Ireland should look to EU for help in funding Ophelia clean-up, says MEP Sean Kelly
Ireland should seek EU emergency funding to help tackle the aftermath of Ophelia, according to the Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly.
Mr Kelly says the Government needs to direct local authorities to calculate the cost of the damage.
The National Emergency Coordination Group will reconvene this morning at 10am to assess the damage from across the country following Storm Ophelia.
The MEP said Ireland has received such funding in the past.
He said: "We did this during my first time in parliament and the y actually reduced the threshold so that we should qualify.
"I think now that there is a new sense of being in Europe and involving more people, I hope that we could make an application and it would be well received."
The Cabinet meets in Dublin this morning to discuss the cost and clean-up of the worst weather event in Ireland in more than 50 years.
Each Minister will bring their individual memos on everything from getting the schools and roads reopened to the overall cost of the damage.
The bill from Ophelia will run to many tens of millions and the Cabinet will discuss using existing state funds and the disaster funds available from the European Union.
