Level of Storm Éowyn pay-outs in Cork ‘too low’

Nineteen Cork claims have been paid out for stage one of the humanitarian assistance scheme for Storm Éowyn, at an average of just over €220 per claim, new data has shown.

Social protection minister Dara Calleary provided information on the number of applications per county in response to parliamentary questions from Sinn Féin TDs in the Dáil last week.

In Cork, 102 claims are registered, and just 19 of these have been paid, with €4,259 paid out in total, an average of €224.16 per claim.

“The humanitarian assistance scheme, administered by my department through the local Community Welfare Service, was activated on January 23, 2025, to assist householders affected across the country by Storm Éowyn,” said Mr Calleary. 

“In the context of the particular circumstances of Storm Éowyn, and as an exceptional measure, additional flexibility has been applied to the time-frame for stage one of the scheme.

“Up to Saturday, March 22, the Community Welfare Service have registered almost 72,358 claims for stage one of the humanitarian assistance scheme, with just over 26,700 claims awarded totalling over €6.12m being paid in respect of Storm Éowyn-related claims.”

The TDs also asked for the number of applications that were refused.

Mr Calleary replied: “As all decisions positive and negative have a right of review, therefore, the total number of disallowed claims will not be known until all requests for review are completed.”

Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, told The Echo: “While we know the storm damage wasn’t as widespread in Cork as in other counties, right across the board the level of pay-outs is too low.

“Other counties were hit very hard but definitely parts of West and North Cork were very badly damaged, and people definitely would have been expecting to get more.

“It’s still the case that some of those who suffered the greatest losses, business, community groups, and sporting clubs, still have no avenue to make any claim.

“That is wrong, and I am going to continue raising it.

“We’ve also heard of people with very legitimate claims that have not been evaluated or gotten any pay-out. Given that this was one of the biggest storms in generations, it seems that impact hasn’t properly been compensated.”