Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 December 2025
279. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will report on the Government's overall coordination of emergency response to Storm Bram, including communications with local authorities in Longford and Westmeath. [72624/25]
View answerMy Department undertakes the Lead Government Department role, as set out in the Strategic Emergency Management (SEM) Framework (2017), in relation to the coordination of national level responses to severe weather and flooding emergencies, where warranted. My Department's National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management undertakes this role and works closely with local authority Severe Weather Assessment Teams and Met Éireann.
Local authorities are designated as the lead agencies for coordinating a response to flooding and severe weather emergencies. All local authorities have an established Severe Weather Assessment Team in place, monitoring Met Éireann’s weather warnings, High Tide Advisories and the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) advisory warnings. Local authorities also have Severe Weather/ Flood Plans in place to support the response to weather emergencies.
The Crisis Management Team of the National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management with Met Éireann, had been monitoring the evolution of Storm Bram since Friday 5 December. Storm Bram was named by Met Éireann 8 December, 2025. Met Technical Briefings were attended by local authority severe weather assessment teams, the principal response agencies, government departments, utilities and relevant agencies on Sunday 7th, Monday 8th, Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th December.
All local authorities stood up their severe weather teams, deployed their flood mitigation measures, cleared gullies/ culverts and had teams in place to respond as required. Safety messaging regarding high winds, floodwaters and staying away from exposed coastal areas were pushed out through all channels. The public were urged to be aware of local conditions, take necessary preparedness steps and to stay away from exposed coastal areas.
In the aftermath of Storm Bram, most local authorities experienced impacts with trees down, road closures and some localised coastal flooding. At the peak, ESB Networks reported circa 58,000 customers without power. It was reported that power was fully restored by 10th December. There was minimal impact on Uisce Éireann’s water and waste water network.
