Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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154. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the contingency plans the State has in place to deal with widespread power outages similar to those experienced on mainland Europe. [22229/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government 2025 placed an emphasis on resilience across all sectors, including the energy sector.

Ireland’s emergency management is guided by the Strategic Emergency Management (SEM) Framework. The SEM outlines the structures and objectives for coordinating a whole-of-government approach to emergencies that warrant a national-level response. Central to the SEM is the Lead Government Department principle. The SEM Guidelines identify the Lead Government Department (LGD) in a range of potential emergency scenarios. My Department is the Lead Department for energy related emergencies - which would involve disruptions to the supply of electricity, gas or oil - and supports other Lead Departments for emergencies as appropriate. It is the role of the of the LGD to initiate the national-level emergency response. The LGD will request the Office of Emergency Planning (OEP) to convene the National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG) when relevant triggers have occurred. NECG meetings are held in the National Emergency Coordination Centre (NECC).

At the local level, the Framework for Major Emergency Management (MEM) outlines the arrangements and structures for front line public sector emergency management. The MEM facilitates the coordination of the Principal Response Agencies (PRAs), namely An Garda Síochána, the HSE, and Local Authorities, by assigning clear operational roles.

Most recently, the response to Storm Éowyn was coordinated by the NECG and its subgroups, chaired by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage as the LGD for severe weather emergencies. Storm Éowyn caused widespread power outages and unprecedented damage to the electricity grid. As such, the response tested the NECG structures, offering practical insights into its operation and what can be anticipated in potential future energy emergencies.

Emergency exercises are carried out to stress-test the systems and procedures in place to ensure that the Government, State agencies and wider stakeholders are prepared to effectively manage a range of potential emergency scenarios.

EirGrid has robust emergency plans in place and regularly tests our grid’s resilience to extreme events as part of emergency exercises. Such exercises would include testing the readiness of EirGrid to manage and restore power in the event of a large-scale failure.

The Deputy might wish to note that an Emergency Exercise – Exercise Cathal - took place last December. The table-top exercise tested the whole of government response to a prolonged gas outage in Ireland as a result of the gas interconnectors between Ireland and the UK being compromised. Exercise Cathal was attended by over 80 representatives from Government Departments and agencies. The learnings and recommendations are being progressed and these include a renewed emphasis on business continuity planning across Government Departments and having greater visibility on business continuity planning in place for the sectors most impacted.

EirGrid is a member of the ENTSO-E, an association which represents Transmission System Operators (TSOs) from across Europe, and various working groups which focus on cross-border collaboration. Regarding the Spain/Portugal outage, EirGrid and my Department expect to be updated with post-event analysis in the coming weeks through various fora.