Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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122. To ask the Minister for Finance the way his Department responded to the declaration of the status red alert weather warning in respect of its employees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47928/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is the Lead Government Department for coordinating the response to severe weather emergencies at national level. My Department is one of the Departments that participate in the National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG), which met on 15 October 2017 in anticipation of the arrival of Storm Ophelia.

On the basis of advice provided by the NECG, the Secretary General of my Department decided to close Department offices to all but essential staff on Monday October 16th. This decision was notified to staff late on Sunday evening by means of email, text and via my Department’s twitter account, which is linked to its website.