'Winter-Ready' Campaign Is Launched

Preparations are being made for the winter's approach with news that the Irish Republic's Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter launched the Winter-Ready Information Campaign.

It took place this week at the National Emergency Coordination Centre in Dublin and also included Phil Hogan Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Leo Varadkar Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, together with representatives from the various Departments and Agencies tasked with emergency response.

The launch coincided with a meeting of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, Chaired by Minister Shatter, which dealt with winter-preparedness issues representing the first time that such a campaign has been undertaken.

Through a dedicated website www.winterready.ie advice is being made available from a number of sources including Government Departments, An Garda Síochána, the Health Service Executive, Local Authorities and the transport providers.

The advice has been categorised under various headings including: the Home, Road Safety, Schools, the Farming Community and the Business Sector and a synopsis of the information available has been compiled into a booklet which can be downloaded from the website.

The main objectives of the campaign are to provide practical advice to on how best to prepare for the coming winter and to ensure the public are aware of where advice and help can be found, if needed.

It also aims to reassure the public that preparations are being made and arrangements have been put in place to ensure that there will be a coordinated response to severe weather events.

Minister Shatter said that the main message that he wished to convey is - to be prepared, stay safe and know where to find help if you need it adding that the role of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning is to support coordination of emergency planning across Government Departments and Agencies, to provide a forum for keeping emergency planning high on the agenda of all Government Departments and to examine any cross-cutting issues.

Representation at Task Force can be at Ministerial level or, more usually, at senior official level.

(BMcC/GK)