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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 19 Feb 2014

Vol. 831 No. 2

Recent Flooding: Statements (Resumed)

I express our deepest condolences to the family, friends and community of Michael O'Riordan, a linesman, who was killed while trying to restore utility services to households cut off during the storm. I also express our deepest sympathy to the families of the two visitors to our land who were apparently swept out to sea as they viewed the majesty and power of a raging ocean. All of us who saw the pictures of people being taken from their homes in boats, businesses being destroyed by rivers of water and green farmlands being formed into lakes can only feel the deepest of sympathy for those involved. It is hard to envisage a more heart-breaking scenario, but, thankfully, there were few deaths as a result of the storms.

The storms also showed some good, positive actions. We must all commend the work of local communities which banded and bonded together to fight the forces of nature which threatened to destroy their homes, businesses and belongings. We should also commend front-line emergency workers, voluntary organisations, the ESB, telephone and council workmen who worked all hours to help people to deal with the crisis. I even commend the Government for its action in arranging to proactively seek out those citizens most in need of emergency assistance and using organisations such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to administer and co-ordinate support for those most in need. That was good action taken by the Government, for which it should be commended.

The flooding highlights deficiencies in local government. Flooding is a national problem that must be tackled at a local level. It is very difficult for the Government or the Office for Public Works to draw up a definitive list of projects that need to be carried out quickly. That is the information that is only held at local authority level, but local authorities have seen their ability to address the problems caused by severe weather and flooding diminished by cuts to their funding. The irony is that the local government fund is being used to subvent Uisce Éireann. This is the type of situation one would expect to find in a satirical comedy sketch: local government funds being spent to charge people for access to water as it is literally pouring into homes and businesses through every orifice. The effect of cuts to local government spending can be clearly seen and perhaps the Government will now row back, if members will forgive the pun, on its attack on local government and implement real local government reforms.

The recent flooding damage both in Ireland and other European countries has again sparked a debate on whether we are taking the issue of climate change seriously. As Sinn Féin spokesperson on communications, energy and natural resources, I have repeatedly called for a national energy strategy. Such a strategy is essential to reduce our CO2 emissions. Not only do we have targets to reach by 2020 as set out by the European Union, Ireland should also be taking the lead in the development of renewable energy resources. I am glad that the Minister, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, recently announced that he was to launch a Green Paper on energy strategy. The climate change debate must take place in this Chamber because even a small change in sea levels could put many parts of the country seriously at risk. It is an issue that the Government must take seriously or we will pay for our mistakes each winter as storms batter the coast.

It is also worth noting that the recent flooding demonstrates the power contained in the seas off our vast coastline. Imagine if we could harness some of the energy from tidal and hydro sources; we have the chance to reduce our CO2 emissions by using the very power of nature we have been battling.

The problem many people face stems from the inability to obtain insurance for their property against flooding. A standard home insurance policy will offer flood protection as a routine benefit. However, if one has been hit by floods in the past, renewing such a policy will become considerably more difficult, if possible at all. More likely than not, an insurance company will not renew a policy if someone has been flooded and if it does, it will not offer flood protection. That is very worrying for those who live in areas prone to flooding. Even if a home has not been flooded previously, it can be excluded from coverage if it is in an area prone to flooding. This has huge implications for homeowners who may find it very difficult to sell a property that is at risk of flooding and cannot guarantee that it will be able to be insured.

Many businesses also suffer. They not only run the risk of structural damage caused by flooding, but they may also lose a large amount of stock that will not be covered by insurance companies.

It is probably a hangover of the Celtic tiger era that so many properties were built on flood plains. It is clear that proper action was not taken by developers to ensure they did not construct buildings in areas prone to flooding.

However, we must deal with the situation that we currently face. The Government must help home and business owners to find insurance cover. Insurance companies must, in turn, accept an element of public service obligation. Agricultural land must also be protected from flood waters. The farming community stands to lose a massive amount of fodder and agricultural land if the recent flooding becomes a regular occurrence. Many farmers are willing to carry out work themselves to erect flood defences but they are prevented from doing so due to bureaucratic regulations. Indeed, they can be financially penalised if they do such work.

Those of us who live in the north west did not, thankfully, experience the level of damage suffered in more unfortunate areas of the country. However, some homes and businesses were damaged and seaside tourist areas such as Enniscrone, Easkey, Strandhill, Rosses Point and Bundoran suffered significant structural damage, which will have to be put right before the tourist season commences in Easter. More than two months ago in Leitrim village, a river burst its banks near a housing estate. This was reported on several occasions but nothing was done about it. The same thing happened in 2009. All sorts of promises were made but zero action has ensued. These homes are once again threatened by severe flooding. We cannot blame the weather in this instance. Where flood risk is known, it should be manageable. It is wrong to leave people fearful that the next heavy rainfall will cause their homes to be flooded.

In addition to repairs and restoration, we also need to move into a preventive mode by improving our defences. We cannot afford to do this on our own. We will need substantial EU aid. Perhaps we should consider making a joint approach with our colleagues in the Stormont Assembly. We may not reach the threshold for EU funding on the basis of 26 counties but we might do so on a 32-county basis. I make that suggestion in an effort to be helpful.

