Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 October 2023
9. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if he will outline details of the emergency funding to be provided following the devastating flooding in Midleton and the wider east Cork region; what timeline is available for these funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47034/23]
View answer34. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to outline the supports being provided by his Department to assist those affected by the recent flooding in east Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46921/23]
View answerI want to ask about the release of emergency funding. The Government will be familiar from Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, and indeed from the six members of the Cabinet who visited areas in Cork in recent days, of the utter devastation that has been caused by flash flooding in the area. Many communities have experienced colossal damages that will require many millions of euro in repair work. The hospital, the Garda station, road infrastructure, homes and businesses have been affected. I ask the Minister of State what he intends to do in terms of releasing additional capital to help our community.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 34 together.
At the outset, on my own behalf and on behalf of the Government, I want to express our sympathy to the people of County Cork and the other locations, in west Waterford especially, that were flooded and had their businesses and houses impacted by Storm Babet on Thursday of last week. After the event, the Taoiseach and I visited Midleton, as Deputy O'Connor said. We wanted to meet with local communities to see at first hand the devastation from the impact from Storm Babet, to hear people's experiences, to reassure the community of the Government's support during their recovery from the event and to deliver a scheme for the town. We met with officials in Cork County Council during the visit. Across east Cork and other local authority areas, local authority staff, An Garda Síochána, the Civil Defence, the Defence Forces, the Irish Coast Guard and with numerous volunteers worked to provide an emergency response to those affected. I would like to pay tribute to them here today. Last Friday, I met with officials from Cork City Council when I visited Glanmire to meet with those affected in that community.
The Government has initiated all appropriate responses to the flooding situation. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, activated the humanitarian assistance scheme on 19 October to support households in Cork city and county and west Waterford, including Cork city, Midleton, Youghal, Castletownbere, Mallow, Tallow, Dungarvan and other affected areas. The purpose of this scheme is to prevent hardship by providing income-tested financial support to people whose houses were damaged. A total of 223 payments amounting to €147,260 have already been made to those affected. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has also increased the income limits for the scheme with immediate effect.
In addition, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, has opened two emergency business flooding schemes for businesses, sports clubs and community and voluntary organisations unable to secure flood insurance and affected by the recent flooding in counties Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Kilkenny and Louth. The scheme provides humanitarian support contributions towards the cost of returning small businesses, clubs, community premises and other premises to their pre-flood condition, including the replacement of flooring, fixtures, fittings and damaged stock where relevant. Assistance of up to €100,000 can be made available under that scheme. In addition to the humanitarian assistance, financial assistance by way of low-cost loans is immediately available from Microfinance Ireland. Loan options include cashflow loans of up to €25,000.
On Tuesday of this week, along with officials from the Office of Public Works, OPW, I met with the chief executive and senior officials from Cork County Council and the scheme’s design consultants to discuss how the Midleton flood relief scheme can be delivered as soon as possible. I would like to reassure the House on behalf of the Government that the OPW, together with other agencies, will do all it can as quickly and efficiently as possible to make sure the communities impacted by the storms in the Cork and Waterford areas receive the relief they require.
I thank the Minister of State for the information he has provided. It is interesting to see the level of urgency that is being shown by the OPW around the scheme. I know that the Minister of State, having seen the damage, will do his best to try to push the scheme on. My colleague, Deputy Stanton, will go into this in further detail in the next question. My question pertains to the senior Minister and relates to funding. I would like to hear from the Minister, if it is appropriate, about the additional moneys that will have to be given to the Department of Transport and the allocations that will have to be made to Cork County Council through local government. Money has to come from somewhere to pay for these damages, in particular to road infrastructure. The damage that has been done is absolutely incredible. Bridges were knocked down and washed away. Roads have collapsed. Millions of euro in damage has been done to public infrastructure which pertains to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan and Reform. Will the Minister give the local Deputies in the area any reassurances about what can be done by his Department?
As I said at the outset, the Government is committed to making sure that the necessary funding, not only for private infrastructure but also for public infrastructure, is made available. As he was at the meeting in Midleton fire station when the CEO of Cork County Council raised the issue of damaged public infrastructure, Deputy O'Connor will be aware that the Taoiseach's response on behalf of the Government was very clear. This was followed up by the Tánaiste when he visited at the weekend. When assessments are completed by Cork County Council, Cork City Council and Waterford County Council in respect of the areas primarily affected by this event, they will have to be returned to the Government through the various Departments that have responsibility for them. I refer not only to my own Department but also to those responsible for housing, transport and education, etc. The Taoiseach was very firm in his response when he said that as with other flood events that have devastated other parts of the country, the Government will not be found wanting in making sure that the financial resources required to fund public infrastructure repairs, and the schemes to which I have already alluded for businesses and private homes, will be made available.
