‘Prioritise vulnerable residents in power outages’ - Harding

The threat to life for some vulnerable people during power blackouts was highlighted by Cllr Wayne Harding at last week's meeting of Meath County Council.

He recalled a conversation with an elderly woman caring for her husband at home. “Her husband is bedridden and she cares for him 24/7. She is doing an extraordinary job caring for him. During Storm Eowyn they were lucky, that they had power because a lot of their neighbours' lost their power supply.

Cllr Harding called on Meath County Council to “work in conjunction with relevant stakeholders to ensure that any critically ill patients in our county can avail of an emergency power supply in the event of any power outage similar to what happened in the recent storm Eowyn.”

He was told the council was conducting a comprehensive review of the response to Storm Eowyn, working closely with key stakeholders including emergency services, community representatives, and relevant agencies.

“We will also be looking at ways to improve our communication strategies, resource allocation, and support mechanisms to ensure we are effectively reaching and assisting those who need it most.”

Cllr Harding welcomed the response from the council.