My constituency of Galway West suffered badly from a series of storms since the middle of December. Two tidal surges had a particularly heavy impact along coastal areas of County Galway. I pay tribute to a local community worker, Stevie King from Aughrismore in Cleggan, who will be buried tomorrow. He was a man of the sea and of the land who was involved in the Festival of the Sea and the Cleggan regatta. He told family members that he had never seen anything like the storms experienced in the Connemara area over the last several weeks. People who have been affected personally feel great frustration at their predicament.

As a former member of the local authority, I recall the stress that was caused when a certain housing estate was flooded. The stress lasted for a lengthy period until a relatively simple solution was found. I sympathise with all who were affected by flooding and storm damage. In some cases the solutions are easily found but in others it can take a long time to fix problems. In this regard, I commend the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brian Hayes, on his announcement that work is to commence on the River Clare drainage scheme. The town of Claregalway has suffered flooding on a number of occasions, most recently in 2009. A new bridge has already been constructed over the river and the proposed works include the deepening of the channel at the new bridge in Claregalway; maintenance of the channel from the Curraghline downstream; the creation of a two-stage channel and an embankment at Crusheen, close to the new bridge; cleaning and extension of the island drain to Carnmore to relieve regular flooding near Greaney Glass; and the installation of a one-way valve to prevent water from backing up in times of heavy rainfall or flooding. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, visited Claregalway last year in the company of local councillors Peter Feeney and Malachy Noone and officials from the OPW.

Aillebrack in Ballyconneelly suffered greatly during the initial storms in early January. Council workers and locals did a lot of hard work in filling sandbags to keep back the tidal surge. Unfortunately, their efforts were not successful but the council is progressing the installation of a new flood defence wall to replace the previous wall, which was constructed in 1942 and collapsed during the storms. This immediate solution will be funded through the OPW.

In light of what has happened in the last two months, we need a stronger emergency committee. The UK has established what is known as the COBRA committee. It is a catchy name and people know that action is taking place if it meets. We should establish a similar body that can meet immediately when a storm or other natural disaster hits. Such a body could be a focal point to get messages about what is happening to the media.

Last week the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine outlined funding for piers and harbours of €8.8 million nationally. I welcome the announcement but it may not be sufficient given that €1.45 million will be needed to repair damage in Galway alone. A strong statement is needed on funding for coastal protection. I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, on the OPW's support for small schemes costing less than €500,000. Local authorities are preparing lists of projects to repair existing walls, rock armour or new coastal protections such as those required on the Aran Islands and Inisbofin. Certain businesses on the Aran Islands have been affected by the closure of roads due to erosion by the sea. The repair of these roads will require considerable investment, possibly involving tenders for construction work. I hope there will be a strong commitment from the Minister of State and the OPW that funding will be made available to Galway County Council. Galway suffered €18 million in damages and, while a number of positive announcements have been made, concerns remain about the piers in areas such as Aughris and Cill Chiaran. The lists already submitted by the county council only take account of damage done before mid-January or early February and the bill is likely to increase as additional projects are submitted.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the dreadful flooding our country has experienced in recent months. I acknowledge the distress and trauma experienced by many families, businesses and landowners over the past several weeks and commend the emergency services on their excellent work in helping people.

When urban areas are affected they always make the headlines. However, an area with which I am very familiar, west County Offaly, experiences annual flooding along the River Shannon. As a rule the flooding affects the surrounding land, but homes can also be flooded. The areas along the Shannon Callows are particularly prone to flooding.

In fact, I was out visiting some of the towns and villages over the past couple of weeks. I visited Shannon Harbour, Shannonbridge and Banagher, and to see the water levels was truly frightening because the river is a force to be reckoned with. We are insignificant in the face of the force of that volume of water.

It is when summer flooding hits that we are really in trouble in my area. The landowners and the farmers are particularly impacted by this because it usually occurs at the time when they would be harvesting their crops. When the river floods twice a year, then we are in real trouble.

The Shannon is 360 km long and flows through 11 counties. It is a significant resource for all of us and it has tremendous benefits. It is only when we see its force and the damage it can also do that we really focus on it, as, of course, we must do.

In July 2012, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht produced a report, entitled "Eight Proposals urgently required to tackle Flooding on the River Shannon, its tributaries and the waters feeding into it", in which we examined all of the reports to date on the Shannon and on which we did not hold hearings because we felt there was no need. We had already heard everything and enough has been written about it. I cannot help but think that if any efforts had been made to put into practice what we had recommended in that report, some of the trauma experienced by those in the area might have been averted. The recommendations were simple and, we would have felt, easy to implement.

The first recommendation we made was that one agency would oversee the management of the River Shannon and its tributaries and waters. The second was that the Shannon would be maintained. The third was that local engagement and consultation would be in place. The other recommendations were that appropriate water levels would be maintained; that we would prevent and alleviate the build up of silt; that we would put flood warning systems and emergency management in place; that we would utilise the bog lands - these are like sponges in the middle of the country - to attenuate water from the river when necessary; and that we would protect our natural heritage.

Of course, our biggest problem is that there are so many agencies paralysing each other in terms of what needs to be done. That is the difficulty. The other problem is that two years remain before the Shannon CFRAM plan is completed. They have three years of work done already but there are two more years of looking at hydrology and other matters to figure out how this will be done.

