More supports needed to address impact of Storm Éowyn – Feighan

The Government and Department of Social Protection must provide more support to families impacted by Storm Éowyn, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Deputy Frank Feighan has said more State intervention is needed to help families across the west of Ireland, who are still dealing with the impacts of Storm Éowyn ten days later.

“There are many areas across Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo and Donegal which were badly affected by the effects of the storm.

“Almost two weeks since the storm hit, there are some areas where there is still no electricity, water, heating and online connectivity.

“The Department of Social Protection have put supports in place under the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme however it clear that there is a lot of confusion on the ground as to what exactly is available in terms of financial support to assist people.

“Many of the impacted households have never had to contact a social welfare office before and they need clear communications and guidance on the application process.

“More work needs to be done to ensure that those most impacted by the storm, particularly the elderly, receive the urgent help they require.

“There needs to be increased flexibility brought to the scheme. For homes who have been without power for two weeks, payments now need to be issued urgently by the Community Welfare Service.

“There is no time to waste, I believe the Department needs to consider providing a flat rate payment to those households still without power in order to get payments out to people as quickly as possible.

“As climate risks continue to rise, we need to recognise that there is a need to put forward more comprehensive schemes to assist homeowners impacted by extreme weather events.

“We can’t continue to have this level of disruption to people’s lives. No schools should still be closed ten days after a storm, it’s just not good enough.

“The emergency planning at national and local level needs to be reviewed on foot of what we have seen over the past ten days. All local authorities and national bodies need to feed into this.

“We have learned a lot from Storm Éowyn on how we need to deal with extreme weather, but more needs to be done. This storm has left many families, businesses and farmers devastated and we need to see the State and departments step up and address this”, concluded Deputy Feighan.