Michael Collins demands rural generator grants after storm chaos
Michael Collins criticised the government's response to a recent storm and described extensive damage in Whitehall, Castle Longford and parts of the west and Midlands. He said the response was appallingly slow for vulnerable communities and called for immediate measures, including tree-cutting and grants for standby generators for rural ESB customers.
He said he witnessed trees down across roads, houses with large trees fallen against them, broadband boxes hanging up, and walls and wires thrown everywhere. He warned there were still people without electricity, hot food, water and basic essentials following the storm.
He described the Government response as appallingly slow, particularly for the elderly, the sick and the farming community. He argued the reaction to the storm made Ireland "look like" a poorer country and urged urgent action to protect lives and livelihoods.
He proposed grants for all ESB customers in rural Ireland to purchase standby generators, saying an 8 kVA generator would be sufficient for an average domestic house. He gave estimated costs of approximately £1,500 for a generator and about £1,000 for wiring and a changeover switch, and suggested the grants could be funded from the ESB's profits.
He raised questions about specific operators, naming Iskae Airden and referencing facilities in Cork, and said he was informed some water and wastewater treatment plants have no generators or changeover switches. He warned that a loss of power at sites such as Innescara could close thousands of jobs and affect hospitals, and called the lack of staffing and equipment arrangements "unacceptable."
Damage witnessed in Whitehall, Castle Longford and rural areas
He said he witnessed trees down across roads, houses with large trees fallen against them, broadband boxes hanging up, and walls and wires thrown everywhere. He warned there were still people without electricity, hot food, water and basic essentials following the storm.
Criticism of government response for vulnerable groups
He described the Government response as appallingly slow, particularly for the elderly, the sick and the farming community. He argued the reaction to the storm made Ireland "look like" a poorer country and urged urgent action to protect lives and livelihoods.
Proposal for rural standby generators and funding
He proposed grants for all ESB customers in rural Ireland to purchase standby generators, saying an 8 kVA generator would be sufficient for an average domestic house. He gave estimated costs of approximately £1,500 for a generator and about £1,000 for wiring and a changeover switch, and suggested the grants could be funded from the ESB's profits.
Concerns about water and wastewater plant resilience
He raised questions about specific operators, naming Iskae Airden and referencing facilities in Cork, and said he was informed some water and wastewater treatment plants have no generators or changeover switches. He warned that a loss of power at sites such as Innescara could close thousands of jobs and affect hospitals, and called the lack of staffing and equipment arrangements "unacceptable."
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Transcript
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Irish and international workers for their tremendous efforts today. I am fully aware of the hardships faced by many, especially in the west of Ireland and parts of the Midlands. I happened to be in Whitehall, Castle Longford over the weekend. I witnessed the extensive damage firsthand, trees down across roads, houses with large trees falling up against them, broadband boxes hanging up, walls and wires thrown everywhere. The response from the Government was appallingly slow, particularly for the most vulnerable, including our elderly, sick and farming community. Action must take place to cut back trees now, 30 metres from roadsides, and power lines to prevent future incidents that will end lives. These trees can be sown inside lands in future. There are still people currently without electricity, hot food, water and basic essentials. Ireland is not a third world country, but the way we reacted to this storm made us look like one. An 8 kVA generator is sufficient to power an average domestic house in the event of a poor outage. This generator would cost approximately £1,500 and the cost of wiring the house with a changeover switch could be about £1,000. Grants should be made available to all ESB customers in rural Ireland to enable them to have standby generators. These grants can come from massive profits that the ESB makes from their customers. Questions indeed asking of Iskae Airden also. I am reliably informed they have no generator in water treatment plants or waste water treatment plants if the storms took Cork harder than it did. We could have had a situation that Innescara could lose power, thus closing thousands of jobs affecting hospitals and everyone else on the Innescara line. This is the same for treatment and waste water treatment plants in Cork County. As far as I am aware, there is not even a changeover switch in all of these plants. This and they have specific employees paid to oversee generators in these plants is unacceptable. Thank you.