We felt that putting one agency in control but working in partnership with the others was the correct way to go. Having agencies such as Bord na Móna, ESB, Waterways Ireland, OPW, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and the landowners and home dwellers all in the one mix and nobody in control is the problem that we identified, and this has been the case for many years. We cannot have another report. We must deal with this, and soon.

The Shannon Callows are our greatest concern. From the weir in Athlone to Melick and Victoria Lough has to be dealt with. There are all sorts of issues with regard to water management, who controls the weir in Athlone and navigation. It is considerable. If only somebody had paid attention to our report. I call on anybody involved to read, digest and implement it.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity of speaking in this important debate on flooding and the urgent need to do something for all the families affected by the recent floods.

In recent weeks we all have seen the horrific consequences of flooding. First, my heart goes out to all the families and individuals who suffered and had their homes badly damaged or destroyed in the recent floods. The job of the Government and the local authorities is, first, to help the families in immediate need and sort out their difficulties and problems. Once this is resolved and the families are helped, we have to move on and deal with the broader flooding issue. Objective one is help those families that got hammered in the recent floods and objective two is come up with common-sense flood defence plans.

We need to deal with the issues of flood prevention, drainage and proper flood barriers. That is the way to deal with this issue. We need a proper and informed debate as this is a very serious matter.

We also need to look at examples of best practice in dealing with the flooding problem in this country. Recently, I have seen in my constituency, Dublin Bay North, two examples of good practice and bad practice. First, there was the bad practice in the proposals of the Clontarf area where they went ahead with the plan without consulting all the residents and the residents were up in arms. They had a plan to destroy the beautiful seafront walk in Clontarf and they did not listen to proposals. Happily, they listened in the end and they had to back down. The important point is the bad practice there. Initially, it was not carried out in a positive and constructive way.

I take this opportunity to commend my colleague, Councillor Damien O'Farrell, the Independent councillor for the Clontarf ward, for the magnificent work he did on this proposal. He led the charge. All the political parties sat on the fence and then ran away. Councillor O'Farrell represented the people and now they are coming up with a new, sensible plan. I want to use this occasion to commend Councillor O'Farrell, who will be running in the local elections. I urge all the people to support him for his magnificent work. He challenged bad planning and bad management and sought consultation. That was an example of a bad plan that was eventually resolved.

On the other hand, in the Donnycarney area of my constituency there were examples of good practice where the local authority sat down with the residents and dealt with the river flooding issues. They also sat down with Clontarf Golf Club, which is a neighbour, and hammered out a deal to resolve the problem. That is an example of good practice. Another example of good practice was that for years we had been campaigning to get the River Tolka dredged following the floods in 2001, 2002 and 2003, and eventually we got that done as well. This is important when we are dealing with these issues.

Returning to Clontarf and the magnificent work done by Councillor O'Farrell, as far back as 20 January last Councillor O'Farrell asked Dublin City Council to investigate the possibility of introducing short-term flood defence measures along the Clontarf promenade, including the possibility of raising the small roadside wall and using flood defence barriers at existing gaps, such as the car park entrances and exits. He put that to them and they came back with the response that this option was one of those being considered by the Clontarf promenade joint working group, and I welcome that. That is the way to do business.

Another issue directly related to flooding, which has not been mentioned during this debate, is how we got this right in Dublin Bay North. They tried to fill in the 52 acres of the bay, which would have damaged it. If they had filled in those 52 acres with concrete, all sorts of rocks, etc., one can imagine what would have happened to the water levels in recent weeks. The late, and great, Seán Dublin Bay Loftus fought on this issue for 25 years and, by the way, won. That tradition goes on, both in Dublin City Council with Councillor O'Farrell and with myself in the Oireachtas. We will continue to act as watchdogs over Dublin Bay on behalf of the people of Dublin Bay North.

We need to deal with the issues as well. I heard a number of my colleagues mention the River Shannon. The River Shannon is a magnificent resource in this country and it should be guided, minded and protected. As somebody who uses the Shannon regularly for family trips and holidays, and who has many contacts with the beautiful village of Dromineer in County Tipperary, I commend the great work that of the Shannon Protection Alliance on this issue. They give the Government a red card here. They say it should be careful about draining and taking too much water out of the River Shannon and moving it out of the area because that could be damaging to the wildlife and the development of tourism. We have heard this for many years, long before I was ever elected to the Dáil. De Valera won elections because he said he would drain the Shannon. That went on for many years. That will not stop the flooding. We need common-sense plans.

We need proper protection, including barriers, but we also need to preserve that amenity. The Shannon is a magnificent amenity for boating and other tourism pursuits. We must focus on the tourism sector and it is all linked to the debate on flooding.

During the week, I warned the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, about the row down in beautiful Galway Bay. As someone who is originally from Galway I have to stand up for them. There is a proposal to put in a major fish farm, but imagine the pollution that would have caused in the recent storms. The Minister should be careful in this regard. Galway Bay needs to be cleaned up more and the necessary work has started but it should not be damaged further. We must focus on tourism where a lot of the jobs are. The SME and tourism sectors depend on a clean, viable Galway Bay so I urge the Minister to be sensible about it.

