A number of issues were raised and I will try to reply to each of them individually. We were battered by an extreme weather event, the likes of which we have not seen in at least 35 years, if not longer. Our emergency response services, as well as our communities, responded incredibly admirably through a very difficult period for many people. While I very much appreciate the comments of some Deputies, I do have a problem with the tone of some of the interventions that were made because they do a disservice to the incredible efforts made throughout the country.

Hear, hear.

People worked three or four shifts in a row and individuals slept on hospital floors to look after their patients. Local authority staff worked through the night to help people.

I acknowledged that. There was no outside assistance.

I beg the Deputy's pardon, but he acknowledged it in the same way his leader acknowledged respect for a member of the Civil Service yesterday, which was a backhanded acknowledgement.

Wicklow, which has limited resources, was left to its own devices. Sixty members of the Defence Forces were only brought in yesterday. That is the point I was making.

Perhaps the Minister might address his remarks through the Chair rather than to Deputy Brady. I ask Deputy Brady to control himself.

I beg the Ceann Comhairle's pardon. It was my mistake to turn to the Deputy when I made that remark. I apologise.

A huge response has been put in place. Earlier, we had the final meeting of the national emergency co-ordination group. It first met last Monday. Just because the group is being stood down does not mean that certain areas of our country are not still experiencing severe difficulties.

Crisis teams remain in place at local authority level in many parts of the country. The Defence Forces remain deployed and salting and gritting are taking place in many parts of the country. Local contractors and farmers have been engaged in the road-clearing efforts throughout the country.

In regard to roads, or any repairs that must come through local authority requests following Storm Emma, we will meet those requests through my Department, as we did in Storm Ophelia. We have asked local authorities to expedite a review and an assessment of the costs incurred, and we will put the funding for those repairs in place once those requests come in.

On the topic of reviews following crises like this, I note that a review process was implemented following Storm Ophelia, because we can learn from every one of these experiences. That review was concluding when another severe weather event took place in early January, requiring the National Emergency Co-Ordination Group, NECG, to convene again. It was once again about to conclude when we experienced Storm Emma. The people who are doing that review are the people who put the national response in place and work with our emergency teams. I have told them to incorporate Storm Emma into that review so that we can have a further discussion and debate on how we respond to weather events.

While I have the floor, it is worth pointing out that every red weather alert is different. When we get a red weather alert warning from Met Éireann, we do an impact assessment at the NECG and make decisions off the back of it. We cannot have a standing protocol, or a standing cascading effect stipulating certain actions when a red alert is called, because every red alert is different. As such, we have to make that impact assessment and that is what the NECG does.