Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on his promotion to his new role. Storm Éowyn brought some of the most severe winds we have ever experienced since records began, with speeds of 184 km/h recorded at Mace Head and Carna in County Galway.At that point, the recording equipment stopped and lost power.

Thankfully – if there is something to be thankful for – the storm happened at night when the majority of people were in bed. I join the Minister in the commiseration expressed to the family of Kacper Dudek, the young man who lost his life tragically in County Donegal, who was coming from work at 5.30 a.m. Were the storm to have happened at this time of the day, people would be out and about. Some people would be doing foolish things such as testing their strength against the wind and perhaps be out trying save roofs, sheds, different bits and pieces, and things like that. Thankfully, it happened in the middle of the night.

The aftermath pushed all services to the pin of their collar and it is worth reviewing, not in a critical way but in a preparative way, for the next storm. It would be safe to assume that, with climate change, the weather and our storms are getting worse. Therefore, we have to be able to learn lessons and be better prepared for the next storm. I acknowledge the work of local communities and of farmers, landowners, homeowners and neighbours who cleared roads and cut trees where they were able and where it was safe to do so immediately the next morning. I know from experience the level of work done in my own local community as well as in other communities. Great credit is due to the emergency services and local authorities, who showed their value in terms of preparedness. Crises bring out the best in bodies and it is important to acknowledge that, and in communities as well.

I pay tribute to the ESB. It had a very tough job. It was getting very frustrating at the end for people who had gone past day four, five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten, in some cases. It had an amount of work to do to clear away fallen trees and, in some cases, fallen forests over power lines. I also acknowledge the work of international crews who came in, as Irish crews have gone abroad in times of crisis to other European countries.

It is important to note that the storm exposed weaknesses in our power network. The impact of fallen trees both on general lines and those through forests is a problem that needs to be addressed. That can be done with physical work to ensure that trees close to power lines are removed. There is no easy way to do that, unfortunately. We also have to look at the actual infrastructure in terms of the physical poles and pylons around the country. Unfortunately, there are poles that were weak, aged and shattered easily, not just in this storm but also in a previous storm we had before Christmas in Connemara, where snow on top of power lines caused poles to snap.

The storm also exposed issues with the water network. It is clear there was not the capacity to change over from electricity to generators in many plants. Even if they had generators, they did not have the capacity to switch over quickly and easily. Whether it be pumping stations or treatment plants, they were not ready for these power outages. The lack of generator capacity in the facility to seamlessly switch seemed to be present in many cases. We cannot have a situation where homes are left without water and electricity for prolonged periods. One of them is bad enough; to have two at the same time was very troubling for families, particularly larger families, who have higher water demands.

However many days we are on since the storm, we still have complaints about phone outages and broadband outages across the country. Eir is doing the best it can as broadband providers. It is clear there are staffing issues within Eir. It was not ordered or not in a capacity to rehire recently retired staff to deal with the aftermath of the storm like the ESB was able to. Eir did not do that, as far as I understand - certainly in my area. There is a small number of staff dealing with big geographical areas. Even before the storm, it was evident on the sides of roads. In many parts of my area, there were cables falling on the ground, trailing on the ground and tied into trees to keep them away from the road. The basic infrastructure that Telecom Éireann would have been able to look after back in its day is not being looked after to the same degree. It is no fault of the people on the ground because it is clear there are not enough of them; they are operating in a wide geographical area. We hear reports that some 1 million trees have fallen between power and telecom lines, which will obviously have an impact. There has to be a more co-ordinated approach between ESB, Eir and local authorities to ensure the roadside hedges are trimmed, roadside tees are cut back where they are impacting and there is considerable leeway left in forests as well. In new forestry plantations, there is a sufficient margin - I think it is a sufficient margin but maybe it is not. However, certainly in older lines, it is clear there is not.

The local authorities had a co-ordinating role and they were involved in the establishment of the hubs or, as Senator O’Loughlin said, perhaps the communities initiated those first and the councils followed on. But look, everybody is learning from these things. Hubs could only be put in place in some places, if they did not have generators, when the electricity came back. They were not there quick enough in terms of the immediate response. In that case, you would need to be able to identify hubs for future events that would have generator backup that could be up and running the next morning if a storm happened that night. Then you would have the facilities, the ability to be in a warm place, phone charging facilities, the ability to make a cup of tea, a shower facility and all that goes with that. It is important those will be put in place as well.

The forestry industry suffered severe damage and knock-on losses because of the storm. We need to look at the implications so we do not have a repeat and also look at possible help for forests to regrow. Given that full commercial forests were felled, whether they be private or Coillte forests, it will have a huge impact on the raw material that is so badly needed for the construction sector in the future as well as profits. There was a timeline to harvest that timber to ensure it is of use going forward.

I think the State did well but more could be done for the future. It is important that we learn lessons that would ensure we have a more co-ordinated response and preventative actions are put in place to keep our power lines clear. Perhaps they were better in the past, and maybe for a period of time after this storm there will be an amount of work done and then they will be forgotten about again. That is a danger. There needs to be an ongoing review and ongoing maintenance to keep the lines clear. We cannot prevent storms but we can ensure our response is as good as it can be. One would also be concerned with the trees that did not fall. Many of those trees will be now weakened by the back and forth and swaying of severe storms. They could fall more easily in the next storm, even if it is not as severe. There are many ongoing issues.

It was a great relief to all of us who suffered power outages for the power to come back. It was very difficult for those who were waiting for ten or 11 days, particularly if they were also out of water. Some of the agencies can do better, such as Uisce Éireann and Eir. They need to look at their staffing levels on the ground in terms of maintenance and response. For future events, if they can look at bringing back recently retired staff who are able to go out, as the ESB staff were, it would be positive to have boots on the ground responding to the challenges and getting people reconnected as soon as possible.

I commend the Minister and I hope he can take up some of those issues.