very closely engaged in it. It is not very fair to say, "The scheme was never closed; what are you talking about?" The Minister knows, and I know, that people were told over the phone when they looked for assistance that the scheme had closed. The Minister needs to make it abundantly clear to every single person who might potentially benefit from it that they are in a position to be able to apply.

I welcome the commitment from the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, that small to medium enterprises will be looked at. I am dying to know what that will look like. I can commit absolutely to working with the Minister of State on that.

In the few seconds remaining to me I will read into the record some correspondence from a constituent of mine, lest anyone go home thinking this is only a problem in certain areas and not a problem in Dublin. I will call him John. That is not his name but I will not put his name on the record. He said:

Like many people I was told in my welfare office to complete the form and return it to them. It is not means tested they said. I filled it out and I returned it as I was told to put down what I lost. I had no damage to my home just the food in my fridge and freezer, which I was told to put down. What I didn't put down was the €300 I paid so that we could eat some hot food and buy €200 worth of fuel for our open fire just to keep us warm. There was no timeline on the form to have it returned and we weren't asked for receipts.

He did not get a penny. He was confused and the people dealing with him were also confused. He is going to have to pay back that money he spent because he does not have it. He will be paying that back now for a very long time. There was confusion. I welcome that the Minister has said this. I look forward to working with the Minister to ensure the next scheme is fit for purpose.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 2 April 2025.