Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to lend my support to Senator Murphy's request regarding the stadium in Belfast. I am a very passionate Gael from Westmeath and we hover at around the same level as Antrim in football and hurling. I used to be a frequent visitor to Casement Park. It grieves me now every time I see the footage on the news or another programme of how derelict and overgrown the stadium has become. It is vitally important that Belfast have a strong GAA centre and stadium. We are approaching the five-month anniversary of Storm Éowyn. It is important not to forget it. It is important that we have another debriefing or update debate, possibly with the Minister for Social Protection, on where we are now with the fallout – pardon the pun – from that storm. A few people have been on to me who believed they were covered by insurance but who, having gone through the rigmarole and red tape, are now only beginning to realise that it does not cover the damage they experienced. Therefore, they are looking for humanitarian aid or to apply to join humanitarian schemes, whose closing dates for application, they have been told, have passed. It is important that we do not forget and have a debriefing session with the Minister. I assume the Department of Social Protection is the relevant one because that is where we focused our attention with the supports. I ask that the Minister come to the Chamber to give any Senator with questions similar to those I have just referred to an opportunity to ask them. It would serve as a learning process, if nothing else, if there were a similar storm. We should not just move on now that we think everything is back up and running and that we think people got over Storm Éowyn. People have not got over it. There are people who are still suffering and there is still a cleanup in places. Doors are beginning to close in people’s faces owing to closing dates and deadlines for applications for support or whatever.