Cavan/Monaghan Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith has raised the need to provide adequate government compensation measures for losses incurred by households and businesses following Storm Éowyn. Many households and businesses have suffered substantial losses as a result of Storm Éowyn. According to Deputy Smith, not alone were households inconvenienced to a huge extent but many people were also unable to carry out their daily work or open their businesses. As a result, Deputy Smith says Government must listen to the concerns of communities and ensure that adequate supports are provided to offset such losses. Deputy Smith raised recently with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment through Parliamentary Questions the specific need to compensate small businesses and sole traders who had their premises and businesses closed due to Storm Éowyn.
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in his reply to Deputy Brendan Smith in Dáil Éireann stated; "I have been engaging directly with representatives of the Insurance industry and my understanding is that most losses incurred by businesses such as property damage, lost earnings and spoilage of stock fall within standard insurance cover. However I will of course continue to engage with businesses and to monitor updates coming both from the National Emergency Coordination Group and the Local Enterprise Offices. More broadly, the Programme for Government includes a commitment to an Extreme Weather Event Assistance Scheme, designed to support affected households, farms and businesses. This initiative predates Storm Éowyn and is a strategic policy action for delivery within the timeframe of the current Government.
"While the full details of this scheme are still to be fully worked through, the broad aim should be to strengthen the existing humanitarian assistance schemes already in place across a number of Departments. The unprecedented impacts of Storm Éowyn require this initiative to be a high priority policy for the relevant Departments and in this regard, my officials are engaging with their counterparts bilaterally to progress this policy measure as a matter of urgency with a view to the relevant Ministers sharing details of the Extreme Weather Event Assistance Scheme in due course."
