Met Éireann to 'maximise and improve' communication around flood forecasts, minister says

It follows anger in January as Storm Chandra caused widespread damage to properties in Dublin, Wexford, Kilkenny, and elsewhere, leading to questions about whether the forecasting adequately warned of how severe the storm would be. File picture: Niall Carson/PA

Met Éireann will “maximise and improve” how and when it issues flood forecast information in order to provide better communication to the public, businesses, and emergency services, Cabinet will hear this morning.

Housing minister James Browne will bring a memo to Cabinet on flood risk assessment, as work continues across Government, the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Met Éireann to develop a fully operational National Flood Forecasting and Warning Service.

It follows anger in January as Storm Chandra caused widespread damage to properties in Dublin, Wexford, Kilkenny, and elsewhere, leading to questions about whether the forecasting adequately warned of how severe the storm would be.

Mr Browne later accused Met Éireann of “guarding” information. It is understood the minister has pushed for improvements in the identification and communication of flood event risks.

Sources argued that information about river and coastal flood risk events “needs to be amplified” so that businesses and families respond promptly.

Met Éireann is seeking to improve public information services, and is proposing to pool expertise and data to improve the provision of clear, authoritative and actionable information on flood event risk, and facilitate ongoing horizon scanning for flood risk, as well as the timely mobilisation of response agencies when a flood event risk is identified.

In addition to flooding, the Cabinet will also discuss the recent dry weather, with agriculture minister Martin Heydon expected to tell Cabinet that significant supplementary feeding is ongoing on farms.

The average supplementary feeding level is 55%, with 72% supplementary feeding in the worst drought-affected regions. Cabinet will hear that this level of feeding is resulting in high additional costs for farmers, while also eating into their winter fodder supplies.

While recent rainfall has aided grass growth, it is expected to take at least one week to recover fully, with expected supplementary feeding to remain at current levels until at least mid-September. 

A recent Teagasc fodder survey found that 58% of farms had a deficit of 10% or more.

National Strategic Risk Assessment

Elsewhere, the Taoiseach will brief Cabinet on plans to update the State’s National Strategic Risk Assessment to cover any new potential risks to the country following a recommendation from the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council in July.

The National Strategic Risk Assessment, which was first produced in 2014, assesses risks to the country in the short, medium, and long term. Previous risks identified included Brexit, pandemics, and disruption to global trade.

It is proposed that the redevelopment of the National Strategic Risk Assessment would involve a public consultation, and an invitation to Oireachtas parties to make submissions.

An interdepartmental group, with representatives from all departments and certain agencies, will oversee development of the updated report.

Ahead of the EU Conference on Online Safety for Children and Safety in Dublin on Thursday and Friday, communications minister Patrick O’Donovan will tell Cabinet that progressing a digital age of majority and privacy-preserving age verification remains a priority of Ireland’s EU presidency.

The conference will hear research from the EU Kids Online 2026 survey, which interviewed 27,000 children aged nine to 17 across the bloc, as well as contributions from EU commissioners, experts, regulators, and industry.

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Mr O’Donovan will also tell ministers that the Arts Council’s accounts for 2025 have been given a clean bill of health, with no internal control issues requiring disclosure being identified.

It follows the disclosure of a botched €6.7m IT project in the 2023 accounts, which resulted in the minister refusing to give it further budget funding last year.

Some 70% of the 66 actions contained in its governance reform programme had been completed or were underway by July.