If the Chair will indulge me for a moment, as this is the first time I have spoken in this historic Chamber as an elected Member of Dáil Éireann, I would like to thank the people of Kildare South for putting their faith in me. I assure them that I will work tirelessly for them, their families and all the great communities that we have in that most important county in the State. I thank my wife, Michelle; my sons, Eoin and Cathal; my father, Jack; and all the members of my family who worked so hard in recent years to support me. I also thank the many supporters and friends who helped me in so many ways during recent campaigns. It is an honour I do not take lightly.
As other Members, including the Labour Party leader, have done, I will put on the record the thanks of the Labour Party to all the front-line responders who put their lives at risk during Storm Éowyn to ensure the general public were protected. They have done so during similar events previously and they continue to do so when called upon. We should never forget first responders and the work they do. We should always continue to support them at every opportunity in the great work they do.
We must also remember that the storm, unfortunately, took a life. I send my condolences to the family of Kacper Dudek on the tragic loss of his life. I also send my condolences to the family that Deputy Conway-Walsh has just informed the House of. My own county of Kildare did not escape the hardship and destruction of the storm. Indeed, I have spent time in recent days with a number of constituents whose power only returned in the past number of days. In the run-up to the storm, we saw some great examples of community spirit as other Members of this House have already said, with local bus companies in my area offering lifts to older people and with neighbours looking after one another at all times. Hotels offered food and washing facilities. All of that is good in this country. However, as good as those intentions were before, during and after the storm, there can be no doubt that we must learn lessons in its aftermath. We must plan better for the future. We are facing a climate crisis that is undeniable. This storm was described as a once-in-100-years storm but such storms will become more regular. We cannot afford the unco-ordinated response we saw in many places over the past 12 days.
Like other Members of this House, I took multiple calls from constituents in the aftermath of the storm who had no idea when their electricity would be restored. One such call was from the family of a young child who is recovering from major surgery. There was no heating in their home when it was vital to the recovery of that child. I also received multiple calls from the families of vulnerable people who felt isolated and cold, and who could not communicate with their loved ones. The bottom line is that these people are the most vulnerable in our society. They include a 75-year-old lady who has to care for her husband who has dementia. She did not know how she would care for him or how she could explain to him what was going on with this massive change in their lives. Their power only came back at the weekend. This lady, like so many of her neighbours throughout Kildare, looked after her neighbours, showing again the great spirit of so many communities in Kildare.
The first lesson we have to learn from this storm is the need to compile a definitive list of vulnerable communities and the members of those communities, as has already been mentioned. This should involve all Departments of the State. We have the knowledge in the lists of vulnerable people that are held by power supply companies. The Minister has such a list in the Department of Social Protection and there are other lists with other State bodies. I listened with interest to the comment by the Minister for the environment, who said that all sectors need to understand who their vulnerable customers are and noted the need for the relevant agencies and Departments to work together to ensure a co-ordinated approach. What we need is for the Government to take the lead. That has not happened over the past 12 days. The most vulnerable have been left behind and they are the most important people who contacted all public representatives over those days. They felt isolated and left behind.
I will also speak about the co-ordination of emergency hubs, which needs to be handled better and quicker than it was in recent days. In my own area, a number of GAA clubs have opened their doors, offering food, power and showering facilities to members and non-members alike. Those clubs include Clogherinkoe, Carbury, Allenwood and Robertstown. They came to the fore again, as they always have. They are the heartbeats of our communities. There are over 2,000 GAA clubs on this island, in every corner of the island, rural and urban. A recent suggestion made to me was that we must work with the GAA to utilise its facilities and hubs in the event of further storms and serious events. It was mentioned earlier that many of these clubs have received grants for generators, which are essential in such a scenario. Other clubs are seeking sports capital grants to avail of generators or to replace existing ones. The Government needs to work with this network of community facilities and their parent organisation to ensure they are ready for such events. We must ensure that each club has a working modern generator. That would greatly assist many communities in the aftermath of such an event in the future.
The Minister for housing said earlier that we need to work more closely with local authorities. My local authority, Kildare County Council, recently began to look at the number of community facilities within the county of Kildare. I believe that needs to be expanded throughout the State. We need to know what community facilities are available and what can be offered to communities, particularly those in rural areas, at times of emergency. It is something the Government should take on board quickly.
As other Members, including the Minister, Deputy Calleary, have said, I thank all the emergency workers, including those working for the ESB and Uisce Éireann. I pay particular tribute to Mr. Seán Murphy of the ESB. I have spoken to him often in recent days and he has, in fairness, always come back to me. It is important that we have that kind of connection with those who work in these State agencies.
I hoped the Minister for housing would be here while I finished my contribution. Some of my colleagues mentioned the issue of air-to-water systems, which have let down so many people. Many people have got on to me in recent weeks about the failure of those systems in their homes. Their chimneys were taken out as a direct result of the installation of these air-to-water systems and those people were left without heating in their homes at a time when they needed it most. We need to revisit that and come up with solutions into the future.
The power of local radio was mentioned. My local radio station, KFM, is at the heartbeat of communities. It gave out messages day in and day out and many people relied on the station.
The importance of a working grid has also been mentioned.
It has never been more important that we have a working grid. It is the topic that has been spoken about by so many communities.