I appreciate the response. I recognise the presence of the Minister and the Minister of State here this morning. It is appreciated. A strong delegation came down from the Cabinet. A strong number of Ministers of State came down very quickly. To the public it may seem frustrating to see politicians showing up for photographs, but that was not the case. Tuesday's Cabinet meeting agreed a strong increase in supports, with the threshold for a single-income household increasing to €50,000 from €30,000 and the threshold for a joint-income household increasing to €90,000 from €50,000. In addition, there were €10,000 to €15,000 increases per child for dependent children. The response has been very strong. I want to make sure this issue remains apolitical. We must all work together to try to get done what needs to be done to help people, businesses and homeowners in east Cork to get back on their feet. I have a concern in regard to funding. We will need money and we need somebody to provide that money.
There are three more speakers before the Minister of State comes back in.
Earlier this year, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, came to Springfield, County Clare to open the Clonlara flood defence system, for which we had campaigned for more than a decade. We are grateful to him and to his Department. The people in Midleton and elsewhere in Cork who have endured this awful flooding in the past week should be aware that the flood defences planned for our community took many years to deliver, not because of local objections, but because of a man. I will name him. This is a fact. Peter Sweetman of The Swans and The Snails Limited, who is based here in Dublin-----
Deputy, you cannot-----
It is a planning fact that he held up this flood defence for years.
Deputy, you can mention the issue but not people's names.
There must be some pre-qualification rules to ensure that someone at the opposite side of the country cannot object-----
Deputy, please-----
-----and cannot hold up a key critical project. The same thing will repeat itself in Cork.
I let the Deputy in on a supplemental question.
This is hugely relevant to people in Cork.
Deputy, you have been allowed to ask a supplemental question at the discretion of the Chair. Please stop mentioning people's names. It is not on to mention people specifically. If you want to mention the issue-----
I mentioned the issue. It is a fact of planning. The point I am making and wish to reiterate is that-----
You cannot reiterate what you have just said. We are out of time now.
I am entitled to another 15 seconds. You interrupted me. The point I wish to conclude on-----
Deputy, please-----
-----is that there is a need for pre-qualification rules. You cannot have someone on the opposite side of Ireland blocking-----
Deputy, you are abusing the privilege I have given you.
I have not broken any rules, with the greatest respect.
I have allowed in three supplemental questions out of discretion. It is unfair to the people who are waiting to ask the questions further down the list which they have tabled-----
My question was relevant.
The issue that the Deputy should be raising should be supplemental in relation to the question.
It is entirely relevant.
I will not use my discretion in the future if that ever continues. I call Deputy Stanton for his supplemental question.
I thank the Ministers and the Government for the reaction to our community in east Cork. It was fast and really welcome. Many people have lost everything. The issue I want to raise relates to spending. Many cars were damaged on the streets because of this unprecedented flooding. Many valuable cars were damaged, some beyond repair. Some had no insurance cover. Will the Government provide some form of assistance there? Cars are very valuable. Also, there are some private bridges and some private property, apart from houses and business, that also need assistance.
There is one more supplemental question from Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan.
I want to reiterate what the two previous speakers have said in regard to the response. People have appreciated it on the ground. I would like to support what Deputy O'Connor said by mentioning that we have done a tour with our local engineers of bridges that have collapsed and sinkholes that have appeared and are likely to reappear in the future given the nature of the landscape of east Cork and the wider area.
I had the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, down in Glenmore Bridge on the edge of the Glanmire-Glounthaune area. The river there was 15 ft higher than it ordinarily would be, so this is a really concerning issue for residents in that area. My question is directly related to additional expenditure that might be incurred for additional mitigation measures that might be taken in the short term. Will the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, clarify whether funding is available for the additional mitigation measures he discussed with residents in the Glashaboy flood relief scheme and whether funding will be forthcoming for those?
I will deal with the last question first. Deputy O'Sullivan was with me in Glanmire when we discussed with the OPW the question of whether mitigating measures can be taken in parallel to the construction of the Glanmire flood relief scheme. Once Cork City Council has completed its assessment of which needs are interim versus long-term - because of the limitations we have on the amount of time we can work on the river - we will certainly look at that.
I will refer Deputy Stanton's issue around car insurance to the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I am aware he has already been discussing it with her, but I will bring it up with her.
I agree with Deputy Cathal Crowe's comments that the Springfield and Ennis schemes show the effectiveness of these schemes. Ennis is the largest town in Munster. These schemes show that when they are built and completed, people can rest easy in their beds.