As regards measures taken in response to recent flooding, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is the lead Department dealing with severe weather emergencies. The Office of Public Works has responsibility for flood relief activities. The Department of Social Protection has an important role in assisting households in the immediate aftermath of such floods. I have to point out that it was effective in doing so. For example, on Thursday, 6 February, some 160 people in Limerick had been seen in the social welfare clinics. In addition, the homes of more than 50 vulnerable people had been visited. There was a response but we need to have a regular response because, due to climate change, this will recur so we need to be prepared. I want to ensure that public safety is paramount.

In dealing with these issues, one must go through various stages. Stage one is to provide emergency support, including income payments, food, clothing and personal items for the families affected. Stage two generally involves the replacement of goods, furniture and other essential household items. However the full extent of damage may not be known until the flood water abates and houses dry out. People affected by floods must be supported and protected.

At the end of 2013, total expenditure on humanitarian assistance was €2.2 million, from which approximately 3,500 payments were made. We must be vigilant in ensuring that these families receive the maximum possible support. From the total expenditure for 2013, five households were paid a total of €51,450 for refurbishment in their homes. Payments ranged from €825 to €16,870 for work such as plastering, dry-lining, re-laying floors, electrical repairs and painting.

An additional sum of €15 million has been approved in line with the recent Government commitment to ensure that adequate resources are there to deal with these issues, but will this be enough? The Minister should listen to those directly affected by the floods.

We need a broader plan to deal with flooding in this State, including flood prevention measures such as barriers and walls. This can be done in a creative way, like the new plan for the Clontarf promenade. As well as providing flood protection, that amenity will be available for the thousands of people who wish to cycle and walk there.

This year we will have massive celebrations commemorating the Battle of Clontarf millennium. I want to invite everybody in this House, including the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, and Deputy Buttimer to attend some of the celebrations in Clontarf this year. An amazing local committee is organising the commemoration of the famous battle in 1014. They are bringing in tourists and creating jobs by putting Clontarf and Dublin Bay on the map.

Well done, Deputy.

I thought the Battle of Clontarf had resumed, given that Deputy McGrath launched the local election campaign of a candidate in the House. I wonder if that was his intention. He forget to mention the fine work of Fine Gael councillors and the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, on flood alleviation measures in the Clontarf area.

They are no good.

I will begin by commending the people who worked in the aftermath of the storms and flooding. In particular, we should remember the late Michael O'Riordan who died in west Cork in the aftermath of the storms. Public servants working for Eircom, the ESB and other bodies have an incredible commitment. We must commend the work of ESB staff in restoring power.

The flooding in Cork has again devastated many businesses and homes in the heart of our city. Regrettably, the reaction to the 2009 floods in Cork did not prioritise a long-term plan to protect our city. While criticism of the length of time it is taking to implement a flood defence scheme is legitimate, it is also important to understand that the flood situation in Cork is not straightforward. Progressing a scheme for the city involves complex and detailed preparations to ensure that the best possible long-term solution is found.

I want to say in a non-partisan way that the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, has engaged not just with Members of the Oireachtas but also with city and county council officials. I commend him on that. Because of him, progress is being made. On 6 February, he visited Cork and met with the lord mayor, councillors, the city manager and local business representatives. The Minister of State said that up to €100 million will be made available to carry out flood protection work for Cork. I welcome that announcement. He also stated that a possible starting date for the three-year project will be in 2015. In the meantime, a forum between the OPW, city council and local businesses is being set up to explore interim measures that can help to alleviate the problem. It is a pity that it will take three years to get this done but I welcome the Minister of State's initiative and his commitment to the project.

Last April, the OPW appointed Arup Engineers to develop proposals based on the 2006 catchment flood risk assessment and management, or CFRAM, study for the River Lee catchment. The main objectives of this work include a flood forecasting system to facilitate optimum decision-making on dam discharges; and a viable, cost-effective and sustainable scheme to provide protection along the lower Lee and through Cork city against residual fluvial flooding and flooding from high tides and surge levels. Those matters are very important in the context of Cork city.

Last July, Arup held a public information day to outline the study and the process involved in developing the plan. It is intended to bring the emerging preferred scheme before the public this summer at a public information day. Following this the scheme will be further refined, an environmental impact assessment will be completed, and a formal public exhibition will commence towards the end of the year.

It is expected that this scheme will be the largest flood relief scheme ever undertaken by the OPW, costing between €50 million and €100 million. That is why I welcome the public consultation and the long lead-in time. Given the substantial investment required, work can only commence when the right solution is found for the city of Cork. Traders and homeowners require nothing less.

Apart from the proposed scheme for the central city area, studies are also being advanced for Douglas and Togher. A flood relief scheme for Douglas and Togher is currently being advanced by Cork County Council with funding to be provided by the Office of Public Works. I commend the city and county officials and workers on their diligence and commitment in the aftermath of the recent flooding and storms.

Cork County Council has signed a contract for consultants in the last two weeks to take on the development of a flood relief scheme for Douglas and Togher. That is an important step, which I welcome. I hope that these proposals will be brought forward for public consultation before the end of this year. The OPW has made provision for the costs of these schemes in its multi-annual budgets, with funding to be reviewed from time to time depending on actual budget allocations.

