Public services get £17m boost to cover storm costs

Emergency funding of more than £17m has been allocated to Stormont departments to help deal with the costs of Storm Éowyn.

Almost half of the money, £8m, will go to the Department for Infrastructure whose responsibilities include the roads network.

The additional money has come from the UK government.

Finance Minister John O'Dowd said the true cost of the storm has yet to be fully quantified.

He added: "I was determined to ensure this additional Westminster funding was allocated quickly to departments to help them respond to its impact."

The money has come via a process known as 'supplementary estimates', where central government departments need to spend more money during the financial year than originally budgeted for.

That creates additional spending for the devolved administrations.

The finance minister's allocations include £3m for school building repairs, £4m for health service repairs and £1m for extra policing costs.

The minister added: "Given the unforeseen costs and exceptional challenges facing departments as they deal with the aftermath of the storm, the limited funding available had to be prioritised for this purpose."

The storm on 24 January resulted in red weather warnings being issued for much of the UK and Ireland, with high winds causing damage to the power grid leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity in Northern Ireland.

In total 285,000 households and businesses lost power during the storm.

At the peak of the disruption, more than 200,000 customers were affected by power cuts.

Thousands of trees were toppled by the wind blocking many roads.