Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)

I raise the issue of the impending storms that are about to hit the west at the weekend. The review into the co-ordinated response into Storm Éowyn needs to be published and made available to us before the forthcoming storm season kicks in. Not enough has been done to ready the western part of the country for the next season of storms. We still have many broadband lines that are down and leaning against hedges. Electrical wires have been repaired but a permanent solution has not been put in place for them. I do not believe the network is resilient enough to ready us for the forthcoming storm season.

More than 7,600 houses were without power after Storm Éowyn in February. Some were for a few hours but many were for a few days and others for a few weeks. I believe we need to learn from these lessons and provide constituents with the assurances that we have taken every possible measure to prepare for the forthcoming season. I support Deputy Micheál Carrigy's call for this earlier this week. Deputy Carrigy is the Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It is timely that this report and review should be published.