Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 288: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on the Management of Severe Weather Events in Ireland and Related Matters, July 2010, have been implemented by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32178/11]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 289: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if the consolidation of responsibilities relating to the management of severe weather events and flooding, carried out by a multitude of agencies, have been considered in view of the 2010 report into the management of severe weather events in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32179/11]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 290: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if specific flood and severe weather plans have been prepared by each of the local authorities under his remit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32180/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 288 to 290, inclusive, together.

The Office of Public works has responsibility for flood risk management in Ireland, while the response to flooding incidents is delivered by the Principal Response Agencies, led by the relevant local authorities. The principal response agencies co-ordinate their response to flooding in accordance with the 2006 Framework for Emergency Management, each operating under its own Major Emergency Plan. The co-ordination and response management arrangements may be invoked to manage a flooding incident whether a major emergency is declared or not. The Framework requires local authorities to prepare severe weather plans and flood emergency plans, as sub-plans of their Major Emergency Plan. I understand that all local authorities have Severe Weather Plans in place and, where appropriate in accordance with local risk assessment, have Flood Emergency Plans also. As lead Government Department for Severe Weather Emergencies, my Department published The Report on the Review of the Response to Exceptional Severe Weather Events of 2009-2010 in August 2011. The Report, which is available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie , describes the response to the severe weather events of January and December 2010. It describes emergency preparedness in Ireland and draws various conclusions, and makes recommendations to improve preparedness for, and increase resilience to, future severe weather events. The Government Task Force on Emergency Planning endorsed the Report prior to its publication. Relevant Government Departments and agencies are in the process of implementing the recommendations for their sectors, with a particular focus on those which need to be in place before the coming winter. Progress is being reported through the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning.

The publication of the above-mentioned Report, and the ongoing implementation of the recommendations therein addresses the recommendations of the 2010 Report of the Joint Committee on The Management of Severe Weather Events in Ireland and Related Matters in so far as they relate to my Department. The Joint Committee made a number of recommendations which are relevant to other Government Departments and agencies.

In relation to the involvement of a multitude of agencies in response to severe weather emergencies and flooding events, it is appropriate that a number of agencies are involved in accordance with their mandates and responsibilities. As outlined above, what is important is that the efforts of all are co-ordinated around common objectives, and the Framework for Major Emergency Management provides for this at the local level. When the scale of events merits national level co-ordination, which is led by my Department, the Guidelines for Co-ordinating a National Level Emergency/Crisis Response published by the Office for Emergency Planning provides a template for multi-agency co-ordination which has been shown to be effective.