The Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) has criticised the government for what the CCAC says is a failure to act after Storm Darragh and Storm Éowyn.
The two storms in December 2024 and January this year caused widespread damage.
Close to one million homes and businesses were left without power or water in the wake of Storm Éowyn.
In some cases it was several weeks before homes were re-connected to the national grid.
In the aftermath, the Taoiseach promised a cross-government review.
But the Climate Change Advisory Council this report is now “overdue and remains unpublished”.
The Climate Change Advisory Council says that there has not yet been enough tangible action undertaken to address the significant shortcomings exposed by the storm.
The CCAC is calling on Government to “prioritise actions that will have the most impact” in advance of the forthcoming winter storm season.
The council has highlighted areas which should be a priority for the government including setting up ‘Emergency Response Hubs’ to assist people with basic needs in the event of services outages.
There should also be a “permanent” ‘Extreme Weather Assistance Scheme’ to support people, businesses and communities, the CCAC said.
Local council funding would help local authorities prepare and respond to severe weather events, the council added.
Addressing the need for urgent action on adaptation, Professor Peter Thorne, Chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council’s Adaptation Committee said:
“With extreme weather events continuing to increase in both magnitude and frequency, communities throughout Ireland must be better protected from their devastating impacts. The cascading effects of these storms have exposed our vulnerability and the critical shortcomings in our preparedness and response systems.
“Stronger political leadership with a whole-of-Government response to these challenges is essential to achieve the goal of a climate resilient Ireland.”
As the Lead Government Department for coordinating a response to severe weather, the National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management (part of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage) co-ordinated the ‘whole-of-Government’ response to this severe weather event through the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG).
Responding to the concerns raised by the Climate Change Advisory Council, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment said that it is the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage which is responsible for storm management.
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said in a statement:
“Following the conclusion of the response by the NECG [National Emergency Coordination Group], it is the responsibility of the Lead Government Department, under section 6.15 of the Strategic Emergency Management Framework to undertake a review and report to the Government Task Force (GTF).
A review of the coordinated response to Storm Éowyn was undertaken by this Department, examining all aspects of the response to Storm Éowyn, with a view to identifying the key lessons across all sectors and the implementation of recommendations.
A Steering Group and two subgroups (Humanitarian Assistance and Critical Infrastructure & Essential Services) were formed with a membership of officials from across Government, utility and energy suppliers, Principal Response Agencies, the transport sector and local authorities. The focus of the review was on planning for future storms and strengthening resilience and coordination across all sectors.
The findings of the review have now been submitted to the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning.”