Deputy Howlin was in possession and has some ten minutes left.
Private Members' Business. - Flooding and Storm Damage: Motion (Resumed.)
The following motion was moved by Deputy Taylor-Quinn on Tuesday, 24 February 1990:
That Dáil Éireann notes with concern the extensive damage caused to public and private property, and the grave hardship inflicted on many families both urban and rural by recent storms, and aware of the failure of Government Departments and local authorities to finance the work needed to protect the communities involved against further storm and flooding damage and coastal erosion, calls on the Government to immediately initiate a programme of action to prevent further damages, and provide the resources to carry out the necessary repair works.
Debate resumed on Amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and to substitute the following:
"notes with approval the measures already undertaken to deal with storm and flood damage; welcomes the Government decision to establish a special Cabinet Sub-Committee to examine and report as a matter of urgency on the impact of recent storm and flood damage and notes its intention to finalise its deliberations at an early date."
—(Minister for the Marine.)
I managed to get one sentence in last night before the adjournment of this debate and that was to comment on the vulnerability of my own county in relation to storm damage. I propose, in the ten minutes I have tonight, to try to put in clear and graphic form, for the information of the House and more particularly for the information of the Minister, the dreadful plight of County Wexford and the horrific damage done to that county since the December storm began and which continue right up to today.
County Wexford has approximately 120 kilometres of sandy beach and coastal dune system. That system forms a vital part of the county's tourism amenity and economy. The dune system also provides protection against incursion by the sea to a vast area of agricultural land, bird sanctuaries and habitats for rare fauna. Wexford county is not like other counties. It is not protected by sheer rock or cliffs. It is vulnerable sandy beaches.
On 16 December last Wexford county was battered by a horrendous storm and since that storm the coastline has been continuosly affected by high seas and additional storms coming day after day. The result has been massive with extensive damage to the coastal systems. The following areas have been severely attacked and are currently extremely vulnerable: Courtown, Ardamine, Cahore, Ballycorrigar, Ballinesker, Curracloe, Rosslare, Carne, Ballyhealy, Ballyteigue, Cullenstown, Duncormick and Fethard. All these areas are severely threatened and I want to put the scale of that damage in clear perspective now for the Minister.
I will do that by taking but three or four examples. The north beach at Courtown in north County Wexford is badly damaged. Severe erosion has taken place on the dunes along the north Wexford coast, particularly the north beach at Courtown. The rock armouring which the county council placed on the beach has been overtopped by the sea and five metres of width has been eroded. The county council roadway to the car park at Courtown is now in imminent danger of being eroded and requires immediate attention. The county engineer in Wexford has done a memo for the county council indicating that a programme of dune stabilisation involving fencing, planting and the prohibition of pedestrian traffic is required. A major coastal protection scheme is now required in Courtown if it is not to be washed away and the initial requirement for this programme as estimated by the County Engineer, is £100,000 to stop further devastation on this one beach. Courtown is one of the primary tourist attractions of north County Wexford and an integral and vital part of the Wexford economy.
At the south of the country is Cullenstown Strand. The mouth of the river at Cullenstown has been changed by the storm. The beach itself is now under attack and the whole tourist infrastructure of the area which is dependent on the beach facilities there are threatened. Again the county engineer, in a memo to the county council, has indicated that a major civil engineering job is required to re-establish the river course there. He says that it would be beyond the capacity of Wexford County Council to finance this major plan to divert the river mouth to its original location and to construct retaining walls and embankments. It is a huge undertaking well beyond the capacity of Wexford County Council.
Massive erosion has taken place on Rosslare Strand since the major storm of 16 December. The stretch from Kelly's Hotel northwards to Rosslare point has suffered severely. On the 16 December half of the golf course in Rosslare was under water and waves were breaking over Kelly's Hotel, breaking over the playground which is well in from the sea. The narrow strip of sand which is Rosslare is a hugely important tourist anchor for the south County Wexford area. It obviously is of huge economic interest to the county of Wexford and is one of the premier tourist resorts of the county. More than that, it is a protection for Wexford town itself. At a meeting of Wexford Corporation no later than this week the engineers were very concerned that Wexford town itself will be vulnerable to severe flooding if there is further erosion at Rosslare Strand. In the last number of years there has been massive erosion there and what is required to deal with the problem is the implementation of the major capital plan which has been in the Department for many years. That will be a hugely expensive operation but it is needed now.
I want to talk about Kilmore Quay. It, too, was battered. We saw the television pictures of the damage on 16 December. The sea wall and pier is being repaired now by Wexford County Council. The patching job which is as much as Wexford County Council can do will cost £90,000 but again a major capitol scheme is with the Department and the cost of that is £2 million. Vessels were wrecked. Many were completely destroyed, others rendered useless for fishing and in need of urgent repair. Dozens of fishermen are without a livelihood and those Kilmore Quay families are left with no income, for over two months in many cases, and no help or assistance from the Government. The miserable amount of money, £50,000 of grants and £50,000 in loans, given through BIM for boat replacement was a token response to the tragedy faced by these families in Kilmore Quay who literally now have no money are exhausting their savings to try to survive. The scale of the disaster for the community in Kilmore Quay, a community based on fishing cannot be overstated by me here. The general cost of the damage in Wexford in terms of only beginnings to patch up the damage was originally estimated at £229,000. That figure has been updated to over £0.5 million, and that does not take account of the capital schemes required for Rosslare, for Kilmore Quay and for Ballyteigue which will cost many millions more.
Ballyteigue is a very vulnerable area at the south of the county. The sand dunes have been breached in several places and several thousand acres of low lying farm land, including farm houses, are in imminent danger of flooding unless a capital scheme is put in to protect them.
I have not mentioned Ardamine and Cahore, all severely damaged and in need of work amounting to tens of thousands of pounds. The Government have responded in a token way for boats for Kilmore Quay but nothing else. Wexford County Council have to date expended £60,000 of money we do not have; we have grabbed from every budget to keep things together but we are totally overcome now with the scale of the disaster facing us. The Government must recognise the damage that has been done and provide adequate coastal protection for this most vulnerable county in terms of infrastructure. We need that help immediately.
The extent of the damage that has been caused cannot be overstated. It is increasing daily and we have yet to experience the spring tides which are due next month. The defences of Wexford are down and if we have storms coinciding with the spring tides next month, God help us, because the damage will be well beyond even the scope of us as a country to deal with so that we will be going begging our European partners for assistance. I urge the Minister to look at the disastrous situation that faces the people of County Wexford.
With your permission, Sir, I would like to share my time with Deputy Michael Kitt for ten minutes and Deputy Michael Ahern for five minutes.
Is that satisfactory? Agreed.
We recognise that there has been widespread flooding and considerable disruption of agriculture, fishing, transport, schooling and tourism related activities and considerable damage has resulted from the floods and storms. The Government are aware of the difficulty and are informing themselves fully of the impact and the extent of the recent storms and flooding. The utterances from Members of the Opposition would lead one to believe the Government had been in some way negligent in their response to weather induced difficulties. Nothing could be further from the truth. To illustrate this let me take you back to the severe weather of August 1986. It is well to get these things in perspective.
We are now in 1990.
