Carlow Co Co spent €313,247 on Storm Chandra clean-up

CARLOW Co Council drew €313,247 from government funding to cover its response to the damage caused by Storm Chandra on 26-27 January. The request for funding was made to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and released to The Nationalist through a freedom of information request.

The funding was offered by the department in recognition of the exceptional costs incurred by local authorities during the relentless rain.

Examples of exceptional costs include the hire of plant and contractors for essential works, the purchase of equipment and materials required for response and clean-up operations and staff overtime payments directly attributable to the event.

Longer-term fixes to roads do not form part of the claim. As a result of the storm, some areas of the county are running roughly eight weeks behind on road repair programmes.

Nationally, a survey of its members by Insurance Ireland said Storm Chandra resulted in an estimated €25.6 million worth of claims in the Republic. However, this figure is only 8.5% of the insured damage caused by Storm Éowyn in January 2025.

Household and commercial actions accounted for two-thirds of the estimated 2,400-plus total reported claims, Insurance Ireland told The Irish Times last month.

Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme