Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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282. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will report on the national emergency co-ordination meetings that he attended prior to and during Storm Ophelia. [44681/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department is designated as the Lead Government Department for coordinating the response to severe weather emergencies. My Department’s National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM) is mandated by the Secretary General to decide if and when to convene a National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG) on behalf of my Department and the National Director, or his representatives, are mandated to chair any NECG convened by my Department.

Local authorities are designated as the lead agency for co-ordinating and delivering the response to severe weather emergencies and lead the local response in collaboration with the other Principal Response Agencies – An Garda Síochána and the HSE - in accordance with the mechanisms set out in the “Framework for Major Emergency Management”.

The NDFEM Severe Weather Assessment Team met on Friday morning 13 October to review information on the emerging situation and the likely track and impact of Storm Ophelia. Relevant response agencies were informed of the coming storm that morning, and a preliminary notice was issued that it was likely that an NECG would be convened. In light of weather forecasts and Met Éireann’s indication that they would likely be issuing a RED LEVEL weather warning for Atlantic Coastal counties and ORANGE LEVEL for the remainder of the country, a final decision was made by the National Director on Friday afternoon to convene a NECG meeting for Sunday 15 October and I was informed accordingly.

The preparatory work continued on Saturday 14 October and the NECG met in the National Emergency Coordination Centre on the morning of Sunday 15 October to review the latest information relating to Ophelia, to review preparedness for the anticipated storm and to issue appropriate public safety messages. Met Éireann continued to work with the National Directorate throughout the day and Red level wind warnings were issued for the entire country on Sunday evening.

Work on monitoring the arrival of the storm began at 6.00 am on Monday 16 October. The NECG met formally three times on Monday 16 October to assess the impact of Storm Ophelia as it moved up the country and to identify emerging issues. The objective of Monday’s NECG meetings was to bring all Government Departments and relevant services together to manage national level issues and support the local response. The operation in the National Emergency Co-ordination Centre enabled continuous updating and provision of the latest information regarding the impacts of the storm to the public. It also enabled consistent public safety messaging as the storm impacted on different areas of the country.

The NECG met twice on Tuesday 17 October to co-ordinate the activities of the agencies involved with clean-up and recovery, with a view to prioritising restoration of critical infrastructure. The NECG also collated updates on the post-storm situation and assessed emerging issues in the aftermath of the storm, as well as providing the focus for public information.

The NECG met at 14.00 hrs on Wednesday 18 October to review the on-going clean up, service restoration and recovery operations. Given the situation at the time, and in light of the very considerable progress already made in clearing roads at that stage and the local authorities’ capacity to manage the situation at local level, the decision was taken by the Chair to stand down the NECG as a formal national level co-ordination mechanism. However, the NDFEM continued to liaise with national infrastructure providers and local authorities and took any actions that were deemed necessary.

I attended the three NECG meetings on Monday 16 October and the two meetings on Tuesday 17 October. My colleague, Minister of State Damien English T.D., attended the NECG meeting on Sunday 15 October, the three meetings on Monday 16 October and the two meetings on Tuesday 17 October.