In August 1986 following severe flooding in southern and eastern areas of the country in the wake of Hurricane Charlie, the Government, following receipt of the reports and estimates of damage to public roads and bridges, provided road grants totalling £6.449 million which were notified in October 1986. In making these allocations account was taken of flood damage which had occurred earlier in 1986 and in other areas of the country, and the road funding involved had to be met within the provisions already available to the Department and no special additional Exchequer funds were provided in 1986. In October 1987 Donegal County Council were given some leeway in the use of county road strengthening grants to help them finance remedial works arising from floods during the month. The next bad bout of weather occurred during the latter part of 1988. Again the Government reacted positively to the urgency of the situation and £1.5 million was allocated in 1989 for remedial works to public roads and bridges in the counties affected.
Let me remind the House — because it appears from remarks made last evening that reminding is necessary — that, following damage caused by the storms over the October bank holiday weekend when areas of the north-west experienced extremely heavy rainfall and by the storms which hit the east and south coasts on 16 and 17 December, I notified local authorities throughout the country of road grants totalling £1 million by way of assistance towards the cost of remedial works to public roads and bridges. This record since 1987, I submit, is the record of a Government who are aware of the problems and are prepared to respond positively and with a sense of urgency to crises.
I will not belabour the fact of the establishment of the special Cabinet sub-committee except to say that, in so far as my area of responsibility is concerned, I requested all authorities on 12 February this year to submit detailed reports of the damage to roads and bridges and estimates of costs of remedial works to same. All the reports have been received since last Friday, and, concluding only this week, officials from the Department conducted preliminary on-site assessments of the reported damage. At the same time my colleagues, the Minister for the Marine and the Minister for Agriculture and Food, were having similar assessments carried out. The net effect of all this activity was that last Friday the Cabinet sub-committee, within days of being established met to consider the preliminary assessment reports of the overall damage. These reports are now being finalised and I anticipate the final report will be ready for submission to the Government within the next week or so. This level of activity in so short a time hardly reflects an uncaring attitude as was suggested here last evening.
Deputy Ferris quoted me correctly last night, and for the record I repeat there are limits to the area of my responsibility and to the funds at my disposal to give assistance. For example, there are no funds available to me to compensate for any damage to private properties caused by the adverse weather. Householders would normally be expected to have their property and the contents insured against losses by flooding. In necessitous cases it is open to the health boards to provide assistance to elderly householders under the task force on special housing aid for the elderly, and money has been paid through that agency on previous occasions. It is a long established practice that the Exchequer cannot meet the losses incurred by businesses as a result of their being uninsured. That, let me add, is not a personal view, or, indeed, the view of the Government. It is the policy which has existed throughout the history of the State and it has never been broken. Indeed, in August 1986, as I have said, in their response to Hurricane Charlie the then Fine Gael-Labour Coalition endorsed that policy.
Turning again to public roads and bridges, it is important to note that the significantly increased discretionary grants for regional and county roads which have been notified to local authorities in 1990 may be used in appropriate cases to undertake remedial works arising from the bad weather. The grants to county councils under this heading amount to over £63 million in 1990 as compared to £47.4 million under the equivalent heading in 1989 and £33.4 million in 1987. There has been a big increase in the amount of money I have been allocating by way of discretionary grants and again I am advising the local authorities that they can use that money to deal with the roads problem. Some Members may say that local authorities have already agreed their road programmes for 1990 but, as the title implies, discretionary grants are precisely that and may be used at the discretion of the local authority, and that means at the request of the members of the local authority.
Mention has been made of the EC disaster fund and I would like to take the opportunity once and for all to nail this hardy annual to the mast. Let me tell what the fund does not do. The fund does not cover damage to public structures; it does not compensate for agricultural damage and it is not for infrastructural projects or remedial schemes. The principal objective of the fund is to provide urgent aid to Community residents who are the victims of natural catastrophes that are recognised as being of exceptional scale and gravity. The fund is largely symbolic in that it represents a testimony to the solidarity of the other peoples of the Community to those members who find themselves in profound material and moral distress. The budgetary resources of the fund are tiny, amounting to 1990 to some 4 million ECUs, approximately IR£3.1 million. People should recognise that and know that that is the situation of the EC disaster fund.
In deciding to intervene in any case the factors that are taken into account by the EC Commission are the extent of loss of life, the numbers made homeless and the degree of hardship suffered by those affected. The fund does not purport to offer strict compensation for the damage suffered by the victims. We may not like that, but the situation is as I have outlined. That is what is available and that is the understanding of the Commission so far as the EC disaster fund is concerned.
I understand it is proposed to allocate the following amounts from this year's EC budget for damage sustained up to mid-February. Take a look at the kind of money we are talking about. The UK is to get 900,000 ECUs, the Netherlands 500,000 ECUs, France 400,000 ECUs, Belgium 300,000 ECUs, Germany 300,000 ECUs and Denmark 200,000 ECUs. I understand further that the EC has already notified the Irish Red Cross Society of the Irish allocation and the society will be in contact with the local authorities and health boards regarding disbursement of the money, and these moneys are disbursed through the Red Cross.
How much are we getting? The Minister has the figure for everyone else.
I have figures for everyone else and I am not at liberty to tell the Deputy the figure for Ireland, but when you take it in context with the kind of money we are talking about——
It is symbolic.
It is symbolic, yes. If Denmark is to get 200,000 ECUs you can get some idea of the kind of money that represents. Substantial money has already been put forward by me in the last few weeks to help local authorities and we are conscious of the extent of the problem——
The Minister has not given Wexford a penny.
——and my colleagues have carried out an indepth assessment of the impact of the damage and we will be taking the matter further in the immediate future.
The Minister had that on his desk long ago. These are delaying tactics.
To classify the fund as an act of cynicism reflects poorly on an Opposition who refuse to see the fund for what it is. At least let us recognise that collectively this evening. The Opposition did not show the same cynicism in 1986 when certain moneys were allocated, mar dhea, for the relief of the disaster caused by floods but it had to come from the existing Estimates with no fresh money put up by the Government at that time.
We gave £27 million to the farmers.
You, Deputy, would not recognise £27 million if you saw it. Lest anyone think——
We gave double headage payments — what was the cost of that?
——that the local authorities were somewhat remiss in their response to the recent bout of storms, and certainly whoever framed the terms of the Opposition motion and amendment gave that clear impression, I wish on behalf of the Government to record my deep appreciation of the local authorities and the emergency services for their marvellous response to the problems which the bad weather presented. Throughout the past few months they have been doing an admirable job. The Garda, the Defence Forces, the Fire Brigade, the Civil Defence and all local authority employees and those involved in the emergency services deserve our thanks. It was ungracious of certain individuals last evening not to record that. I record our appreciation on behalf of everybody in the House this evening.
I welcome the opportunity of speaking in this debate. The comments by the weather men on RTE television and radio that the weather was in a state of chaos sums up the situation for us and the difficulties for this Government. I know that in the west and midlands where we have had very heavy rainfall and storm damage over the past couple of months the people are disheartened by the weather forecasts and the nationwide alert that was issued for today. We had snow in the west today and we expect to have gale-force winds. It is a very serious situation, one that is facing many of us, and there is on-going speculation as to the extent of the losses. I am very glad to hear the Minister say that reports are being put together on the actual losses by Teagasc and the farm development services. I hope that when these surveys are being considered by the Government and particularly by the Cabinet sub-committee we will have action shortly. The IFA today spoke about losses of £10 million. The insurance industry do not know the extent of claims to date but up to December 1989 they paid out claims in the order of £2.5 million.
I know from the many smallholders who came to me that they were not able to get insurance for farm buildings, haysheds and out-offices whereas they could get comprehensive insurance for their house and garage. It was very difficult for them to get insurance cover, other than insurance against fire and lightning, on farm buildings and this is one of the areas I would like to see the Government investigate. I believe a small number of people had buildings damaged which were not insured because they could not get insurance cover for storm damage from 11 of the major companies in this country. Much of the damage and a great deal of the losses in the west and midlands has been along the river basins.
