Vol. 567 No. 1
190 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the amount of Government finance which was spent on aid to the residents of Richmond Road, Grace Park Road and Clonturk Park, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, following the flooding of the River Tolka; and if he will give maximum support, advice and assistance to all the residents affected. [13355/03]
The Government allocated €5 million in humanitarian aid to the victims of flooding in November 2002 in various parts of the country. The scheme was administered by the Irish Red Cross and a total of 666 applications for aid were granted which resulted in average payments of approximately €7,000. It is not possible to give exact payments for individual areas in Dublin, but the total amount paid out to applicants in the Dublin city area was approximately €2,303,000.
As I outlined to the Deputy before, the Office of Public Works has been giving every assistance in these areas since the severe flooding from the River Tolka last November. In the immediate aftermath of the flooding the Office of Public Works mobilised its resources to carry out emergency works as three houses, off Tolka Road, were in danger of subsiding into the river. The work involved constructing a new wall along the Tolka to the rear of these houses.
The Office of Public Works has also, since January, been carrying out further flood alleviation measures, which were contained in the interim report prepared by the consultants carrying out the flood study on the River Tolka for Dublin City Council. Further works including the construction of walls and embankments, the replacement of Woodville Road Footbridge, and the maintenance cleaning of the channel have all been ongoing in this period. Indeed the Office of Public Works will continue these interim works until the autumn when they are due to be completed. I also met the Tolka River Residents Alliance last month to listen to their concerns over the flooding and their insurance situation.