The flooding incidents in Cork are unfortunately not the first the city has experienced. We have seen them in areas such as the Middle Parish, Douglas and Togher where people have had to evacuate their homes. In addition, businesses have been interrupted and in some cases never reopened.

We need to see a faster, more efficient response time for businesses and homeowners because of the costs to them and to the State. It is now seven years since submissions were sought for the River Lee catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, study, and that is too long. The protection of Cork from flood events must be prioritised. I am glad that it will be under the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, because we can never allow what happened in the past, when Cork was neglected from 2009 until now, to recur. The fear and the uncertainty of homeowners and business people cannot be allowed to continue.

Members of the House can cast their minds back to 2009 and the floods in the middle of Cork city, the oldest part of it. We have not yet seen the protection of these people being prioritised. We accept that the city was built on a marsh but today we have a duty of care to protect homeowners, families and city centre businesses. I am glad the Minister of State with responsibility for small and medium-sized enterprises, Deputy John Perry, who does so much work for small businesses, is in the Chamber because these businesses are the lifeblood of the local economy in Cork. Since then, flooding in Cork has cost an estimated €100 million, but the city remains exposed. Businesses remain at risk and homes remain vulnerable. Our task must be to alleviate the uncertainty, heartache and tension in the lives of many people. I have met homeowners and business people who tell me that their hearts sink when they see the water level rising and flood warnings for Cork. We cannot let that continue. I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, has made this a priority.

It is no wonder people become frustrated and disenchanted with politics and bureaucracy when, five years after the flood in 2009, we are only now getting to the end of the process. The president of Cork Chamber of Commerce, Ms Gillian Keating, voiced the frustration of many businesses on local radio. She spoke about the lack of action and the frustration of business people. I do not blame business people for speaking out. The protection of the country's second city must be prioritised. No economy can thrive when its business centre is subject to persistent and regular flooding. The people of Cork need the remedial works to be prioritised and they demand it. They must finally be given some hope that a long-term solution will be delivered, not promised.

I welcome the engagement by the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, with local business leaders, council officials and local councillors. I am pleased that, at long last, we have a Minister of State with responsibility for flood protection measures who recognises the importance of the Cork economy and that local homeowners deserve certainty. The Minister of State and the Government have given a commitment to invest in alleviation measures that will provide robust, long-term protection for the city. It is good for Cork, good for Cork businesses, good for residents and good for our national economy that the second city is open for business.

While the development of the scheme must be prioritised and fast-tracked where possible, there must also be an immediate focus on interim measures. The local forum involving the OPW must play a central role in delivering adequate interim protection. This body must get to work as soon as possible and without delay to provide ongoing assistance to those most at risk in Cork city, whether in Blackpool, Douglas or Togher, and, in particular, in the middle of Cork city. This is about the people of Cork, the city of Cork and about Cork city being open for business. It is also about job creation and job retention. I appeal to all to engage in the process by making submissions. Let us expedite the situation so that we can end uncertainty and take away the fear people experience when they see a flood warning for Cork. That is our task and our duty, irrespective of who we are. I want to see that happen and I hope that if the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, goes to Europe as an MEP, the new Minister of State will prioritise the city of Cork and the people of Cork.

I am glad to have the opportunity to make brief comments on the flood damage and to sympathise with all those, including homeowners, commercial property owners, farmers and business people, who suffered because of the dreadful weather over a number of weeks. My first thoughts are with the people who suffered but we must then think about introducing new legislation to help people. With regard to flooding of the River Shannon, there is always a question of who is responsible. With so many agencies and bodies, I feel the Office of Public Works, OPW, should be the lead agency. The point has been made by experts in the area. With regard to the Rivers Suck and Shannon, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, fishermen, people who use the river for water sports and those concerned with habitats must all be considered. They are all important in their own way but if we do not stress the need for a lead agency such as the OPW, no progress will be made.

The Government must support people who are in a serious situation, particularly those who have been unable to get insurance for many years because their homes were flooded on so many occasions. Fianna Fáil is examining fresh legislation to help those who are uninsured based on measures introduced in the United Kingdom. We must have a better task force on emergency planning. Everyone is doing their best and there are great examples of it in agencies and local authorities. In recent weeks, we have seen the solidarity of neighbours and communities who have helped out when people had nowhere else to turn. We must examine the European Union solidarity fund because it should be in a position to assist local authorities and provide a one-stop shop approach via the national co-ordination group.

I have seen estimates of the cost inflicted by the storm, calculated by local authorities at €100 million. It is a staggering figure and we must try to get as much money as possible through Europe or from the national Government. I do not know much about the coastal counties because I do not represent a coastal constituency, but I saw what happened in Galway city. I was taken by the story of one business person. I say this in the presence of the Minister of State with responsibility for small business. The person had a cafe that was flooded on a number of occasions. The person decided to open only the top storey of the building. Damage along the coast was huge, with surging tides and winds. Cities such as Cork and Limerick witnessed rivers bursting their banks and businesses damaged. I would like to see as much money as possible spent on flood defences. We have other options in respect of the EU solidarity fund. The Government should prioritise areas at risk. Flood defences are very important.

I am disappointed that a figure of €50 million was mentioned to alleviate suffering.

