Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 November 2023
106. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide details of the additional supports that his Department will provide for a local authority following the devastation of Storm Babet (details supplied); how quickly this funding will be made available to the same local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48226/23]
View answer111. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timelines for the additional supports his Department will provide for a local authority following the devastation of Storm Babet (details supplied); if his Department will provide funding towards further machinery to help speed up the repairs across the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48227/23]
View answer117. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if Cork City Council has been in contact with him and his Department in relation to extra supports following recent flooding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48938/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 106, 111 and 117 together.
Local authorities are designated as lead agencies 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 are seen as having worked extremely well, in particular the responses led by local authorities to flooding and other severe weather emergencies. All local authorities have an established Severe Weather Assessment Team in place, monitoring Met Éireann weather warnings, High Tide Advisories and European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) advisory warnings. Local authorities also have Severe Weather/ Flood Plans in place to support the response to weather emergencies.My Department undertakes the Lead Government Department role, as set out in the Strategic Emergency Management (SEM) Framework (2017), in relation to coordination of national level response to flooding emergencies, 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 unbudgeted costs of clean-up and necessary immediate works for exceptional overtime payments, the hire of plant and heavy machinery, the purchase of materials required for the clean-up and the hire of contractors associated with significant severe weather emergency events.
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 generally cannot be met from within existing resources. This practice is considered a vital enabler of the local authority response, providing the assurance that availability of resources is not a limiting factor in providing a very effective local response.In the context of the flooding that has occurred in recent weeks and the exceptional nature of the response activities carried out by local authorities, clearly the costs of these activities were not budgeted for within existing resources. My Department, in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, is exploring options available to allocate supplementary funding to contribute towards exceptional expenditure directly associated with recent flood responses and has issued a Circular to local authorities, including Cork City and Cork County Councils, requesting each affected local authority to make a submission detailing eligible unbudgeted costs related to the response, clean-up and necessary immediate works.