I was present at a meeting of the River Shannon forum on 16 February with a number of my colleagues from the west and midland constituencies. I was very impressed by the recommendations made to us on that date. In fact, my colleague and friend, the Minister for Education, Deputy O'Rourke, who represents that area gave me a great deal of detailed information about the acute flooding in Athlone, which has always been one of the flash points when there is flooding of the River Shannon. In particular, she was concerned about areas such as Clonbunny, Carrick O'Brien and Golden Island and I understand that a deputation of Westmeath county councillors recently met with the Minister for the Environment which had been arranged by the Minister, Deputy O'Rourke. They pointed out the needs of their area which, I understand, in the short-term would mean that work would be carried out on the access roads and that flooring for farmsheds would be provided. In the medium to long term, they would like to see the recommendations of the Shannon forum urgently considered by the Government. I know the Minister for Education is very concerned about the matter and has reported these details to the Cabinet sub-committee. The Shannon forum has been one of the great successes in bringing together all people in the region who have an interest in the River Shannon and discussing what they can do to help the whole development of the River Shannon.
I know that Delap Waller presented a report and that a survey was carried out by IFA. It is quite clear that to deepen, widen and build up the banks of the River Shannon, especially in the area I know, between Meelick and Athlone, would be very expensive and of doubtful benefit to people in the area, but in the short-term I think the River Shannon channel should be cleaned and the silt removed. I hope the Minister will be in a position to provide extra funding to local authorities to raise the road levels in the areas affected by the flooding. This year the Minister made money available under the local improvements scheme — I thank him for that — which allowed the local authorities, more flexibility. Thanks to the Minister, we can spend this money on roads that were previously repaired under the local improvements scheme which is most important in the Shannon area where the river has risen over the roads. I hope this policy will be continued.
I also believe that the areas should be designated as environmentally sensitive and that the landowners should be compensated with annual payments per hectare. Now that the Shannon forum have been established, I hope we can move on to setting up a River Shannon Authority. I can tell the House — if Deputy Connaughton, my constituency colleague, was here he would also be able to tell the House — that there are very serious incidents of flooding in north Galway. I visited Gardenfield near Tuam, Deputy Connaughton was also there, and we saw the results when water could not get into the River Clare near Tuam. In fact, 22 families were affected by very serious flooding. The water that should have been flowing into the River Clare was going into one farmer's yard. He had actually to feed the cattle from the back of a tractor and trailer because of the serious flooding. I believe the Office of Public Works can do a great deal of work in that area. I understand that the Minister of State, Deputy Daly, has already sent his officials down to Gardenfield and I hope they will be able to divert the serious flooding from Gardenfield across the Curraghan road into the River Clare where the water should be going in the first place. Now that Deputy Connaughton has arrived he will be able to verify the very serious situation in the Gardenfield area.
I was over there before you showed up.
I was there the same day, Deputy. The catchment areas of all the rivers, I have already mentioned the Shannon, the Dunkellin river, the Suck, the Shiveen and the Nanny, have been affected and obviously the livelihood of farmers have also been affected. On tonight's news I saw that an area in south Galway, known particularly as very good sheep country, suffered very serious flooding. I hope the Government will look at all the river catchment areas because the livelihoods of farmers have been affected.
In conclusion, I believe that every EC mechanism should be used to get whatever aid we can get, particularly for the flood damage. I believe there should be a directive on the question of assistance where these disasters occur, as they have in a number of areas throughout the country.
Now is the time.
A lot of money is provided for the victims of earthquakes and hurricanes. This is a disaster in a particular area of this country. I have mentioned some areas in County Galway and the midlands. I hope those areas which are not already designated as severely handicapped will be so designated and that the farmers in the area will benefit.
Everybody is agreed that the past ten to 12 weeks have been some of the roughest this country has experienced in living memory. It is vitally important that the Government approach the problem in a sensitive and sensible way. The setting up of a working committee of Government Departments with responsibility in areas which are primarily affected is a sensible move. It is necessary to gather and collate information so that we can proceed in a coordinated manner. We must not have one Department fighting against another Department in defence of their own partticular interests. A joint effort is necessary to get the solution to the many problems.
It is important to remember that there is no point in expecting an instant, long term solution while we are in the middle of a crisis. The Meteorological Office announced today that rainfall in the month of February was the highest on record and February is also recorded as the wildest month on record. These factors have to be kept in mind when considering the problems facing the Government.
The problem of coast erosion did not arrive overnight; it has been with us for many years. I remember people in east Cork speaking about having the areas of Garryvore, Ballycotton and Ballycrennan protected from coastal erosion. A debt of £12 billion was run up between 1982 and 1987. If the money had been used for productive purposes we would not now be facing some of these problems.
Maybe the storms would not come then.
In east Cork there has been great damage caused since 16-17 December. It has hit areas such as Youghal, Claycastle, Ballycrennan, Garryvore and Ballycotton. Ballycotton is vitally important for fishing and it is also the base of the lifeboat for that part of the country. The pier and breakwater in the harbour are in quite a dangerous condition and the county council have underlined this by putting Ballycotton on the priority list for repairs. I am sure that when the conclusions of the ministerial report have been reached, the finance necessary to repair the harbour and pier in Ballycotton will be forthcoming.
Other areas, such as Mallow and the Blackwater Valley, have been subject to flooding over the years and this area must be considered in any long-term plan for the prevention of flooding. Mallow and Fermoy are subject to unnecessary flooding year after year.
We are all aware of the shortage of funds within the country and also from the Community. I congratulate Mr. Gene Fitzgerald, MEP, who on the 22 February had an amendment added to the Commission initiative to provide funds for the clean up of beaches in Objective I countries, which would include Ireland. At the meeting of the Regional Affairs Committee he had an amendment added to include coastal erosion. This will have to go before the European Parliament but if passed it will be helpful in regard to the funding of coastal erosion protection projects.
I congratulate and thank the workers in the ESB, firemen and other who have done such tremendous work during this horrific weather. If everybody will pull together rather than being negative, I am sure we will find a solution to the problems facing us.
I understand there is agreement that the Workers' Party and Fine Gael will share the next half hour.
I was advised by Deputy Boylan and Deputy Taylor-Quinn that we would have three minutes and if it is in order I will give one minute to Deputy Kemmy.
That is very gallant of the Deputy. Who is kicking off? Deputy Boylan.
Because of the limited time at my disposal and the number of Deputies who wish to contribute, which is an indication of widespread concern, I wish to share my time with Deputy Flanagan, Deputy John Browne, Deputy Carey, Deputy Therese Ahearn, Deputy Sheehan. Deputy Sherlock is to have time to move his amendment. If there is time after that, I believe Deputy Garland wishes to make a contribution.
I take it that is agreed.
I am seriously concerned at the statement made last night by the Minister of State, Deputy Kirk, in relation to the problems facing farmers. I hope the reactions of people have reached this House loud and clear; if not, we intend to state them loudly and clearly.
I am also disappointed by the statement by the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Flynn, that only minimal help can be given. That is not acceptable. Untold damage has been done and the losses cannot yet be calculated.
The Deputy is referring to the EC disaster fund.
