Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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312. To ask the Minister for Health the way in which his Department responded to the declaration of the status red alert weather warning in relation to its own employees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47930/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government's National Emergency Co-Ordination Group advised all Government Departments to avoid any unnecessary travel and suspend all non-essential activities for the entirety of Monday 16 October 2017. Accordingly, all staff of my Department were contacted on the evening of Sunday 15 October and instructed to stay at home on Monday 16 October. A small number of essential staff engaged in contributing to the response to this critical weather event attended for duty on the morning of 16 October and while most of these staff had left the office by 12 noon to return home, certain staff involved in coordinating the health service response remained on duty and did not leave the office until it was safe to do so.