Government defends decision to close schools for a second day
The Housing Minister, Eoghan Murphy, has defended the Government's decision to keep schools closed again today.
Critics say schools which were not badly hit, especially in the Dublin area, could have reopened.
However, Mr Murphy says they erred on the side of caution.
He said: "We had to make a call in the course of yesterday afternoon based on what we could hear coming out of Cork and other parts of the country.
"Structural damage to some schools, road closures, fallen wires, problems with water and schools maybe not having drinking water or power and issues like that.
"We had to put child safety first."
