Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 February 2025
276. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline the funding that can be provided to Clare County Council to help offset costs incurred during Storm Éowyn; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8809/25]
View answerMy Department is designated as the Lead Government Department responsible for coordinating a response to severe weather emergencies at national level, as set out in the Strategic Emergency Management (SEM) Framework (2017), where warranted. The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management within my Department undertakes this role and works closely with local authority Severe Weather Assessment Teams and Met Éireann.
Since 2009, my Department has made financial support of circa €100 million available to assist local authorities in meeting the unbudgeted costs of clean-up and necessary immediate works, including for exceptional overtime payments, the hire of plant and heavy machinery, the purchase of materials required for the clean-up and the hire of contractors associated with significant severe weather emergency events.
This is in recognition of the exceptional nature of the activities carried out by local authorities in responding to these types of emergencies and the fact that the costs of these un-programmed activities could not be foreseen in annual expenditure planning. This practice is considered a vital enabler to ensure a rapid response by local authorities, providing the assurance that the availability of resources is not a limiting factor.
In the context of Storm Éowyn and the exceptional nature of the response activities carried out by local authorities, clearly the costs of these activities were not budgeted for within existing resources. As always, my Department, in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, will work with local authorities to support them over the coming months, as they co-ordinate recovery and restoration works.
It should be noted that funding of repair of public infrastructure is undertaken by the relevant Departments in line with its sectoral responsibility. Capital costs associated with infrastructural damage, for example damage to the roads network and coastal protection infrastructure (where relevant), are funded under relevant sectoral arrangements.
