Updated 16:45
The Minister for Housing has defended the Government's handling of Storm Ali.
Two people lost their lives and thousands were left without power after high winds from the storm battered the country yesterday.
This afternoon, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin claimed the Government had 'taken its eye off the ball' ahead of the storm's arrival - and failed adequately prepare the public in advance.
"It is not for Fianna Fáil or Micheál Martin to second-guess the experts in Met Éireann who issue the coded warning s to us as a Government," said Minister Murphy.
"Who help us get the message out to local authorities and all the other stakeholders involved in our preparations and in our implementation of storm contingencies."
Status Orange
Met Éireann has also defended its decision not issue a red warning, with forecaster Joan Blackburn noting that the winds were not strong enough.
She said a Status Orange warning was appropriate, with gusts reaching up to 147kph.
Minister Murphy said it is not possible to "predict by the hour how certain weather is going to hit us."
"We can give a very good indication of the type of severity of storm we are going to see - and a Storm Orange is a very severe storm," he said.
"But it is not a 'Red.'
"It is not where you close down parts of the country - or the country as a whole - as you saw with Ophelia and Emma."
Preparations
Earlier, Deputy Martin said the National Ploughing Championships should have been called off earlier - and insisted the Government failed to adequately prepare the public for the onset of the storm.
The Ploughing resumed in Screggan County Offaly this morning after it was belatedly cancelled yesterday due to high winds.
Speaking from the event this morning, Deputy Martin said "lessons have to be learned."
"I think the eye was taken off the ball," he said.
"I find the Tánaiste Simon Coveney's view that the public did not really take heed as not credible.
"He said the Government got it but the public didn't - that was the headline this morning.
"If the public don't get it or the public are not sufficiently made aware that says to me that the Government did not alert people enough to the potential dangers."
It’s business as usual at the Ploughing this morning following yesterday’s cancellation. Bit quieter than usual but could pick up pic.twitter.com/SJR61TGqKO
— Stephanie Rohan (@StephGrogan3) September 20, 2018
Some 186,000 homes, farms and businesses lost power at the height of the storm yesterday - as high winds caused havoc around the country.
The ESB has said operators are still working to restore power to 12,000 households.
STORM ALI UPDATE: Good Afternoon we have restored power to 161K customers, 25K customers are still without power and we are working to restore these . Estimated restoration times on the powercheck app or https://t.co/cwxXH3X4kM. Latest update : https://t.co/98bzds4OQZ pic.twitter.com/VJjiyPxizd
— ESB Networks (@ESBNetworks) September 20, 2018
Two people died during the storm.
A man in his 20s died after he was hit by a falling tree near Slieve Gullion Forest Park in south Armagh.
Earlier, a woman died in County Galway after the caravan she was staying in was blown off a rock-face.
It's led to suggestions that a Status Red alert should have been issued, however Met Éireann forecaster Joan Blackburn said the winds were not strong enough.
Meanwhile a yellow rainfall warning has been issued in the south east with a new storm on the way this evening.
Storm Bronagh is due to bring heavy rain and blustery winds, however it is not expected to be as severe as Storm Ali.
