With the permission of the House, I wish to share my time with Deputy Lynch.
Adjournment Debate. - Cork Flooding.
That is quite in order.
Thank you for allowing me to raise on the Adjournment the recent flooding in Shandon Court, Cork, which caused devastation for residents of the surrounding area. The position was vividly brought home by a resident who made a video of the flooding caused by a burst main. Some national newspapers showed pictures of firemen breaking open a door with a hatchet and water flowing out. This was a devastating experience for the local residents. Will the Minister indicate to the House what arrangements have been made with Cork Corporation and if the Department will supply urgent funding necessary to allow the corporation to make arrangements with the residents.
Homes both old and new have been destroyed. Some residents are interested in returning to their homes, others are not. Some are young people or have young families, others are old people who have lived there all their lives. They have been disrupted by something outside their control. I pay tribute to the Southern Health Board and Cork Corporation for their efforts to assist and support these people, many of whom have lived in hotels for the past few weeks because the financial arrangements have not been agreed with the corporation. I ask the Minister to indicate to the House what contact has been made with the management of Cork Corporation to ensure that matters can be finalised as quickly as possible. Local Deputies have had meetings with the residents, some of whom are angry and feel that proper priority has not been given to the matter. At this time of year, heading into Christmas, we owe them help. Something happened outside their control which wrecked their homes. If it had happened a few hours earlier there would have been loss of life — we were lucky that the main burst at about 8 a.m. and that many people were awake. It was devastating to see it. I appeal to the Minister to indicate that the Department will provide the necessary resources to allow Cork Corporation to proceed as quickly as possible to get these people's lives back in order, because they have gone through a traumatic time.
I thank Deputy Wallace for allowing me time; we co-operated on this matter as we are from the same constituency. The Deputy has outlined the circumstances in which the people of Shandon Court and Shandon View now find themselves. To give an indication of the force of water involved, one must remember that Cork is known for its hills and these two estates are situated on Fever Hospital Hill. One can imagine the pressure necessary to drive the water from the city basin to Mayfield and the pipe fractured where the pressure was most acute. It left a crater four feet deep and ten feet wide across the road. The volume of water entered houses under that pressure and literally washed all the residents' belongings through the points of least resistance such as windows and back doors. Elderly people who had purchased the houses when they first married and still lived there in their 80s now find themselves homeless. Young families have had to move from their first homes and find a new home in rented accommodation before Christmas. Most of the elderly are living with friends and families, so in that way they are not as badly affected, but they are all extremely upset.
Similar funding to that provided for last year's flooding in the west of Ireland should be given to Cork Corporation. That local authority is not wealthy, it has been underfunded for years. We must ensure that the people most affected will be cared for, as the corporation wants to do. I appeal to the Minister to ensure not alone that the funding is made available but that it is provided speedily, so that the trauma these people have endured can stop.
I am glad to have the opportunity to reply on behalf of the Minister for the Environment who is not available, and to explain the Department's position on this incident. Before doing so, I offer my sympathy to the householders in Cork whose homes were severely flooded on Monday 4 November when the 18 inch water main serving Mayfield burst at a point near the top of the steps of the Fever Hospital. As the Deputies from north Cork will be aware, the operation and maintenance of water supplies is a matter for the local authority concerned, in this instance Cork Corporation. The Department has no direct function in the matter. However, in accordance with normal practice, corporation officials have kept the Department generally informed concerning the incident. On the basis of the information supplied by the corporation, I will outline briefly to the House what happened and the response to the incident.
The first notification that something was wrong was received just after 7 a.m. on the morning of November 4 on Cork Fire Brigade's emergency phone number. The fire brigade and the corporation's water works staff responded immediately to the call and were quickly on the scene. There was a huge flow of water from the burst pipe and it was being held in check by the houses at Shandon Court and Shandon View Cottages. The corporation's immediate concern on discovering the break was to shut-off the water to the burst section and this was done safely within an hour, with no further pipes being broken. This served to minimise the potentially highly destructive impact of the burst but even with quick action, the corporation estimates that 2.4 million gallons of water escaped from the burst main.
Because the burst had occurred high on the hill above Shandon Court and Shandon View Cottages, the escaping water cascaded down towards the houses, damaging them. The occupants of the houses were evacuated and Cork Corporation arranged temporary accommodation for those requiring it. I understand from Cork Corporation that it has already settled some compensation claims submitted by affected householders and will examine and deal as quickly and sympathetically as possible with any further claims lodged by householders whose homes have been damaged.
It is the health board rather than the Department which has funds to provide assistance in the case of flooding. There are no special funds available to the Department to provide assistance to householders who have to leave their homes due to flooding, however caused. The health board may, however, assist by way of a rent allowance or otherwise under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. This assistance may be made available to households who would not normally be eligible for assistance under that scheme if they have a particularly urgent need. It is also open to the health board, in necessitous cases, to provide assistance to elderly householders through the task force on special housing aid for the elderly to remedy damage to their homes.
I am informed that the community welfare office in Cork has acted quickly to provide assistance to the victims of flooding in this instance. On the day of the flooding a special clinic was set up in the area to provide assistance to those who sought it and a community welfare officer has been specially assigned to deal with the matter. The health board is also assisting, as necessary, with rent and other costs that victims of the flooding might have to pay in the short-term.
The corporation has undertaken surveys of the structural condition of the houses damaged in the flooding to establish that their stability is not affected. In addition, it has taken urgent action to eliminate the consequential dampness in the houses with a view to making them habitable again as soon as possible. Dehumidifiers were installed as soon as possible after the flooding and, having achieved their purpose, are now being taken out. It is hoped it will be possible for householders to return to their homes shortly — I appreciate the concern expressed by the Deputies that families would like to return home before Christmas.
This was a very unfortunate and unusual incident. While no emergency response action by public authorities could alleviate the trauma and inconvenience suffered by the residents, we can be satisfied that the bodies with first-line responsibilities acted promptly and with compassion — I wish to put my appreciation of that on the record of the House.
The Minister's response is very disappointing. Financial assistance was provided when flooding occurred in other parts of the country.