A Government fund is also to be set up. I have heard much about coastal damage and coastal erosion. I wish the Minister would come inland, to counties like Cavan and Monaghan, which have suffered drastically but are not even mentioned. Farm buildings have been ripped asunder, fodder has been lost, the River Erne has broken its banks and thousands of acres are flooded. There have been severe sheep losses. The Minister might convey that information to the Minister of State, Deputy Kirk, in the absence of the Minister for Agriculture. Lambs are dying on a large scale. I wonder if the Government are aware of this and of the serious havoc that is being caused. Many cattle and sheep are still wintering outdoors. Immediate aid is necessary to bring people through this crisis. We faced the problem in 1986-87 when we made immediate funds available through the doubling of headage payments. It is quite a simple exercise which is acceptable in Brussels.
The extension of the severely handicapped areas should also include the whole of counties Cavan and Monaghan. Damage to private houses is causing more hardship than the loss of livestock. Households have been devastated. I could give the Minister a list of names and addresses of people, whose roofs and slates have been ripped off, in local authority areas in Cavan town and the local authority do not have the finance to make the necessary repairs to prevent further damage being caused. Will the Minister give an immediate cash injection to the local authorities to start the repairs and give a further commitment to complete the repairs later? An immediate cash injection of not less than £5 million is needed for Cavan to get us off our knees.
Because of the condition of the roads, with foundations being exposed over the years, many roads have been washed away by the floods and some houses are totally isolated. The roads must be rebuilt at enormous cost so that people can travel to and from those houses.
An inspector who visited the county three weeks ago said that he had not witnessed conditions like those in Cavan anywhere else in the country. That report is outdated, although it will give the Minister an idea of the problem. The damage has been trebled since that report was written. We must face that problem in Cavan. Unless we are prepared to make the finance available to remedy the problems things will only get worse. I want the Minister to take on board the serious problems I have outlined.
In the short time available I will refer to the very serious flooding in Counties Laois, Offaly and the midlands which occurred on 6 February and on two or three days afterwards. The county council are not in a position to address the problem caused by the flooding. Estimates in both local authorities were reluctantly passed during the autumn and it is not possible for either of them to provide a public light or to fill a pothole. How can the Minister expect the county councils to spend £1.5 million to address the devastation caused by the flooding?
In relation to farmers, the record of the House will show the attitude of the Government, as expressed last night by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, who said that there was not a crisis. That was a disgrace coming from somebody who is supposed to be an expert in the Government. Farmers throughout Laois and Offaly have farm buildings down; they have lost winter barley, have had grass under water for weeks and fodder has been destroyed. These farmers are facing a poor and a bleak spring. These problems are coupled with the tardiness of the Government in the extension and reclassification of disadvantaged areas. This also has severe consequences for the people I represent. The Minister present tonight should take up with his Cabinet colleagues the disgraceful delays in the payment of grants through the Department of Agriculture. The farmers need this money.
That was settled this evening.
(Interruptions.)
Three months late.
In relation to urban areas, private housing and local authority housing estates in Portlaoise and Tullamore, and in other parts of my constituency, were severely affected by flooding on the morning of 7 February. The Minister is right when he says there is no responsibility to cover the private belongings of people but I would ask the Minister to consider that if he can give £1 million towards a swimming pool in Sligo surely he can give a small sum to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to help families who are badly stuck because of flood damage. The Minister for Social Welfare gave a Christmas present to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and there is no reason why, in the teeth of an emergency, a similar sum cannot be made available to them to help flood victims.
In relation to drainage, it is embarrassing for any politician to speak in this House about the draining of the Shannon, having regard to the notorious promises made in regard to this problem. There is no more notorious promise made at every election since the foundation of the State. Reference was made by a previous speaker to the Shannon forum. The submissions of the Shannon forum were ignored by this Government and their predecessors. Maybe now, because we have an unprecedented crisis in the Shannon Valley, the proposals of the Shannon forum will be taken into consideration. I call on the Government to make representations to the European Commission to have the entire Shannon basin area declared a super-severely handicapped area in order to address the problem of the small holders in west County Offaly particularly.
Laois County Council have submitted a claim to the Department of the Environment to the tune of £1.8 million. If the Minister cannot provide this money the council will not be able to repair the roads and bridges, put in the enlarged pipes necessary, open the culverts and generally do the necessary remedial work to prevent the recurrence of such a catastrophe. EC aid has been bungled. This was admitted by representatives of the Minister's party when they acknowledged that the party sum available to use is not sufficient when one looks at the storm fund available to other countries in the Community, as mentioned by the Minister here this evening.
That is not true — a mere £100,000.
The Government amendment speaks for itself. It is a pathetic effort to place a smokescreen around the serious crisis in the midlands.
Your county was well looked after.
(Carlow-Kilkenny): An té nach bhfuil láidir, ní foláir dó bheith glic, and since time is scarce here this evening I will be short and to the point.
I do not need to give details of the flooding in Carlow town, as it was well publicised. People saw boats going up and down the streets. While we might like to be described as one of the very important European cities, we do not want to be the Venice of Ireland with boats going up and down because of flooding. I would ask the Minister to listen to the claim being made by the engineering staff in relation to drainage of the Barrow and the prevention of flooding there by the building up of walls and so on. A submission to prevent flooding will be sent to the Minister and to the Board of Works. We can forget the past if we are able, but we must do something about the future. I appeal to the Minister, to listen to the submissions made by the county engineer in relation to what must be done in the future.
In relation to the ESB, having found £18 million to remedy the VAT that nobody is going to pay, they should rise to the occasion and make allowances to people who want to dry out their houses and business premises. Electricity is being over-produced at night time and it would not be very costly for the ESB to provide that electricty free for these people. It would be a very generous thing for them to do. Carlow County Council have already spent £55,000 dealing with the emergency. As the Minister knows, they have not that kind of money. I sincerely hope the Minister will listen to what I have said. As so many people want to contribute, that is all I am asking at this stage.
I do not want to delay the House either. I just want to add my voice in protest at the lip service and prevarication on the Government side in relation to this problem. This is the third occasion, since Fianna Fáil were returned to power in 1987, that we have been complaining about the problems which resulted from storm damage. The Minister and his Minister of State, Deputy Connolly, promised us the sun, moon and stars. They said they would give us money but they did not. The Government do not recognise that this is an island state; we had major storms and flooding in 1987, 1988, 1989 and now in 1990 but we still do not have a disaster fund.
The same applies to the Government's attitude on poverty. The biggest cut which this all embracing, successful Government made was in overseas development to help the poor hungry people in Africa. When we see what they did to that small fund I shudder to think what they will do in regard to this problem. What disappoints me most of all is that the Minister for the Environment is from the west and he knows that the Atlantic is beating hard on the shores.
Every day.
The Minister knows that precautions must be taken by Mayo County Council but that they do not have the funds to do so. I do not know if they have more than we have in Clare because we certainly do not have funds available to undertake repairs.
All one side of Lahinch golf course will be taken away which will affect the tourism promotion which the Minister and his Government have been shouting about. I ask the Minister to bang the heads of his colleagues together as he used to advise us to do when he was in Opposition. I am referring to Minister Reynolds, Minister Brennan, Minister of State Kirk and others so that we will get all the funds that are available from the Community to assist us. The Government could then match these funds. I admit that the Minister was not overlordly tonight. He has been humbled a little by this disaster.
I gave £1 million a fortnight ago for damage caused by storms in December. The Deputy is confusing the two things.
The Minister should initiate a disaster fund for the future so that when storms occur areas along the west coast will be properly looked after.
We gave money every single year.
The extent of the flooding in South Tipperary, particularly in Ardfinnan, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir, have already been outlined by me. Now that the flooding has subsided the destruction and havoc are evident.
