Speech
Speech by Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin at the launch of the Be Winter Ready Campaign 2023-2024
By: Minister for Defence; Micheál Martin
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By: Minister for Defence; Micheál Martin
Published on
Last updated on
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Good morning everyone, as Chair of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, I’m pleased to be here today alongside my colleague Minister Chambers to jointly launch this year’s ‘Be Winter Ready’ government information campaign.
I would like to welcome you all to the National Emergency Coordination Centre. The October meeting of the Government Task Force has just concluded, where senior officials from across Government discussed the country’s preparedness ahead of this year’s winter.
I’m pleased that a number of these colleagues have stayed with us to support today’s campaign launch.
I’m particularly pleased to welcome Eoin Sherlock, the new Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann who joins us today. He is following in the footsteps of Evelyn Cusack, one of the nation’s most trusted voices, who I would like to thank for her years of service.
While it is no small challenge to replace Evelyn; I have no doubt that Eoin will be a great asset to the Government Task Force and our ‘Be Winter Ready’ campaigns.
Each year, the ‘Be Winter Ready’ campaign is a catalyst for our ‘whole of government’ approach to planning and preparing for the challenges of winter.
Core to this campaign is the message to be prepared, stay safe and know where to find help if needed. The Be Winter Ready website provides you with a library of information on how to enhance your personal, household and community resilience this winter.
The launch of the campaign also marks the start of what can be a very demanding period for many people, especially our emergency services.
This is the thirteenth year of “Be Winter Ready” with previous campaigns focusing on issues such as health preparedness, farm safety and flooding.
The focus of this year’s campaign is road safety, which is particularly appropriate, and timely, given the awful tragedies on our roads at the weekend.
Our message is to Plan, Prepare and Be Aware.
It is the product of close collaboration between the Office of Emergency Planning and the Department of Transport, and Minister Chambers will take us through the detail and campaign specifics shortly.
While this year’s campaign centres on the key issue of road safety, it is also about more than that.
The campaign provides an opportunity for individuals, households and communities to take stock of the risks that winter can present us as a society.
Awareness of these risks, and how to manage them, enhances our personal, community and societal resilience.
As we think about mitigating risk in our communities, it is of particular importance to remember that our older people can be one of the most vulnerable groups when it comes to the hardships inflicted by severe weather.
This campaign is a chance to amplify this point and ask people to take the time to check on older relatives and neighbours when we experience weather extremes this winter.
As Chair of the Government Taskforce on Emergency Planning, I have an opportunity to observe at close quarters the coordinated approach taken to emergency management across Government.
This collaboration is vital in terms of providing an opportunity for all of the relevant government departments and agencies, along with transport operators, utilities and other services, to come together to deliver a consistent and professional approach to emergency planning across Government.
The Government Task Force also ensures that Government is prepared to respond to any crisis, which may require national level coordination.
As Chair, I see how seriously members of the Task Force take their responsibilities and how they work collaboratively to build this campaign.
By taking account of the material produced for ’Be Winter Ready’, individuals, communities and all of society can play a significant role in mitigating and managing the winter risks that we all face. This is what we mean by societal resilience, which is core to this campaign.
I want to take the opportunity to express my personal gratitude to all of those here in the National Emergency Coordination Centre, especially my team in the Office of Emergency Planning for all they do. It is really important work.
I would also like to acknowledge the vital work of the front line emergency services and the vital role that they play in ensuring the safety of our communities year round.
The role of the voluntary emergency services also requires special attention. The voluntary emergency services are not always visible, but when we need them, they are a uniformed and professionally trained resource, which enhances the capacity and supports the work of the principal emergency services.
Today, I am asking for the assistance of our friends in the media in helping to get the campaign message out to the public. Our focused message is Road Safety: Plan, Prepare and Be Aware.
Meanwhile, the underlying philosophy underpinning all this work and remains the same and it is a simple one:
In other words “Be Winter Ready”.
Thank you all.
I will now hand over to my colleague Minister Jack Chambers.