This is not enough, given the scale of damage. I was a bit taken aback when people approached me about the fund as I discovered there were seven pages of instructions on how to fill the form and six pages in the form. All that was really needed was for a person to call to the people who have suffered so much, as personnel from the Department of Social Protection have done very well. I am not sure if there is a need for all the paperwork involved. I hope the response will be speedy because of the serious problems being faced.

The question of insurance is very important and it is one of the first asked of people when they had flooding and sought humanitarian assistance. Most people did not have insurance and they should be the first to qualify in that area. I hope the Minister and the Government will have some success in seeking funding from the European Union solidarity fund. Some €13 million was secured by the Irish Government in November 2009 when we experienced devastating flooding and we should be able to get such funding again. A Fianna Fáil delegation met the European Commissioner responsible for regional development, Mr. Johannes Hahn, in January to discuss accessing the funding as quickly as possible to invest in addressing infrastructural damage.

I spent some days in south Galway examining some very serious cases. I will mention the particular case of Mrs. Annie Connolly from Ballynastaig in Gort. She is a very spirited woman who told me she would not leave her house, although I could see the water coming in from the rivers around it. It reminded me of Yeats, and as a Sligo man, the Minister of State would appreciate that. I am talking about Kiltartan Cross, Coole and Thoor Ballylee, and all the wonderful places about which Yeats wrote. These wonderful places have been flooded, with the people from the Office of Public Works pumping out the water. I spoke to that woman today and only for those people and county council putting in sandbags, Mrs. Connolly, who lives on her own, would be flooded. It is a matter of keeping the water out, although she had to leave the house eventually because the electricity supply was disconnected. Only for her neighbours providing a digger, the water from Coole would have come into her house. I am thankful that has been avoided and I hope the good weather we had today might continue.

I should also mention Kiltiernan national school, which is the south Galway area. It was flooded in 2009 and I hope the Minister of State and his Government will consider drainage at the river because families are marooned in the Ardrahan area. Steps will have to be taken. The council has tried to raise the roads, which is good, and the OPW and the council have made a great achievement in doing what they have so far. I hope we can prioritise the areas at risk and the question of insurance is very important.

This is the third occasion in my memory that the south Galway area has been flooded. We have seen very serious flooding in 1995, 2009 and in the past few weeks and months, and our position has not really got any better. Ballinasloe has done a bit better, as we had very serious flooding in 2009. Remedial work was done, with €1 million spent on flood defences, and that has been a great benefit to the town. As I indicated earlier, small businesses are probably the first to suffer when a town is under siege by water as people cannot move overnight. I have already mentioned the case of the café owner in Galway city who can only use the top part of a building.

This is a timely debate but we must also spend money in a continuous fashion on flood defences. I hope the Minister of State and his Government will succeed in getting the European money and prioritise the at-risk areas. We should not have continuous flooding in areas like south Galway, as has happened three times since 1995. Other areas are also very bad but it is sad and depressing that no progress has been made in south Galway since 1995.

Like my colleague, Deputy Kitt, I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate this afternoon. This time last week the raging storm Darwin had just passed through the country and wreaked devastation all over the place. Like Deputy Kitt, I sympathise with all those who have been affected. Television screens have been dominated over the past month by pictures of communities hit hard by the devastation of storms Christine, Brigid and Darwin. Deputy Kitt and I live very close to each other and I know the south Galway area really well, so I have tremendous sympathy for the communities affected by the flooding there. Flooding is something we cannot control and is unbelievable when flood waters rise so quickly. This issue affects all communities but particularly the people whose houses are flooded, as well as the livelihoods of farmers.

I pay tribute to the emergency workers in my county who have toiled so hard over the past number of months. I include in this tribute the workers on the ground and the management of Clare County Council, as well as ESB crews which have worked night and day to restore electricity. Eircom crews and local volunteers have also worked tirelessly to help people in affected areas. There is a great human dimension out there with our community spirit, which is important.

The ferocity of these storms had not been witnessed by most people, particularly last week's storm Darwin. Everybody was affected by the weather, as householders saw slates come from roofs, trees were knocked on roads and land and various other aspects of damage were done as well. The human cost is something we must consider and I am thankful that only one man lost his life during the storms. Mr. Michael O'Riordan from Cork lost his life restoring telephone services to an area, and his work and dedication should never be forgotten. We sympathise with his family.

I will not go through all the areas in County Clare that have been affected as various Deputies have done that over the weeks since the debate began. I spoke in the first debate about the devastated areas on the west and north Clare coast, as well as the Fergus estuary. I will highlight the plight of four families at O'Callaghan's Mills in County Clare. There is an elderly woman there and these people have been cut off since Christmas. It is a real problem but there is nothing that can be done at the moment because the water levels are too high and the local authority can only tackle the problem when the water levels decrease. There are children living there and some people have had to move from the area. Flooding on the L30262 has been ongoing, although the road was raised in 2009. However, further flood prevention measures are required and funding must be provided for those works. The council is due to survey the road when the water abates and it will submit an application for a minor works scheme to the Office of Public Works. Whatever is required to alleviate the problem must be done so that these people will never again face the problem they have over the past two months.

Mobile telephone and broadband coverage has also been affected in many areas throughout the country.