The only solution to the flooding in South Tipperary is the drainage of the River Suir. While this may be a very expensive project it has been on the political agenda for many years, indeed I suppose since before I was born. I now plead with the Minister to put it at the top of his agenda and if he cannot proceed with the total project I ask him — although this is not desirable — to examine the possibility of having the drainage of the Suir carried out in sections so that areas in my constituency and others would not be flooded because of this enormous problem.
In South Tipperary we can give no assurance to anyone who has suffered in the past that the flooding will not continue in future. Such flooding will be unavoidable unless the drainage is carried out. I ask the Minister to examine the possibility of providing this.
The drainage of the Moy and the Corrib did not stop flooding.
Our county engineer requested that the Minister might provide resources from the Office of Public Works to examine the specific and related problems in our area. His opinion — and that of other experts in the area — is that our ultimate solution is the draining of the River Suir.
The coastline of southwest Cork has been severely affected by the recurring storms since mid-December. I want to outline the serious damage that has occurred in the area. Roads at Tragumna and in the Skibbereen area have been completely swept away. Piers at Union Hall, Ring, Castlestownsend, Bear Island and Crookhaven have been seriously undermined by the storms. Protection walls at Tragumna, Union Hall, Owenahincha, Garrettstown, Crookhaven, Bantry and several other areas along the south-western seaboard have been seriously damaged, indeed in some cases they have been swept away.
Coastal erosion is a major problem from Kinsale to the Dursey Sound. The problem is of such magnitude that it deserves a major injection of funds from the EC and our Government, not the miserable allocation of £120,000 to County Cork. This is the amount the Minister announced the other day, through his Minister for Food, in southwest Cork.
That is for the whole country.
The Deputy's county will not get it all.
This amount is only peanuts and is an insult to our Government and people. Does the Taoiseach, in his capacity as President of the EC, have any clout?
Deputies
No.
The Taoiseach is at Camp David.
There is no need to set up a committee at Government level to ascertain and evaluate the damage throughout the country as a report has already been laid on the Minister's desk. I know that the Minister is aware of what damage has been caused. All county engineers are concerned about the flood and storm damage, they have laid their complaints before the Minister and told him the amount of money they need. Action is what is needed, not a task force and pious platitudes.
In Cork the storm damage has been estimated to exceed over £5 million. How can we expect to get this money when the Minister does not have the will to fight for it in Europe? If the Minister fails to get the funds from Europe he should give back the £8.25 million which he hijacked from Cork County Council through the Whiddy package over two years ago to pay for the refurbishment and paving of Grafton Street.
Deputies
Hear, hear.
Give back this money to Cork County Council and it will compensate them in some small way and help to alleviate their major problems. For years we have been holding back the storms from the Atlantic Ocean from the rest of the country. My constituency is dented, battered and torn by successive storms and there are no funds available to repair the damage. The Minister's treatment of areas which have been severely damaged in the recent storms is a disgrace.
We need at least £7 million to carry out a proper coastal protection scheme in County Kerry, according to the county engineer. At the moment the most serious problem is at the Maharees where we lost over 40 feet of land to the sea since last December. Unless immediate action is undertaken we will have another island off the coast of Ireland.
A sum of £750,000 is needed to protect the Maharees and I appeal to the Minister and the Government to allocate this money immediately. There are also major problems at Waterville and Ballinskelligs and two holes at Ballybunion golf club are under threat. This is one of the best courses in the country and is recognised as the tenth best in the world. Many parts of the coastal area of this course are under threat following the recent storms. Many families are threatened at Carrigisland in Ballylongford and a nearby beach is also threatened with being wiped away. There is a need for action along the Kerry coastline. We should prepare a national plan to deal with our coastline which is a natural asset and amenity. It serves all our scenic areas and includes many attractive beaches. We should carry out a survey of our coastline, identify the weak areas and earmark them for emergency funding.
With the permission of the Chair I propose to share some of my time with Deputy Kemmy. I should like to thank Deputy Taylor-Quinn for accepting our amendment which calls on the Government to take all necessary steps to ensure that local authorities have the resources available and preparations made to deal effectively with future climatic emergencies. At a meeting of Cork County Council on Monday it was stated by the county manager that an allocation of £400,000 had been received from the Department up to January 1990. However, he told us that up to one week previously his officials had estimated that it would cost in the region of £4 million to repair the damage caused. That did not take into account the fishery harbour development programmes for south Cork, west Cork or the small fishery harbours. The Minister should bear in mind that the figure needed for Cork is £4 million.
It is a pity I did not have an opportunity to tell the Minister before he left the Chamber that the disastrous system he introduced in 1988 of giving what was described as voluntary redundancies, or forcing workers of local authorities to accept redundancy, was the cause of the problems we are facing. There are no local authority employees to keep the water drains clear and flooding has resulted. In north Cork two lives were lost by falling trees. If people were working on the roads they would have been able to identify the dangerous trees and have them removed. What were described as voluntary redundancies were not voluntary.
Redundancy payments were made to officials and the general staff of the council and the Minister introduced an embargo on the recruitment of replacements. The council cannot make redundancy payments and a number of years later seek permission to recruit staff. The Minister should lift the embargo on recruitment to Cork County Council. I am referring to engineering, general and administrative staff.
In Mallow we experienced severe flooding in the Spa area in December 1988. To date we have not been made aware of the results of trial borings for the purpose of diverting a small stream in that area. The houses in the Spa area were flooded in the recent storms. We have not got very far since 1988 despite the fact that on that occasion the Minister inspected the area from a helicopter. This is the time for us to make an appraisal of whether the horses and the dogs should be given priority over the condition of peoples' homes. There is a need to update many of our old Acts. The Act which refers to the power of local authorities to deal with overhanging and dangerous trees is as old as the hills. A council should have the power to enter lands if they need to do so. We must do something about the land that is being drained on to the public road and is causing serious flooding.
It is a pity that the Chair does not have the power to work a miracle like that of the loaves and fishes in relation to time for the debate. It would be a help to us and give us more time to debate the subject. It is a pity that we do not have any person in the country with the ability to change water into wine. If we had, the country might be on the road to recovery. The Government must respond to the crisis and to the suffering of our people. That is what they were elected to do, nothing more and nothing less. In Limerick city the River Shannon has broken its banks in three places and flooded part of the city and the lands surrounding it. Houses in the inner city have been flooded. The river has broken its banks and flooded houses in the area around the Sand Mall, Sir Harry's Mall and Athlunkard Street. The families who have suffered from the flooding have applied for aid and compensation to Limerick Corporation to help them out of their distress but there is no money available. The Government must come to the aid of those people and compensate them for the trouble, inconvenience and loss they have suffered. I do not believe in throwing money away and each application should be judged on its merits. Applications should be referred to a local tribunal with the power to award compensation.
We are paying out a lot of the lottery money to projects which are not essential. Indeed, some of them are frivolous projects. There is no reason why those who have suffered from flood and storm damage should not be compensated. The Minister, instead of sending local representatives and council engineers to conferences that are not esseential, should send them to Holland to learn how they have coped with coastal erosion. I visited Holland 26 years ago and I saw dykes, boulders and dams being constructed. If the Dutch can contain the sea there is no reason why we cannot contain some of our rivers. Many parts of Holland are below sea level but are in constant use. There is no reason why our engineers cannot learn from the experience of the Dutch. I believe in learning from people who know about these problems. If we do not do so we will not eliminate our problems. The Dutch have won back land from the sea. The Minister should send our engineers to Holland to learn how they can contain our rivers and waterways.
