Government holding major meeting on impending cold snap

The Government’s National Emergency Co-ordination Group on severe weather are to meet this morning (10.30am) in advance of the anticipated severe weather conditions this week.
Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy will be in attendance at the meeting following advice from the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management.
On the agenda will be how best to prepare the country for the cold snap, particularly in those areas set to be worst affected.
While Donegal is set to escape the worst of the forecasted conditions, Met Eireann has issued weather warnings for the entire country.
In a statement issued ahead of this mornings meeting, Minister Eoghan Murphy says that he has called on local authorities to keep all cold weather initiaves for rough sleepers in place as well as to add additional bed spaces for the homeless in urban areas set to be worst affected by the cold snap.
Irish water has also mobilised its crisis management arrangements to deal with operational impacts of the expected weather nationwide, with the company urging owners of unattended properties to check for possible burst pipes resulting from the freezing temperatures.