I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding support for householders, businesses and farmers affected by Storm Éowyn. On Tuesday, 1 April, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now.
Support for Householders, Businesses and Farmers Affected by Storm Éowyn: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Louise O'Reilly on Tuesday, 1 April 2025:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes:
— Storm Éowyn made landfall in Ireland on 23rd January, 2025, breaking all-time record wind speeds; and
— the scale of damage and disruption to transport, energy, water, telecommunications and internet services was unprecedented, exposing the fragility of our infrastructure, in the face of an ever-worsening climate crisis;
further notes that:
— the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS), was activated on the 23rd January, 2025, to assist all those affected across the country by Storm Éowyn;
— the scheme was intended to offer immediate supports, including to provide food or shelter (Stage 1); replacement of white goods and other essential household items (Stage 2); or to provide supports to ensure the home or accommodation of the applicant was brought back to a habitable condition in the aftermath of a storm (Stage 3);
— those right across the country were encouraged to apply for the scheme, with the Taoiseach assuring the public that the scheme was "open to those in need"; and
— the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke TD, assured the public that "The Government remains committed to supporting businesses through this recovery period and beyond. We will continue engaging with the business community to monitor emerging needs and ensure appropriate responses are in place.";
notes with concern that:
— some 768,000 homes, farms and businesses were left without electricity in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, with power only being restored to all homes by 12th February;
— some 270,000 homes were left without internet access in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn with EirGrid taking over two weeks to restore broadband to every affected customer;
— figures indicate that damage to households will total almost €112 million, while commercial claims will run to just under €122 million;
— no humanitarian assistance was provided to businesses or farms;
— the HAS appeared to have closed for an unspecified period of time, and without informing the public;
— thus far, of the 133,774 applications from people in need made to the HAS, only 45,744 has been paid out, that is to say, only 34 per cent of applications to the HAS were ever paid out;
— differing reports suggest that Stage 1 claims were compensated on an ad-hoc case by case basis with no clear instructions on what items merited compensation; and
— to this day, the HAS has only paid out €10.5 million in financial support to applicants, and this is blatantly insufficient given the extent of property damage in the wake of the storm;
commends the work of our frontline ESB, EirGrid and Uisce Éireann workers, together with emergency responders, carers, logistics and supply chain workers and community hub volunteers, volunteers from local GAA clubs and men and women's sheds and other voluntary organisations who worked to relieve the effects of the storm;
condemns the Government for:
— failing to provide clear instructions to departmental staff dealing with HAS application forms to determine what was and was not covered under the scheme; and
— closing the scheme without informing the public; and
calls on the Government to:
— provide clarity as to the duration of the scheme's application window;
— expand the HAS to businesses and farmers;
— ensure a thorough and timely fulfilment of reviews submitted by HAS applicants who have been refused or are not satisfied with the amount awarded; and
— put forward a comprehensive climate adaptation strategy to ensuring all communities will be climate resistant by 2050.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"commends the rapid response by local authorities, Electricity Supply Board (ESB) Networks, Uisce Éireann, Community Welfare Officers, Department of Social Protection staff and others, following Storm Éowyn, and this response, supported by the Defence Forces, Government agencies, Civil Defence and the Voluntary Emergency Services, working with community volunteers, non-governmental organisations and community organisations, is an example of the collaborative approach we have in place to ensure a rapid response during such events;
acknowledges and appreciates the solidarity shown by our European Union neighbours, in the activation of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, and subsequent donations of generators to provide additional power and resilience to assist restoration across key sectors;
extends sincere thanks to crews from Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, Austria, Finland, Germany, Scotland, France and Norway, who came to the aid of our ESB crews to support the recovery effort, and to those ESB crews and skilled ESB retirees who deployed to the most impacted areas in response to the damage caused by Storm Éowyn;
commends all voluntary and community initiatives supporting individuals, families, communities, and businesses through this exceptional and difficult time; and
recognises the contribution of the media, both local and national, in providing effective safety messaging and information to the public prior to, during and after Storm Éowyn; and
notes that:
— Storm Éowyn was unprecedented in living memory in terms of its scale and impact;
— the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS) was activated on 23rd January, 2025, ahead of the arrival of Storm Éowyn, to ensure that urgent support was made available to those who needed it;
— the HAS operates as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme and is delivered by the Community Welfare Service in the Department of Social Protection;
— the Community Welfare Service was available on the ground throughout the storm to assist the most vulnerable customers, including offering out of hours supports and travelling to the islands to ensure people got the help they needed;