I regret to have to interrupt the Deputy but there is but one minute left of the Deputy's time before I call a Fianna Fáil speaker.
I will be very magnanimous about this and give the one minute remaining to me to Deputy Garland.
With all the talk in the House I sympathise with Deputies from all around the country. Did they consider where these storms are coming from? This is unprecedented in that the storms are coming from the beginning of the global warming and we must face up to that. The country is only tinkering with environmental problems. We continue to hear the politics of more and more, the politics of endless growth, the politics of greed, and they are the root cause of our climatic change. We are heading for an over-heated, poisonous atmosphere like that of Venus. We must face up to the real issue, that of basic survival, the survival of our children and of our planet. Unfortunately the Green Party, Comhaontas Glas, will be proved right again and again. The Cold War may be ending but the global warming has begun in earnest.
(Wexford): I should like to welcome the fact that the Government have set up a Cabinet group to deal with the problems caused by the recent storms. I welcome the positive statement by the Minister for the Marine, Deputy Wilson, last night that a full report will be available to the Cabinet next week. That is essential because severe damage has been caused around our coastline. Money from the Government or the EC should be made available as soon as possible to resolve the problems that exist. I come from a county that has 75 miles of coastline and over the years we have had to cope with major problems from coastal erosion. There was little response from former Governments. Deputation after deputation met different Ministers but we did not get much of a hearing.
Due to the storms since 16 December problems along our coastline have reached crisis point. The following areas have been severely attacked and are presently extremely vulnerable: Courtown, Ardamine, Cahore, Ballyconnigor, Ballinesker, Curracloe, Cullenstown, Carne, Rosslare, Ballyhealy and Ballyteigue. One could go on listing the areas right around the coast where serious problems exist. There are problems with farm buildings, glass houses, mushroom tunnels etc. I would like to deal with a few of the areas where major problems exist at present, particularly in the area of coast erosion.
Courtown Harbour which is the hub of the economy of Gorey town and North County Wexford has been devastated by coast erosion. Severe erosion has taken place on the dunes along the north beach at Courtown and the rock armoury which the county council have placed on the beach has been overrun by the sea. The county council roadway to the car park at Courtown Wood is in imminent danger of being eroded and requires immediate attention. Substantial rock armoury is required along this section of the coastline to protect the area because if Courtown Harbour goes it will have serious consequences for the business people and for the whole of North County Wexford. It is an area that has great tourist potential, it is adjacent to Dublin and to Dublin Airport and it is also very close to Rosslare Harbour. It is essential that moneys be made available as quickly as possible to protect Courtown.
Cullenstown Strand is another area which has great tourist potential. It is a major tourist resort for south Wexford. Storms since the beginning of 1990 have caused extensive erosion at Cullenstown Strand. The county council are not in a position to do very much about it because of lack of finance. The extensive remedial work required would be beyond the financial capabilities of the county council at present. In Ballyteigue, south Wexford, the farmers have major problems. The sand dunes there have been overtopped by the sea and as a result 7,000 acres of low lying agricultural land could be flooded permanently by the sea with major financial losses to the farmers of this area. There are seven or eight miles of sand dunes in that region that need to be rebuilt and to be provided with rock armoury. This particular area of coastline is the responsibility of the Office of Public Works. The Minister should request the Office of Public Works immediately to protect Ballyteigue's valuable assets and particularly to protect substantial numbers of farmers who will be affected.
Wexford County Council to date have done their best to counteract the problems. They have spent £20,000 in Courtown, £40,000 on Kilmore Quay and they are planning to spent £50,000 on Cahore to protect some of the resorts there. In all, that is a total of £110,000 spent by Wexford County Council — which they can ill afford — and it will put a severe financial burden on the council over the next few years. We need £100,000 in Wexford at present to do a mere holding job with rock armoury for Courtown, £30,000 to protect Ardamine where one of the houses was washed into the sea and a number of other houses are close to the cliff edge and ready to disappear. The Government should immediately make emergency allocations to the county council to enable them to protect Courtown and Ardamine, both of which are essential for tourism and for the whole economy of that area.
Rosslare beach has been the bane of all politicians from Wexford and TDs over the last number of years. We as an Oireachtas group have approached Deputy J. Mitchell when he was Minister, Deputy Dukes when he was Minister for Finance, Ministers in the last Government and Ministers in this Government seeking the implementation of a major scheme for Rosslare beach which will cost £6 million — a lot of money one might say but if that £6 million is not soon made available to implement the major scheme I am afraid Rosslare will no longer exist. It is essential that the provisions of the national plan be implemented for coast erosion and that we seek moneys from Europe in conjunction with our own national plan to safeguard the beaches and particularly the beaches of County Wexford, which are a major tourist attraction and very valuable to the whole country.
The EC disaster fund has been referred to and to me it seems just that. The amount in the fund is a token gesture. Now that we have the Presidency of the EC we should try to bring that fund into line for the nineties. We have taken into account the problems which have arisen in Ireland, the UK and other EC countries because of storm damage over the past three years. The Government should consider setting up a disaster fund where an allocation would be made each year from the budget. In the good years when the money would not be used it could be allowed to accumulate and at times of crisis, such as we have at present, that money could be used in conjunction with European moneys to alleviate the problems that exist around the coastline and throughout the country.
I welcome the interest of Deputy Dukes and Deputy Taylor-Quinn in Courtown Harbour and in the coast erosion problems of County Wexford because for the last number of years from 1982-87 the Government did not show any interest in coast erosion. I welcome their new found interest and I hope when this debate is over we can see County Wexford getting its fair share of whatever money is on offer following the Cabinet meeting next week——
I must now call on a Fine Gael speaker.
(Wexford):——to consider the mid west and the west of Ireland. I hope that the south-east coast will also get its fair share.
I wish to share the first five minutes of my time with Deputy D'Arcy.
It is my intention to use this five minutes to say as much as I can. It is physically impossible to do justice to a debate such as this in five minutes. However, something very serious has happened over the past few days and that is the statement made by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Kirk, that he has travelled the length and breadth of the country and he stated that the claims made by the farming organisations are exaggerated. I have travelled large sections of this country and I think they are not exaggerating. I wish to contradict his statement and I would like to say further that the Minister seems to be completely out of touch with reality in respect of the damage caused by the floods and storms over the past six or seven weeks.
In relation to agriculture in the Shannon valley and, indeed, in other areas there are approximately 300,000 acres under water for the past two to three weeks. The damage caused by this flooding is almost impossible to estimate. However, I think it is only right that we should try to put a figure on it at this stage. The Minister has stated that the amount of money available to him from the European Fund — which we have heard a lot about — is of the order of £120,000. This was obtained from Mr. Ray MacSharry, the Agriculture Commissioner in the EC. It is derisory and will go no way towards solving this problem. I am calling on the Government to take steps immediately to compensate these people because if they are not compensated there will be thousands of farmers throughout the country who will face financial ruin. The approximate number of farmers affected — and we can only guess, but I have checked the figures both yesterday and today — is somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000. I understand that these figures are being checked by the farming organisations and will be available in the next few days.
The damage for grassland alone and loss of production as a result of waterlogging over the last two to three weeks could be in the region of £5 million. One may ask how I calculate that figure. It is quite simple. If £20 per acre is allocated for 300,000 acres that gives the figure of £5 million. No doubt the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Kirk, can understand clearly that any waterlogged grass will be at least five weeks behind for this season.
