Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore has called for a special Oireachtas committee to be set up to examine the Government\u2019s inadequate response to Storm \u00c9owyn.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s climate spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government has insisted it will learn from mistakes made in the wake of last month\u2019s devastating storm \u2013 but there needs to be a thorough examination of what those mistakes were.<\/p>\n
\u201cFeedback from the public, particularly from those living in rural communities in the west of Ireland, suggests that people felt abandoned by the Government. The lack of contact from State bodies created the impression there was no leadership during their time of need and compounded the sense that they had been forgotten about.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important that those who were most impacted by the storm are now listened to. The lived experience of householders, business owners and farmers would allow for specific gaps in the Government\u2019s response to be identified, and rectified, for future extreme weather events.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that establishing a special Oireachtas committee on Storm \u00c9owyn would be the most effective way of achieving this.<\/p>\n
\u201cA public consultation as part of this process could provide valuable feedback to various Government departments, which could be brought before the committee to outline what preparatory work had been in place in advance of the storm \u2013 and, crucially, what could have been done better.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on the committee\u2019s findings, a clear set of recommendations could inform a planning framework for future violent storms, which are most likely increase in frequency and ferocity due to the effects of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 10, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore has called for a special Oireachtas committee to be set up to examine the Government\u2019s inadequate response to Storm \u00c9owyn. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s climate spokesperson, said: \u201cThe Government has insisted it will learn from mistakes made in the wake of last month\u2019s devastating storm \u2013 but there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[405,268,7,662],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release","category-storm"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n