In my area my mobile phone coverage with O2 is intermittent. Obviously, the storm had an effect in this regard also. In Kildysart, a town near my home, an issue has arisen regarding an eircom mast at Woodcock Hill, Cratloe. Trees need to be felled in the area to alleviate the problem.

With the storms last week, the country suffered terrible devastation. Hurricane winds battered County Clare. In all, approximately 250 homes and businesses are still without electricity in the county as a result of trees falling on electricity lines. ESB workers are working extremely hard to address this problem. We have all seen pictures on the television and in the newspapers of the damage done to cars and the scene left by the devastating hurricane winds. Forty communities across the country have been hit as a result of the two storms. I have mentioned some of them. Places such as White Strand in Miltown Malbay and Kilbaha and Carrigaholt have been affected. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, visited the area some weeks ago to see at first hand the devastation caused by the storms. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, visited County Clare two weeks ago to see the farmland under water. The River Fergus embankments in the Kildysart–Ballynacally area and all along the Fergus Estuary were affected.

I took time to visit other areas affected last weekend in order to see the devastation caused along the coastline. I visited Farrihy in Doonbeg to see where the water had breached the coastline. Some 300 acres are still under floodwater. It is good land on which farmers cut silage during the summer and the water cannot get out. While it is escaping through a sluice, it is doing so at a very slow pace. The whole landscape of the region was changed. I never saw anything like it in all my life. The bunch of stones had been moved back, perhaps 20 m, from their original position, and the beach had also moved - such is the power of water. This affected many communities along the coastline, including Rhynagonnaught which is located beside the famous Doonbeg golf course which has recently been named Trump International Golf Links. The devastation was unbelievable. It is estimated that damage worth over €1 million has been done to the golf course. Two greens were literally washed away by the force of the tide. Some 20 m or 30 m of land was literally taken away from the coastline. This must not continue; otherwise the complex will be destroyed, in addition to the famous golf course. There is a need to carry out works to ensure the golf course is protected. Doonbeg Golf Club employs over 240 people in the summer and is very important to the tourism industry in the region.

I wish to talk about the longer term project. There are obviously short-term works to be prioritised in addition to it. The Minister has stated that if the local authorities send their bills to the Department, they will receive their cheques in seven to ten days. However, we need to examine the longer term prospects. We need to face up to the challenges presented by climate change and claims that our weather patterns are changing and that storms and flooding are becoming a feature of the country. I hope we can examine this in the coming years to ensure we will be protected to a certain degree. I acknowledge that we cannot be protected all the time because the power of water is unbelievable. We have seen the success of the flood prevention measures in Ennis and other areas, the defences of which held up extremely well. The OPW needs to be very proactive, given the recent developments and the potential for flooding. It is now time for a national approach to be taken to climate change and coastal erosion. We must invest more in coastal defences and need to review the national development plan to be ready for adverse events. A national study should be commissioned of the impact of the change in weather patterns and what it will mean for Ireland. The report would guide action in this area. We need to review our biodiversity obligations in conjunction with the European Union. We need to relax the rules that the National Parks and Wildlife Service applies. There are some strict rules that are prohibitive in regard to farmers carrying out works on embankments and along the coast. A hands-on approach needs to be taken. Some of the works proposed by the local authorities could be carried out more cheaply than has been estimated. Officials need to work with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to ensure necessary works will be prioritised and future trends studied.

As the Minister of State is aware, the recent flooding in Cork was pretty bad, but it was not the first time there was flooding in the city. There is a history of flooding, unfortunately, dating back to the very bad floods in 2009 that caused considerable structural damage to a number of buildings and damaged homes and businesses. Cork has long been in the process of planning to build flood defences. The recent flooding for two nights in a row took even those of us living within the city by surprise. It is hard to believe, but we saw people swimming up the main street. The amount of water in the city centre was unnatural. I do not believe there was a business in Cork city centre, on the island of Cork city, that was not affected in some way. I spoke to a local café owner who, fortunately, had insurance this time round. She was very fearful that if the money from her insurance policy was drawn down in order that she could get the café up and running again, she would not be able to get insurance cover against flooding again.

We have seen that the flooding is not an event that occurs once in 100 years; unfortunately, for business owners and residents, particularly in Cork city centre but also on the outskirts of the inner island of Cork city, flooding is becoming an annual event. There are various reasons for this. Much of the flooding is tidal. In the city centre there is very little that can be done to prevent tidal flooding. There are, however, some measures that could be taken. In fairness to the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, he was very quick to visit the city following the recent bout of flooding on the Tuesday and Wednesday. He met local business owners, council officials, representatives of the chamber of commerce and Oireachtas Members from Cork. He was very frank and open in his discussion with the delegation. He stressed that addressing the matter was a No. 1 priority for the Government. We cannot have circumstances in which the second city in the State is at risk of flooding continually. To give credit to the local authority, it did everything possible to prevent damage. Sufficient flood warnings were given and a plan was put in place. The local emergency response was co-ordinated. Much credit must go to the local authority for the way it carried itself in the wake of the recent flooding. Many lessons have been learned during the years. This has not always been the case, unfortunately, but on this occasion everything that could have been done to mitigate the damage was done.

Estimates of the cost of building flood defences in Cork range from €50 million to €100 million. The Minister of State has said it will probably cost close to €100 million to put flood defences in place.