I understand that the loss of sheep, cattle and other stocks from flood and related diseases, for example, pneumonia, twin lambing disease and many others, will be of the order of £2.5 million. The most serious aspect of this is the loss of feed, hay and silage in particular. People in a great part of the midlands have winter cattle out and will now have to buy fodder. The amount of money required to buy fodder following these losses will create huge bills which could be in the region of £3 million. This gives some indication of the amount of money required to compensate for the damage caused in this area. The Minister questioned the figures. I believe that in the region of £10 million to £12 million is needed. The Minister of State should make that case to the Ministers who are considering this. Many farmers are worried at the Minister's attitude both yesterday and today and on the radio in particular. We are talking about the provision of £120,000 for perhaps 3,000 farmers or £40 each or the price of 20 bales of hay.
I never mentioned the figure.
The Minister clearly stated that in his opinion this type of loss has not taken place. The Minister is the one on whom the farmers depend to go to those four Ministers and inform them that this is the position of agriculture. I would like to give a few examples. In County Waterford a farmer with 220 acres has 180 acres completely under water; the breach in the sea wall would cost £100,000, not to mention the loss to the farmer. It is going to cost £100,000 to repair the breach in the sea wall. Another small farmer with 40 acres lost two sheds which will cost £3,000 to replace and stock worth £500. In all, about £4,500 worth of damage was done.
There is a duty on the Minister of State to ensure that the case is properly put to the Ministers concerned and that proper costings are done. The insurance companies have refused to pay out. This is a scandal. The person concerned had obtained cover for damage but the legal boys got around this and said he did not have cover for storm damage and the insurance company refused to pay. The Minister must face up to this problem. Three thousand farmers live in that area but, unfortunately, I cannot go into the figures in depth as I have only five minutes at my disposal. The Minister has a serious job to do and I hope he changes his attitude and ensures that a proper case is made on behalf of farmers.
It falls on me to wind up the debate. Everyone inside and outside the House can see that there is great interest in this topic throughout the country. It is unfortunate in the extreme that the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Kirk, made the remarks he did last night. His view on the extent of the storm damage is beyond belief. It is as if he has been out of the country for eight weeks with no contact with our people. I wish to inform the House that there was a remarkable change in policy in the Department of Agriculture and Food this morning. I understand their telephone lines were jammed with calls from irate callers whose property had been damaged. All of a sudden the message hit home.
The Minister for the Environment, Deputy Flynn, had a different record to play tonight. One would think that we were talking about two different problems. I do not know from whom the Minister of State received his information — I presume it was from the agricultural community — but as Deputy D'Arcy rightly pointed out, it is completely and utterly wrong. It is a good job people did jam the telephone lines of the Department of Agriculture and Food today and I hope something will now be done. I understand the Minister of State had a busy day answering telephone calls.
Each day is a busy one.
Many meetings mandated Deputies and Senators of the Government party to bring details of the huge losses of property, stock and winter feed to the Minister of State and the Department of Agriculture and Food. Examples of losses abound. Farmers in the Shannon valley have had to be evacuated and their livestock penned in spaces not much bigger than a zoo cage. Most of their winter fodder has been ruined. One small farmer lost 40 ewes in a flash flood in Corofin, County Galway. During the storm the night before last a wall fell on 14 in-lamb ewes. One can imagine the strain on that farmer's face when he saw those 14 dead sheep — and 20 lambs were killed as a result. Taken with the replacement cost of the stock, his total financial loss is in the region of £2,500, leaving aside a cost of about £1,500 to repair the building. Where does one expect a small farmer with 40 acres to find that kind of money?
Because of the inclement weather a group of farmers in the Tuam area had to rent shed space in another part of the parish to house their cattle while another farmer had to stand in three feet of water inside a slatted house to erect a raised feeding trough to keep silage out of the water. Roofs of farm buildings are scattered all over the place and vast areas of land which have not been covered by flood waters since 1954 will be almost useless in 1990 as grass growth will be severely retarded.
So bad was the flooding in the Shannon valley that an emergency meeting of the Shannon forum was called last week, which all public representatives were invited to attend, to bring back the news where it mattered most. However, it appears that this message was not brought back to the Minister of State. Volumes were spoken in Athlone that day and promises were given to bring the story back and to hammer home to their ministerial colleagues the great damage caused by the storms and flooding. I have no doubt that they were crocodile tears. We can only assume that the Minister of State told the truth last night and did not get any feed back. Deputies and Senators of his party were adamant that they were going to change the face of the Shannon valley. Indeed, the Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Commerce, Deputy Leyden, boldly told the meeting that he was going on a fact finding mission the next day. I would like to know what he saw and, more important, what he told the Minister of State.
I am convinced that the Government and EC Commissioner, Mr. MacSharry, have conspired to ensure that no worthwhile aid will be made available, despite what the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Flynn, said tonight. The EC Commissioner moved quickly two weeks ago to inform the nation that there was only petty cash left in the till and a sum of £120,000 would be made available. The Minister for the Environment must be accused of hypocrisy as he named the contributions given to each member state of the Community but was not man enough to quote the figure for Ireland. He knows the figure as well as I do. It is £120,000 which will be useless as it could be used in any parish in Ireland.
The Government genuinely believed when the EC Commissioner, Mr. MacSharry, pointed out that the till was empty that that would be the end of the matter, that the weather would improve or there may be a miracle. This did not happen. A precedent was created in 1985 and 1986 when farmers in difficulty were helped. I should know as I was near the eye of the storm at the time. The Coalition Government spent £13 million in 1985 providing feed vouchers. Regardless of whether this was money well spent, someone came up with £13 million.
In a brilliant move in 1986 headage payments were doubled. At the time 50 per cent of the payment could be recouped from the EC. I want to inform the House tonight, lest anybody in the Department of Agriculture and Food says that this cannot be done or never has been done, that on that occasion the payments were increased on the basis that the national Exchequer would fund only half the amount required. However, following some brilliant negotiations in Brussels the EC funded the entire bill on that occasion to the tune of £18 million. I defy anyone to contradict me as I received this information from the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy O'Kennedy, only two months ago.
There was, and still is, financial aid available if looked for in the proper way. If the remarks which the Minister of State made were transmitted to the EC authorities in Brussels, what would they think? Obviously they would say things are not so bad in Ireland because one of the Ministers responsible has said so in the national assembly. It is unfortunate that he made those remarks.
Because of the personnel we now have in very important places we have never been in a better position to have our case heard. First, we hold the Presidency of the EC. As the Taoiseach is able to get to New York and Camp David, surely he should have no problem getting to Brussels to raise this matter with a man with whom he served in Government, the EC Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. MacSharry, a former Minister for Agriculture. He could also talk to the Minister for Agriculture and Food, who is also a former EC Commissioner. If that is not a receipe for getting things done in Brussels I do not know what is. Agriculture has never been in a worse state and it appears as if the Government have thrown in the towel. More important than that, it appears that if the Minister continues with the kind of statements he made here last night, we will lose again. I want to say this particular to Minister Flynn: there is a natural disaster fund in the EC. One cannot plan for a natural disaster, so it is a contingency payment that has to be there. I know that many countries creamed off handsome sums of money over the years for their natural disasters in their hour of need. Now it is our turn, and I am not talking about £2 million or £3 million but about a substantial amount of money that will compensate people for the terrible losses they have incurred and will continue to incur for all in 1990. It is incumbent on the Minister to ensure that he get together the three wise men as I call them, the Taoiseach, the Commissioner in Brussels and the Minister for Agriculture. They have the power. I doubt, however, if they have either the initiative or the ambition to do something for Ireland, for whatever reason I will never know. Let it never be said that there was no precedent for this. It can be done and I have proved it in the House. There is at least £20 million that can be got for direct aid to farmers. I suggest that the Minister get on his bike tomorrow morning and get it done.
