Government urged to seek emergency cash from EU crisis fund

The Government is set to release millions of euro in emergency funding to local authorities coping with the aftermath of Storm Ophelia amid calls for the Coalition to seek financial help from the EU’s crisis solidarity fund.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar indicated the move will be discussed today as it separately emerged that a Government report has warned that the future cost of dealing with extreme weather events could run into billions of euro a year.

Speaking on RTE News last night after attending a series of national emergency co-ordination group meetings and after speaking with British prime minister Theresa May about the storm response, Mr Varadkar said that while Ophelia is still “raging” in some areas, attention will today turn to the clean-up operation.