Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 January 2021
115. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the details of the request to his Department by local authorities for additional funding to deal with flooding between 1 January 2015 and 21 January 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4960/21]
View answerLocal authorities are designated as a principal response agency as well as being 'lead agency' for coordinating the local response to flooding emergencies as per the Government decision relating to the “Framework for Major Emergency Management” (2006).
The arrangements for emergency management have evolved and, when called upon, are seen as having worked well, in particular the responses to flooding and other severe weather emergencies led by local authorities. All local authorities have Severe Weather/ Flood Plans in place to support the response to weather emergencies as part of their individual Major Emergency Plans. Local authorities also have a Severe Weather Assessment Team in place, monitoring Met Éireann weather warnings and OPW and EFAS flood advisory/ warnings and High Tide Advisories.
The Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated some changes in established practices, and my Department has made necessary changes, including hosting/ providing a direct link for situation briefing between Met Éireann's forecasting and flood forecasting division and the local authorities in advance of any predicted severe weather event. My Department also hosted a focus group, organised by Met Éireann, in September 2020, where Met Éireann shared updates regarding the development of flood forecasting and warning and updates in relation to the naming convention for storms and general weather warnings.
My Department is designated as 'Lead Government Department' , as set out in the Government approved Strategic Emergency Management (SEM) Framework (2017), in relation to coordination of response to flooding emergencies at national level where warranted. The Department's National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management undertakes this role, and works closely with Local Authority Severe Weather Assessment Teams.
Since 2009, my Department has made financial support available to assist local authorities in meeting the un-budgeted costs of clean-up and necessary immediate works, such as staff overtime and hire of plant and contractors, associated with significant severe weather emergency events, including flooding. This is in recognition of the exceptional nature of activities carried out by local authorities in responding to these types of emergencies and the fact that the costs of these un-programmed activities cannot be met from within existing resources. This practice is considered a vital enabler of local authority response, providing the assurance that availability of resources is not a limiting factor in providing effective local response.
In the context of the severe weather/ flooding events which occurred during the period of 1st of January 2015 to 21st January 2020, my Department received requests from individual local authorities for support in funding the significant costs of the response, clean-up and necessary immediate works. In light of the exceptional nature of these response activities carried out by local authorities, and the fact that the costs of these activities were not budgeted for within existing resources, my Department re-couped in excess of €36,000,000 towards the costs incurred by local authorities during that period.
The table below details the funds provided to each local authority over the period in question.
|
Local Authority |
Funds recouped (€) 01/01/2015 - 21/01/2020 |
|
Carlow |
€967,132.34 |
|
Cavan |
€334,143.00 |
|
Clare |
€1,157,128.00 |
|
Cork City |
€2,323,574.00 |
|
Cork County |
€3,602,145.00 |
|
Donegal |
€2,889,130.95 |
|
Dublin City |
€285,046.00 |
|
Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown |
€200,069.00 |
|
Fingal |
€507,395.33 |
|
Galway City |
€204,956.00 |
|
Galway County |
€3,495,223.62 |
|
Kerry |
€914,415.17 |
|
Kildare |
€673,176.90 |
|
Kilkenny |
€1,109,134.00 |
|
Laois |
€725,016.44 |
|
Leitrim |
€839,347.70 |
|
Limerick |
€1,374,070.13 |
|
Longford |
€530,026.03 |
|
Louth |
€278,689.35 |
|
Mayo |
€1,398,713.74 |
|
Meath |
€897,402.00 |
|
Monaghan |
€264,890.91 |
|
Offaly |
€936,140.08 |
|
Roscommon |
€991,094.74 |
|
Sligo |
€568,855.03 |
|
South Dublin |
€527,805.52 |
|
Tipperary |
€1,796,412.00 |
|
Waterford |
€1,791,323.00 |
|
Westmeath |
€1,572,092.56 |
|
Wexford |
€1,628,076.26 |
|
Wicklow |
€1,227,356.73 |
|
Total: |
€36,009,981.53 |
