Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 26 Jun 2002

Vol. 553 No. 6

Written Answers. - Flood Relief.

John Gormley

Question:

135 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Finance if the finance to sheet pile and make safe the banks of the River Dodder at Ringsend, Irishtown, Stella Gardens and Sandymount will be available immediately to safeguard the lives and property of the people living in these areas who have been made homeless for more than four months and incurred trauma and losses exceeding ?15 million; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14854/02]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

Following the severe flooding events of 1 and 2 February of this year in the areas mentioned by the Deputy, officials from Dublin City Council met my officials in the Office of Public Works. The city council requested immediate funding of approximately €1.827 million to pay for emergency works which it had already carried out in Ringsend and a further programme of works which had been identified as urgently required. In addition, the city council requested support for consultancy studies to address the general flooding problem in Dublin, the costs of which have not yet been identified.

While the Office of Public Works has no direct responsibility to deal with flooding in Dublin as no scheme has been initiated under the Arterial Drainage Acts, the Office of Public Works has on occasion in the past funded flood relief works carried out by local authorities using their own legal powers. However, owing to existing contractual commitments in relation to priority flood relief schemes already on the Office of Public Works's flood relief works programme, I regret there is no funding available in the current year to meet the costs of the works specified by the city council in its request.

The Deputy will be aware that the Office of Public Works acted very quickly in the days immediately following the flooding and put in place a scheme of humanitarian assistance to provide relief to those who had suffered hardship as a result of the flooding. The scheme was administered through the Irish Red Cross Society and a total €8.5 million was paid out. A total of 715 applications for aid were received, of which 571 were in the Dublin area. Approximately 83%, €7 million of the total aid fund was paid out to Dublin applicants.