According to a Social Democrats TD, the government was “missing in action” when it came to cleaning up the damage caused by Storm Éowyn, reports Breaking News.
The government can no longer “wash its hands” of the response, according to Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore, who also stated that Environment and Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien need to respond to enquiries.
According to her, the Dáil ought to have convened last week to talk about the storm response and the thousands Irish citizens who were left without broadband, water, or electricity, reports Breaking News.
Storm Eowyn destroyed houses and infrastructure, leaving 25,000 people without electricity and less than 300 without water as of Tuesday.
A 20-year-old man in County Donegal lost his life when a tree fell on his car while he was heading home from work due to the unusual weather occurrence, which also sparked a worldwide red-level alert, reports Breaking News.
Ms Whitmore said: “We should have been sitting last week, the Dáil should have been sitting last week, the country was in crisis. The fact that the government was missing in action was completely unacceptable and I think the government really needs to answer questions about that.
“Our climate is changing and has changed. This is not our first major storm and the fact that the government was not prepared is inexcusable,” reports Breaking News.
According to her, the party was requesting that Mr. O’Brien respond to enquiries concerning the government’s response, the strategy, and the response going forward.
Ireland requires “a fundamental rethink in terms of storm resilience,” according to Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
He said: “What the evidence is showing is that storms are far more severe, and they’re becoming more severe, and also the frequency of such severe storms is now without question, and therefore we have to do a fundamental re-evaluation of the grid, for example, in terms of its resilience; also in terms of back-up for the water system, in terms of at a minimum, back-up generators; also then investing in local networks,” reports Breaking News.
A “bigger, deeper dive” into Ireland’s response was required, according to Tánaiste Simon Harris.
Speaking specifically on generator supplies, Mr. Harris stated that “an awful lot more” needed to be done to get Ireland ready for severe weather occurrences.
Poland and Denmark have extended offers to Ireland for 17 generators under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, reports Breaking News.
They are being used to assist the telecoms and Uisce Éireann systems.
“I think it’s really important when this immediate phase of recovery is over and I’m conscious – this is dragging on a long time for people now – when this phase is over, I think it’s very important that we don’t just have some sort of ‘look back’ exercise like we have after any storm, but that we have a much bigger, deeper dive in terms of how communities, how local authorities, can be better prepared,” said Mr Harris, reports Breaking News.
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