David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1014. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the directions provided to the payment of staff in the public sector and Civil Service that fall under the direction of his Department for the days during Storm Emma when staff were directed to stay at home; if deductions in pay and annual leave were made to staff in the public sector or civil service as a result of days lost during the storm; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11878/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department is based across a range of locations, primarily Dublin, Wexford and Ballina, each of which was impacted somewhat differently by Storm Emma.

For reasons of safety, staff were informed that Departmental buildings in Wexford and Dublin would close at 5pm on Wednesday 28 February; for mainly travel and also safety reasons, some staff departed prior to this time with the agreement of local managers. Non-essential staff in Dublin, Wexford and Ballina were directed that the buildings would be closed on Thursday 1 March and Friday 2 March. Due to the continuing situation in Wexford, non-essential staff there were subsequently informed that the building would remain closed on Monday 5th March.

No deductions were made to staff in respect of salary or annual leave as a result of this significant weather event.  My Department's IT systems enable staff to work from outside their main office locations using official IT equipment; therefore, while the main buildings may have been closed, it was possible for key staff to work from home during the storm. Different requirements obviously applied to individual staff in my Department who work in areas which provide essential services during such emergencies, for example, in Met Éireann, the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, housing, water, local government, ICT, facilities management and communications; certain key staff members were working from the National Emergency Coordination Centre during the storm while others were working from home.

The details requested in relation to bodies under the aegis of my Department are a matter for the individual bodies concerned. Arrangements have been put in place by each Agency to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. The contact email address for each agency is set out in the following table: