Work continues today on managing the fallout from Storm Ophelia, which hit the country on Monday. Those at the front line were rightly praised yesterday and continue to be praised for their outstanding efforts. They include the emergency services, local authorities, the ESB, Irish Water and many others. There are many issues that still need to be addressed but I think we can agree that the most pressing one for those affected is the lack of electricity and water. Today, there are still over 130,000 homes without power, some 48,000 homes are without water supply and another 50-odd thousand face the prospect of potentially losing their water. I acknowledge the extraordinary effort that is being put in by the ESB, which has already restored power to over a quarter of a million homes around the country, but I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that for those without power and in some cases, without power and water, it is an absolute nightmare, particularly for elderly people living alone and families with young children. Many of the affected homes are in County Cork and in several other counties around the country. People want to know when they will get their power and water supply restored. Can the Taoiseach reassure people that everything that can be done is being done? I am told by the ESB in the southern region that help is arriving from Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and even the Isle of Man and that is to be very much welcomed. Does the Taoiseach have an update on the number of homes the ESB expects to be in a position to restore power to over the course of today and tomorrow? The question is the same with regard to water.

The other issue I want to raise, which is very much related to the storm, is insurance. A greater effort is needed to provide information to consumers about their rights and what they can expect, for example, dealing with the myth that acts of God are not covered. There is no such exclusion clause, as the Taoiseach knows, in household and commercial insurance policies. Other measures include advising consumers to read in detail their policy documents and booklets, ensuring that adequate resources are provided by insurance companies to provide inspections, dealing with claims processing as quickly as possible and advising those who are hiring loss assessors, particularly for larger claims, to use the services of companies that are regulated by the Central Bank. When I looked at the website of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, I found no such information and no update from the commission as to what people should be doing in terms of taking photographic evidence and so on and what the rights and entitlements are so I ask the Taoiseach to address that point. I also ask him to give an assurance that Government will engage with the insurance industry to ensure that the claims arising from this storm are not used as cover for further hikes in premiums for both households and businesses throughout the country.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue again today. I had the chance to visit parts of Meath and Kildare yesterday to witness some of the repair work that was underway and the excellent work of ESB staff who had been working 12 hours at that stage to reconnect people. I met some of the people affected by loss of power, including some young families. The children were delighted they got two days off school but aside from that, the householders were very much affected by the fact that they could not have normal day-to-day lives. I also met some people with disabilities who clearly had particular concerns. As things stand, 70% of people who lost power have now had their power restored. That is 255,000 homes and businesses. So far this morning, 11,000 homes and businesses have been reconnected. This leaves 125,000 without power. Work is continuing to restore power to those homes and businesses. Assistance is now coming in from Northern Ireland and Great Britain through Scottish Power and will come in from France in the coming days. It is anticipated that the vast majority of remaining homes and businesses will be connected in the next three days but there may be exceptions to that, particularly in some isolated areas. We know from Storm Darwin that it took about eight days to connect everyone and this storm was much worse than that one.

The number of households considered at risk of losing water is down by 80% from 260,000 to 56,000. Of those who have lost water, more than half have now had it restored. Irish Water is working with the ESB to restore supply and reduce risk. The key issue is connecting the water treatment plants to the power network. Where that cannot be done, generators will be installed in water treatment plants as a temporary fix while the power lines are reconnected. There are 3,000 local authority staff across many disciplines, including fire, road staff, engineers and health and safety officers, who are on the ground assisting with the cleanup and repair efforts. I particularly want to recognise the Defence Forces, which have deployed two Army chainsaw teams to clear roads. The Defence Forces will deploy a 10,000 l water tanker to assist Kilkenny County Council to provide emergency water services to people in Kilkenny. Water was restored this morning to Kilmaganny. The Defence Forces have also deployed Air Corps helicopters which are flying over the power lines carrying out reconnaissance for ESB Networks and informing it of where the faults occur. A total of 30 personnel from the Defence Forces have been deployed in support of the national response and a further 15 Defence Forces personnel and five vehicles were deployed to assist the gardaí in Galway. The Army is helping HSE staff get to their workplaces in Kilkenny and to clear routes in Kenmare and Tralee.

I would appreciate if the Taoiseach could deal with the issue of insurance, which I also raised, and the need for the State to provide information to consumers. Insurance Ireland, which is the insurance industry representative body, has provided information but that is the industry. I think the State's consumer watchdog should be front and centre in providing whatever information and reassurance people need about their rights and entitlements. We also need a commitment from Government that it will engage with the insurance industry to make sure that claims are dealt with efficiently and are settled as quickly as possible and that the cost of this storm in terms of insurance payouts will not be used unjustifiably as cover for increasing premiums for households and businesses around the country.

The concern people have about electricity and water is that progress will slow down.

There are still 125,000 homes without power. Some are in urban centres in large housing estates; therefore, it is not only one-off houses which are still affected. I spoke to the ESB this morning about the need for it to update its website powercheck.ie because the houses that remain without power are not reflected on the website. It is welcome that it is now updating the estimated restoration times around the country. That is the type of practical information consumers need to prepare and plan for the period until their power and water supplies are restored.

The Deputy has that commitment. The Government will engage with the insurance industry in the coming days. The Minister of State, Deputy Michael D'Arcy, will lead that process. I encourage business owners and householders to read their insurance policies as each policy is a little different. It is also important that they make contact with their insurer as soon as possible. Insurance companies ask people to do so in order to conduct a damage assessment. I will follow up on the matter of ensuring consumers and homeowners will be provided with better information by the ESB and the insurance industry.

The Government anticipates that this incident will be treated differently from flooding. When there is flooding as a result of severe weather, people often find themselves uninsured because they live on flood plains or in areas that have been flooded previously. As a consequence, they do not have insurance cover. We expect this incident to be treated differently because no one lives in the path of a hurricane which is different from a floodplain. We believe that in the vast majority of cases people will be covered, but the best thing they can do is to read their own policy and contact their insurer as soon as possible.