Longford MEP pushes for faster emergency aid after extreme weather

Longford MEP Ciarán Mullooly has slated the Irish government’s failure to respond swiftly and effectively when it came to handling emergencies.    

Speaking in Brussels today, MEP Mullooly called for a new EU emergency aid system that would assist in fast tracking help to people who need it - whether it be during a weather crisis such as Storm Éowyn or a situation such as that currently taking place in the UAE whereby hundreds of Irish citizens were stranded abroad.  

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The MEP told the meeting of the European Parliament Regional Development Committee on emergency situations that while the Union Civil Protection Mechanism had supported Ireland after both Stormy Éowyn and during last week's evacuations, “regrettably the mechanism had not been triggered without a significant delay by Irish authorities in both cases.”

Mr Mullooly said these delays were causing distress for people on the ground, “whether you're somebody waiting for a generator to get electricity back in Leitrim or Cavan for 10 weeks or whether you're sitting in an airport in Dubai or sitting in an apartment with missiles being intercepted over your head while waiting for news of a flight home."

"There's a greater need for urgency by member states and I'm now of the opinion that the voluntary coordination among officials in member states is no longer good enough.”

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The Independent Ireland MEP pointed out that if strong local evidence exists in advance of an emergency, then there are grounds for the European Commission to immediately trigger an emergency mechanism in Brussels even before the event in question has taken place.

“We must build a European backbone of preparation,” he said.

“We have the equipment and the funding and the support network within Europe to help countries and member states in need - we just need to activate them earlier and plan by better planning.” 

Mr Mullooly said he wanted to see decisions being made earlier and more efficiently by civil servants in government departments but that if this was not forthcoming then it was a matter for the European Commission to take urgent measures to ensure that member states were not left behind.

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He said it was “unsatisfactory” that Ireland “had failed to trigger the mechanism to get support from the UCPM for six days after the bombing in the Middle East”, that “it was a time of high distress for an awful lot of people” and that he found it hard to believe that the “Irish government would not trigger the mechanism until such time as they got a phone call from an Irish MEP reminding them and asking them of its existence in the first place.”