Repair crews from Austria, Finland, Netherlands and France are expected this week to support ESB engineers in restoring power in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, which caused widespread damage across the country.
The ESB said that electricity network operators from these four EU countries are due to arrive in the coming days, to join technicians from Britain who have already been deployed to the worst-affected areas.
Up to 100,000 homes and businesses are likely to be without power for the rest of the week in the aftermath of last week’s storm, and some will be cut off from the grid until the end of next week. At least 180,000 customers remained without electricity on Monday evening, according to ESB Networks, down from a peak of 768,000 affected.
Uisce Éireann is moving electricity generators to the northern half of the country to help accelerate efforts to reconnect water supplies to thousands of homes, farms and businesses still without supply. There are 84,000 premises are still without water and 100,000 more are at risk of losing it.
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Meanwhile, the Dáil will not be recalled this week to discuss the response to Storm Éowyn. Despite Opposition calls for an emergency recall of the Dáil, which adjourned last week until February 5th, the Government said it had no plans to summon TDs and Ministers back to Dublin.
Instead, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris will meet on Tuesday evening at Government Buildings for their first pre-Cabinet leaders’ meeting, in advance of a meeting of the full Cabinet on Wednesday morning, when the storm and the appointment of junior ministers are on the agenda.
“The Taoiseach and Tánaiste will meet tomorrow evening on this issue and Cabinet will meet on Wednesday morning to decide on measures to further support those who have been impacted by Storm Éowyn,” a spokesman said.
A briefing from the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) on Monday was told there was huge demand for generators at present, but the utility was moving available generators to the worst affected areas in an effort to reconnect users without supply.
Areas most affected are along the west coast and midlands and include Galway, Mayo, Clare, Cavan, Monaghan, Westmeath, Donegal and Longford, it added. Some 60 mobile generators were being moved from the southwest, as power had been restored to water plants there over the weekend, a spokesman for the utility said.
Meanwhile, the State is to be sent 13 electricity generators from a European Union emergency stockpile. Minister for Housing James Browne said his department had been “engaging extensively” with the European Commission and commissioner for preparedness and crisis management Hadja Lahbib and discussions began in advance of Storm Éowyn.
The ESB was involved in a rolling programme of investment to ensure the supply system was robust while cabling was put underground where possible, Minister for the Environment Darragh O’Brien said. Local distribution lines, however, were invariably overground. While overhead lines were vulnerable to high wind speeds, when power was lost it was easier to track and fix.
Mr O’Brien said 14 emergency response hubs were already up and running: 11 in Cavan; two in Laois and one in Westmeath. Several others were being set up with local authorities linking in with existing community-led hubs to provide support. Assisting people with basic needs such as water, hot food, phone charging, broadband access and shower facilities, they would remain in place as long as need, he added.
Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke confirmed an enhanced package of supports for those affected was going to be announced by the Government this week.
Earlier on Monday Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats called for TDs to return to Leinster House.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called for an urgent recall to address “the crisis” with many people “going through a very tough time with serious disruption to their lives”.
In a social media post, Ms McDonald called on the Taoiseach “to demonstrate decisive leadership in this moment of crisis by recalling the Dáil as a matter of urgency”, adding that “not to do so would be political negligence”.
Her call was echoed by acting Social Democrats leader Cian O’Callaghan, who said it “beggars belief that, in the midst of this crisis, there are no plans for the Dáil to sit”.
Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary, however, defended the Government’s response in the aftermath of the storm and insisted it is “throwing everything at it” to get people reconnected.
[ After the storm: how were different areas in Ireland impacted by Storm Éowyn?Opens in new window ]
Mr O’Brien also dismissed calls to recall the Dáil. All the focus at this point had to be on the emergency response, “rather than politicising an event like this”, he said.
On Monday morning, the Irish Coast Guard airlifted an alternative power supply and fuel to Inishmaan in the Aran Islands.
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