Mayo TD wants a task force to take on board harsh lessons of Storm Eowyn

A Mayo TD has appealed to the government to immediately initiate a task force to understand the harsh lessons of Storm Eowyn and what needs to be done ahead of future storms.

Deputy Paul Lawless said the level of frustration in Mayo and right across the west is really palpable in the aftermath of the hurricane.

He elaborated: "Hotels and other accommodation should been offered immediately to the most vulnerable people in the west.

"We can offer accommodation to people seeking international protection for years, yet we cannot do it for our most vulnerable people.

"These are people with respiratory or heart conditions, for example, who rely on plug-in devices to survive. These are the vulnerable customers of the ESB.

"What priority was given to these vulnerable customers? All I could see was nothing. No help was given to those people.

"I call on the government to immediately initiate a task force to understand the lessons and what we need to do.

"We need to get ESB, Uisce Éireann, Coillte and Eir in a room and get proactive in solving this. The ESB network, the Eir network and the NBI network need to be protected. Existing trees along the route need to be cleared immediately.

"We do not have time to wait for months for felling licences. We need to prepare now for the next storm.

"Ash dieback is another big issue. We need a scheme similar to the local improvement schemes to work with farmers to address ash dieback.

"Generators in water treatment plants must become a mandatory part of Uisce Éireann's machinery.

"We also need generators for private dwellings. Government policy has incentivised and in some cases forced people into chimneyless homes and we also need to protect those people and give them a backup."