— when activated in response to a storm, the HAS operates over three stages:
— Stage 1: payments are made on an urgent basis during and in the immediate aftermath of an event, to assist people with urgent needs with respect to shelter, sustenance and clothing, and given the urgent and immediate nature of these payments, assistance is not means tested;
— Stage 2: payments are made on an exceptional basis to help people replace furniture and other household goods lost or damaged during a storm event, and these payments are made to people who have a valid reason for non-insurance and who do not have the resources to fund repairs or replacement themselves; and
— Stage 3: payments are made on an exceptional basis to help people with structural repairs to homes, and these payments are made to people who have a valid reason for non-insurance and who do not have the resources to fund repairs or replacement themselves;
— the HAS is not a compensation scheme to recognise disruption, damage or losses incurred as a consequence of a weather event;
— such losses are proper to be recovered from insurance policies, but the scheme will provide support where a person has a valid reason for non-insurance and can demonstrate that they do not have the resources to make good the losses incurred;
— up to 27th March, 2025, the Community Welfare Service has registered almost 76,000 claims as part of the Stage 1 response;
— all applications received continue to be registered on the Department of Social Protection systems, and will be fully processed;
— up to 27th March, 2025, over 28,000 claims have been awarded, with a total of over €6.8 million being paid in respect of Storm Éowyn related claims;
— in recognition of the extended nature of the power and other utility outages caused by Storm Éowyn, Stage 1 applications continue to be accepted for a longer period than would normally be the case after the onset of an event, and claims under Stage 1 will continue to be accepted until Friday 25th April, 2025, over three months after the storm event;
— this exceptional extended period allows people who may not have had the opportunity to submit a claim in a timely manner to make an application;
— Stage 2 and 3 payments also remain open for applications, in respect of losses incurred, and will remain open for some months to come;
— any applicant who is not satisfied with a decision in respect of their claim for assistance, under any stage of the HAS, can seek a review, and this will be dealt with promptly; and
— in terms of future planning, the Programme for Government - Securing Ireland's Future includes a commitment to develop an 'Extreme Weather Event Assistance Scheme for homes, community organisations, farmers and businesses'.".
- (Minister for Social Protection)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 88; Níl, 72; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Aird, William.
- Boland, Grace.
- Brabazon, Tom.
- Brennan, Brian.
- Brennan, Shay.
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Butterly, Paula.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Malcolm.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Michael.
- Callaghan, Catherine.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carrigy, Micheál.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
- Clendennen, John.
- Collins, Niall.
- Connolly, John.
- Cooney, Joe.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Cummins, John.
- Currie, Emer.
- Daly, Martin.
- Dempsey, Aisling.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Dolan, Albert.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Fleming, Seán.
- Foley, Norma.
- Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
- Geoghegan, James.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Heneghan, Barry.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Keogh, Keira.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Maxwell, David.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McCarthy, Noel.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McCormack, Tony.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Séamus.
- McGreehan, Erin.
- McGuinness, John.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Moynihan, Shane.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Murphy, Michael.
- Neville, Joe.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connell, Maeve.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Meara, Ryan.
- O'Shea, John Paul.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
- Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
- Ó Muirí, Naoise.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Roche, Peter.
- Scanlon, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Timmins, Edward.
- Toole, Gillian.
- Troy, Robert.
- Ward, Barry.
Níl
- Ahern, Ciarán.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Bennett, Cathy.
- Brady, John.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Byrne, Joanna.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Cummins, Jen.
- Daly, Pa.
- Devine, Máire.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrelly, Aidan.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Gibney, Sinéad.
- Gogarty, Paul Nicholas.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Graves, Ann.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Hayes, Eoin.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Hearne, Rory.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Lawless, Paul.
- Lawlor, George.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- McGettigan, Donna.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- McGuinness, Conor D.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
- Ní Raghallaigh, Shónagh.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Robert.
- O'Flynn, Ken.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Hara, Louis.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
- Quaide, Liam.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Rice, Pádraig.
- Sheehan, Conor.
- Sherlock, Marie.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Wall, Mark.
- Ward, Charles.
- Ward, Mark.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and Emer Currie; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Amendment declared carried.
Motion, as amended, put and declared carried.