Amendment put.
The Dáil divided: Tá, 63; Níl, 57.
Tá
- Ahern, Bertie.
- Ahern, Michael.
- Aylward, Liam.
- Barrett, Michael.
- Brady, Gerard.
- Brady, Vincent.
- Brennan, Mattie.
- Briscoe, Ben.
- Browne, John (Wexford).
- Burke, Raphael P.
- Callely, Ivor.
- Connolly, Ger.
- Coughlan, Mary Theresa.
- Cullimore, Séamus.
- Daly, Brendan.
- Davern, Noel.
- Dempsey, Noel.
- de Valera, Síle.
- Ellis, John.
- Fahey, Frank.
- Fahey, Jackie.
- Fitzgerald, Liam Joseph.
- Fitzpatrick, Dermot.
- Flood, Chris.
- Flynn, Pádraig.
- Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
- O'Toole, Martin Joe.
- Power, Seán.
- Quill, Máirín.
- Reynolds, Albert.
- Smith, Michael.
- Treacy, Noel.
- Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
- Harney, Mary.
- Hillery, Brian.
- Kelly, Laurence.
- Kenneally, Brendan.
- Kirk, Séamus.
- Kitt, Michael P.
- Lawlor, Liam.
- Lenihan, Brian.
- Leyden, Terry.
- Lyons, Denis.
- Martin, Micheál.
- McCreevy, Charlie.
- McDaid, Jim.
- McEllistrim, Tom.
- Molloy, Robert.
- Morley, P.J.
- Nolan, M.J.
- Noonan, Michael J. (Limerick West).
- O'Connell, John.
- O'Hanlon, Rory.
- O'Keeffe, Ned.
- O'Leary, John.
- O'Malley, Desmond J.
- O'Rourke, Mary.
- Wallace, Dan.
- Wallace, Mary.
- Walsh, Joe.
- Wilson, John P.
- Woods, Michael.
- Wyse, Pearse.
Níl
- Ahearn, Therese.
- Barnes, Monica.
- Bradford, Paul.
- Browne, John (Carlow-Kilkenny).
- Bruton, John.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Byrne, Eric.
- Carey, Donal.
- Connaughton, Paul.
- Connor, John.
- Cosgrave, Michael Joe.
- Cotter, Bill.
- Creed, Michael.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Deasy, Austin.
- Deenihan, Jimmy.
- De Rossa, Proinsias.
- Doyle, Joe.
- Durkan, Bernard.
- Farrelly, John V.
- Ferris, Michael.
- Finucane, Michael.
- Flaherty, Mary.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Foxe, Tom.
- Garland, Roger.
- Gilmore, Eamon.
- Gregory, Tony.
- Harte, Paddy.
- Higgins, Jim.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kavanagh, Liam.
- Kemmy, Jim.
- Lee, Pat.
- Lowry, Michael.
- McCartan, Pat.
- McCormack, Pádraic.
- McGahon, Brendan.
- McGinley, Dinny.
- McGrath, Paul.
- Mitchell, Jim.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Nealon, Ted.
- Noonan, Michael. (Limerick East).
- O'Shea, Brian.
- O'Sullivan, Gerry.
- O'Sullivan, Toddy.
- Pattison, Séamus.
- Rabbitte, Pat.
- Ryan, Seán.
- Shatter, Alan.
- Sherlock, Joe.
- Spring, Dick.
- Stagg, Emmet.
- Taylor, Mervyn.
- Taylor-Quinn, Madeleine.
- Timmins, Godfrey.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies V. Brady and Quill; Níl, Deputies J. Higgins and McCormack.
Amendment declared carried.
Amendment No. 2 not moved.
Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 64; Níl, 59.
Tá
- Ahern, Bertie.
- Ahern, Michael.
- Aylward, Liam.
- Barrett, Michael.
- Brady, Gerard.
- Brady, Vincent.
- Brennan, Mattie.
- Briscoe, Ben.
- Browne, John (Wexford).
- Burke, Raphael P.
- Calleary, Seán.
- Callely, Ivor.
- Connolly, Ger.
- Coughlan, Mary Theresa.
- Cullimore, Séamus.
- Daly, Brendan.
- Davern, Noel.
- Lawlor, Liam.
- Lenihan, Brian.
- Leyden, Terry.
- Lyons, Denis.
- Martin, Micheál.
- McCreevy, Charlie.
- McDaid, Jim.
- McEllistrim, Tom.
- Molloy, Robert.
- Morley, P.J.
- Nolan, M.J.
- Noonan, Michael J. (Limerick West)
- O'Connell, John.
- O'Hanlon, Rory.
- Dempsey, Noel.
- de Valera, Síle.
- Ellis, John.
- Fahey, Frank.
- Fahey, Jackie.
- Fitzgerald, Liam Joseph.
- Fitzpatrick, Dermot.
- Flood, Chris.
- Flynn, Pádraig.
- Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
- Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
- Harney, Mary.
- Hillery, Brian.
- Kelly, Laurence.
- Kenneally, Brendan.
- Kirk, Séamus.
- Kitt, Michael P.
- O'Keeffe, Ned.
- O'Leary, John.
- O'Malley, Desmond J.
- O'Rourke, Mary.
- O'Toole, Martin Joe.
- Power, Seán.
- Quill, Máirín.
- Reynolds, Albert.
- Smith, Michael.
- Treacy, Noel.
- Wallace, Dan.
- Wallace, Marry.
- Walsh, Joe.
- Wilson, John P.
- Woods, Michael.
- Wyse, Pearse.
Níl
- Ahearn, Therese.
- Barnes, Monica.
- Bradford, Paul.
- Browne, John (Carlow-Kilkenny).
- Bruton, John.
- Byrne, Eric.
- Carey, Donal.
- Connaughton, Paul.
- Connor, John.
- Cosgrave, Michael Joe.
- Cotter, Bill.
- Creed, Michael.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Deasy, Austin.
- Deenihan, Jimmy.
- De Rossa, Proinsias.
- Doyle, Joe.
- Durkan, Bernard.
- Farrelly, John V.
- Fennell, Nuala.
- Ferris, Michael.
- Finucane, Michael.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Foxe, Tom.
- Garland, Roger.
- Gilmore, Eamon.
- Gregory, Tony.
- Harte, Paddy.
- Higgins, Jim.
- Hogan, Philip.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kavanagh, Liam.
- Kemmy, Jim.
- Lee, Pat.
- Lowry, Michael.
- McCartan, Pat.
- McCormack, Pádraic.
- McGahon, Brendan.
- McGinley, Dinny.
- McGrath, Paul.
- Mitchell, Jim.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Nealon, Ted.
- Noonan, Michael. (Limerick East).
- O'Shea, Brian.
- O'Sullivan, Gerry.
- O'Sullivan, Toddy.
- Pattison, Séamus.
- Rabbitte, Pat.
- Ryan, Seán.
- Shatter, Alan.
- Sheehan, Patrick J.
- Sherlock, Joe.
- Spring, Dick.
- Stagg, Emmet.
- Taylor, Mervyn.
- Taylor-Quinn, Madeleine.
- Timmins, Godfrey.
- Yates, Ivan.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies V. Brady and Quill; Níl, Deputies J. Higgins and McCormack.
Question declared carried.