The last six days have seen an heroic effort in those areas affected by Storm Emma and the blizzard caused by the so-called beast from the east. That effort continues now. The impact on the east coast was extraordinary. The first official day of spring began with a number of counties blanketed in snow and ice. Communities have pulled, pushed and shovelled together, in a powerful display of the old Irish concept of meitheal, that is, working together to help our friends and our neighbours. Stories of the snow will not be forgotten for decades. I instanced one myself this morning on RTÉ, that of Mr. Declan Cunningham, an advanced paramedic with the National Ambulance Service based in Wexford General Hospital, and Corporal Steve Holloway of the Defence Forces. In the middle of one of the worst snowstorms in living memory, Declan and Steve were tasked to attend to an extremely sick child whose home was inaccessible. They trekked 2.8 km through snowdrifts to reach the boy, and then carried him 2.8 km back on foot to their Army ambulance. Every community, in my county and in many other counties, can tell stories like this. It shows the best of us in the worst of circumstances. We have been served incredibly well during the last week by a range of public services. I refer to our health services, our emergency services, our local authority workers working to the point of exhaustion and all who worked in those terrible conditions, from the ESB to Irish Water, from teachers to public servants, from Met Éireann to the Office of Emergency Planning. Our systems worked to make sure that we were warned in a timely fashion and thankfully, there were no fatalities.

However, this is the second red alert in the space of five months. The impact of climate change is far too real, and our country has to be prepared for stronger and more damaging storms and weather events. The first time a status red weather warning was issued was in advance of Storm Ophelia, during which, sadly, three individuals died. At the time, I raised this with the Taoiseach. When events like this occur, we need to know what specifically is expected of employers and employees in the event of a declaration of a status red warning. SIPTU has called for clear protocols to be put in place. A review was to take place after Storm Ophelia, and a report was to be prepared and submitted to the Government task force on emergency planning. Members were told this would happen in January 2018. Can the Taoiseach tell Members whether the responsible Minister, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has submitted that report? Moreover, will the Government now prepare clear guidance and protocols to employers and employees who are affected by a red alert warning in the future in order that we can have absolute clarity across our country?

At the outset, I join Deputy Howlin in showing my appreciation, respect and gratitude to our emergency services and the work they have done in the past several days. I was in the ambulance base in Wexford on Friday and met that paramedic, and he told me the story of how he trekked across the snow.

The Taoiseach did not invite us to go.

Sorry?

The Taoiseach did not invite the other Deputies to meet him there.

I probably-----

It was all Fine Gael.

I probably did not, because it was the last thing on my mind.

I wonder why Fine Gael was not.

Upsetting the egos of politicians really has not been on my mind for the last couple of days.

That is shocking.

I have been far too busy dealing with a national emergency and matters of state such as Brexit to organise invitations to Deputies personally in order that they felt included but I do genuinely apologise to the Deputy if his dignity was offended-----

It is not about dignity. The Taoiseach should not be churlish.

-----in any way by not being invited along to an ambulance base in his own constituency, a few metres from where his office is.

They are public representatives.

In regard to the red weather alert warning, which was the question asked, this was an issue that was highlighted in the aftermath of Storm Ophelia. The review of the policy response to Storm Ophelia is approaching conclusion but has not been submitted to Cabinet. It will now be informed by the experience of the past week. As people will appreciate, the individuals involved in the National Emergency Co-ordination Group over the past week are the same people responsible for the review of Storm Ophelia, and their priority focus has obviously been to deal with the current weather challenges.

Our weather warning is divided into three categories - yellow, orange and red. Yellow means to be aware, orange means to be prepared and red means to take action. The issue of the red level severe warning is a comparatively rare event and implies that the recipients take action to protect themselves and-or their properties. Since this red warning system was put in place in 2013 there have been only six alerts, with only two having been issued at a national level, but those two have happened in the past six months. It is important to recognise that weather warnings issued for snow, high winds, rain and so on are quite different in their implications and, as a result, giving a one-size-fits-all answer on weather warnings simply will not work. Furthermore, it may result in services that are essential but not normally categorised as emergencies being closed down, creating greater problems.

For example, we would have had major issues over the past week if our hotels closed down. What would have happened to all the tourists who had booked in and to all the people stranded in the country? We would have had thousands of people on the streets if we told all businesses to close. That is why, while there will be further guidance, it will not be as simple as one-size-fits-all. It will depend on the circumstances, the location and the nature of the warning.

The Taoiseach finds it very difficult to answer any question without some personal slur. Red weather alerts are a matter of life and death. I am looking for clarity in regard to this. I am here a long time too, like Deputy Micheál Martin. Whenever there is a briefing on an issue like this for the Taoiseach, it is normal, and a matter of courtesy, to invite key local representatives and others to attend. That is all I am saying on this.

In terms of the net point, in the middle of the crisis the Minister for Health had to tweet a response countermanding a HSE memo on workers using annual leave to cover absences. What we need is clarity. These are no longer once-in-a-generation events and we have had two in five months. If, as the Taoiseach told me last October, there was to be a review and it was to be presented in January, where is the review and what is the policy? Let us debate it so we can have clarity for all these brave, heroic public sector workers the next time we face a red alert, and there will be a next time.

I understand the Minister for Health did clarify the situation using Twitter. It is a very succinct and quick way to get a message across and I noted that, within a few minutes, there were tweets from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and the Irish Medical Organisation welcoming the Minister for Health's tweet clarifying the matter. Perhaps it is actually a good way to communicate directly.

The Government's role in this is to give the greatest level of clarity to employers as to the threats posed and the actions they should take themselves. I believe that, over the past week, the advice was clear and unambiguous. However, the final decision must be left to employers themselves, who know their own business best and who, in the vast majority of instances, will take the best decision that is in the interests of their staff.

With regard to compelling employers to pay wages for staff over the days the employer had to close or where staff could not make it into work, I would be reluctant to propose a one-size-fits-all approach. The vast majority of employers are responsible and want a good relationship with their staff, and vice versa.

Was there a report?

Local accommodations will be found which will, in the majority of cases, work for employers and employees alike. I do not believe the solution is legislation.

Was there a report?

I answered that. What I said in the first section of my initial answer is that the report is not ready yet. It is the same group of people who are doing the report who are dealing with the emergencies, and it has not been prepared yet.

It was to be in January.

The events of last week overtook that but it will be ready. I have asked the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Projection to continue to work together to review the guidance.

From practical experience of having been through this in the past couple of weeks, it is not as simple as offering a blanket instruction to employers. Employers need to take into account the nature of the work they do, where their employees are coming from and whether they can get home. With a blanket ban saying, for example, that all hotels should have closed, we can imagine the effect that would have had in the past couple of days, when everyone would have been thrown out of hotels onto the street. It is not as simple as a blanket ban. Think of the power stations, for example.