Rose Conway-Walsh demands compensation after Storm Owen outages

I move the motion. Minister, we are on the 19th day after Storm Owen and there are still households and businesses without electricity and telecommunications and without water. I do want to thank at the outset all of those field workers and their families for their dedication in carrying out this exhausting work day and night over the past 19 days. People who are already struggling with the cost of living and the cost of doing business are suffering the financial losses that they just cannot sustain, Minister. I'm not sure if you understand the hardship suffered by people who have paid the price for the failure of this government and successive governments to invest in the most vital infrastructure, electricity, water and communications. People have paid the price for the lack of effective coordinated emergency plan to deal with the aftermath of Storm Owen and the delayed government intervention. They should be compensated and they must be compensated, Minister. This abject failure of government must be to put it right. Government funding must be provided for businesses, for sporting clubs, for voluntary organisations and community groups who have been impacted by the storm as it was after Storm Babette. Many of these voluntary organisations and community groups were already struggling to keep going. They are still struggling to keep going. There must be a review of the core funding to these groups. They prove a vital lifeline in the aftermath of the storm. Businesses have not only experienced structural damage, they incur the loss of trade due to the temporary closures and not being able to operate fully because of not having phone lines and broadband. Those who are either not covered by insurance or the excesses such that they are unable to claim must be compensated. The 9% VAT for the hospitality sector must now be brought forward to be effective immediately. Some post offices in Mayo are still without broadband. They are running on a shoestring. Trying to make manual payments to ensure already vulnerable people have something in their pockets is taking its toll. What financial support minister is going to be given to these post offices to ensure their sustainability? Where is AIR? Where are the mobile phone companies? Have they been called into the government offices to be told this is not good enough? What people in rural Ireland are rightly asking is who is in charge? Where is the government? Where are the regulators? Where are those who made massive profits on the backs of ordinary people? The failure of the ESB to ensure the resilience of the network has to be put right. It must be put right for households by providing a goodwill payment to customers and by suspending the PSO levy and the standing charges for those without power. How did Ish Gairn think it would be possible to ensure water supply without generators? Are businesses going to be asked to pay a standing charge for water when they had no supply for days? Maybe we shouldn't be surprised when businesses in beautiful seaside towns like Newport are forced to pay for water treatment when there's no water treatment plant there. Who is in charge of people's right to water? Now I want to commend the role of local community and regional radio stations both in the forewarnings of the status red alert and the aftermath of Storm Owen. I just don't know where we would have been without them. In my case, Midwest Radio covering County Mayo and the wider region as well as the diaspora who anxiously waited for news as to what was happening to their families and whether their families were saved. Presenters kept going throughout the night with updates, with warnings and then the outages. That was apart from the company they provided for people living alone living in fear of the worst storm ever. What is government going to do to acknowledge the vital role played by local, regional and community radio stations? Governments have paid lip service to these radio stations for over 30 years now. They have a public service remit. The sound and vision fund is not fit for purpose. We need the purpose that we need them to serve. There must be multi-annual funding for news and current affairs. How can we justify giving 750 million to RTE and nothing for regional radios? The listenership figures reflect 63% for Midwest Radio in Mayo versus less than 20% coverage for our national broadcaster. This situation cannot be allowed to continue and I ask that all TDs in this House to address this inequity in the immediate future. I also want to acknowledge the role played by Castle Bar Community Radio and other community radios. In terms of business supports the government have abdicated responsibility entirely. I have spoken to oyster farmers who have suffered losses in the hundreds of thousands. They must be supported to restock and repair damage equipment. Farm businesses are wholly dependent and being productive to generate income. I've spoken regularly about the Disgrace for Lakers scheme. We have to put a scheme in place for Farmers Minister.