Aubrey McCarthy (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here. It is concerning when I hear my colleagues talking about people only being reconnected today and yesterday even though the storm occurred on 21 January. That is concerning, but great thanks must go out to the emergency workers in the ESB, Irish Water and local councils who have been on the ground since the storm hit. Their work embodies the spirit of public service.

However, in the wake of Storm Éowyn, we must ask whether we could have done more. I believe we could. Could we have responded faster and been better prepared? While we cannot control the weather, though the forecasting was bang-on, we can control how we plan for the next extreme event that will come across our radar.

One of my concerns is the impact, already mentioned by my colleague, of power outages on small and medium-size businesses with credit card machines, etc. They had no backup or generator, so they suffered significant losses due to the prolonged outages. We must explore better ways to make them more resilient to storms. It could mean providing secure alternative power sources. Our neighbours in Europe brought over generators and so on as contingency plans but we need to take proactive measures so businesses can withstand such storms effectively.

Another matter that has been mentioned is the urgent need for community response infrastructure, or community hubs as such. These are safe places that could be equipped with emergency power and essential water supplies. This needs to be seriously considered by the Minister of State. Government-funded generators for these hubs would ensure people in rural areas are not left isolated and vulnerable. In other countries satellite systems such as Starlink provide emergency communications. This point has been mentioned. It is time for Ireland to explore such alternatives to guarantee communities remain connected.

Storm Éowyn tested us but it showed communities sticking together, and there is strength in that. We need to work better to build a more adaptable Ireland, one that does not just react to storms, but is ready for them.