Following the meeting with the Minister, Deputy Brian Hayes, business owners now have something to work towards. There is a timetable in place, something we did not have previously. There was always the promise of flood defences being constructed, but a timetable was never set for it. There will be a consultation period which will be concluded very quickly. There will be two public meetings in Cork on 17 and 27 July. Following that, it is the Minister's hope that the preferred scheme for flood defences for Cork city can be in place by the end of this year. According to the Minister, if the consultation goes well and there is buy-in from all of the stakeholders in the city, hopefully work will have begun by the end of next year. That is very welcome.

The insurance issue plays on the minds of many business owners and home owners in the city. Those who had insurance this time will not have it next time. Some businesses did not have insurance on this occasion and, unfortunately, some of them will struggle to reopen. Where the Government has put capital funding in place to alleviate the danger of flooding that must be recognised by the insurance industry. The Minister, Deputy Brian Hayes, is working on trying to get a memorandum of understanding with the insurance companies in that regard, and I wish him well with that.

The other matter I wish to mention is EU funding. I am open to correction on this but I understand that under the current criteria for accessing EU funding for flood damage a country can draw down approximately €1.33 million for every €100 million worth of damage caused. If that is the case, it is not sufficient. My view would be shared by many of the people who have suffered as a result of flooding in recent weeks. We must re-examine the criteria for accessing EU funding.

Finally, I wish to mention an area outside Cork city centre. As I said earlier, most of the flooding in the city is due to tidal surges and there is only so much we can do about that, such as trying to build retention areas for the water as it comes in and, perhaps, build walls or flood defences. However, moving out of the city into the suburbs there is an area, Blackpool, which was flooded twice last year and again this year. It was also flooded in the year before last. It is continually flooded. Works could be carried out to alleviate that problem in the short term.

There will be a holistic approach to the flood defences for Cork city. It will not just focus on the tidal surge in the city but will also deal with the wider Cork city area, which will include Blackpool. The Minister gave a commitment on his recent visit to Cork that he would examine the possibility of proceeding with the flood defences for the Blackpool area as a matter of priority and, perhaps, not wait until the larger contract has been signed. We know what is needed to alleviate the floods for that community. Proper dredging of the river and retention ponds are required. Where the river originates there are flood plains which, unfortunately, were built on in previous years. That has not helped the current situation.

Blackpool is a mainly residential area. There are a few businesses but it is mainly residential properties that have been damaged in recent years. None of them has insurance at present. In this round of flooding the Government has allocated approximately €70 million in total, which is very welcome. However, many residents have found that the criteria for drawing down the funding are difficult in some cases. The Department of Social Protection should examine this and make it easier for residents to draw down funding. There are situations where some households which were just recovering after the previous round of flooding and received assistance from the Department to purchase new white goods, bedding and clothing have seen all of that go again. They are again left with nothing and are relying on the Department to give them a second round of funding.

In conclusion, we welcome the Government's announcement about the timetable for dealing with the flood defences in Cork. All Members of the Oireachtas representing Cork city and county as well as local business organisations and residents will certainly participate in the consultation process. We hope the contracts and the design can be finalised as quickly as possible.

Deputy Seán Kenny is sharing time with Deputy Paul Connaughton.

I join other Members in showing solidarity with the people throughout the country who have been affected by the flooding. Deputy O'Brien spoke about the people in Cork city, who have been affected by this on a number of occasions, and Deputy Kitt referred to the people in south Galway. I pay tribute to the efforts of the emergency services, the people in the local authorities, the staff of eircom and the ESB who restored power and communications, the Army, whose personnel helped people who had to leave their homes, the Civil Defence and all the volunteers. I also welcome the Government's timetable for dealing with this.

We should also remember our neighbours in the UK who have probably been worse affected than us. Amazingly, along the Thames valley and the south of England, people are still out of their homes in the towns and villages. We should also note the political row that developed in the UK between Ministers in the government who were dealing with the flooding. The UK Environment Agency received much of the blame. The agency had reduced its staff to low levels over a number of years. There is a warning in that for other countries, that if one reduces the manning levels in the emergency services and there is a catastrophe, storm or serious flooding but one does not have the resources to deal with it, people will be out of their homes and their homes will be under water for long periods of time.

The Clontarf seafront promenade, along the area between Alfie Byrne Road and the Wooden Bridge, is in the Dublin Bay North constituency. It has been subject to flooding in recent years but, thankfully, on this occasion there was no flooding, even though the high tide on 3 January was the highest for 100 years. I pay tribute to the city engineer in Dublin City Council, Michael Phillips, and his staff. They devised a one tonne sandbag and built a wall with them along the seafront. It prevented the seafront from being flooded, which was amazing. Previously, the council was using the smaller sandbags, which had a tendency to disappear very quickly, but it is very hard to take a one tonne sandbag and walk away with it.

Nevertheless, there is a need for a permanent flood defence scheme in Clontarf. The previous scheme proposed the construction of an embankment, which did not meet with local approval. People like to have their view and to enjoy the amenities. A working group has been set up by the city council, local residents, businesses and local councillors to examine how to devise a permanent flood defence system to prevent flooding. In the meantime, however, Dublin City Council has safeguarded the area.

We must recognise that climate change is happening, although some people are in denial. I recall the film, "An Inconvenient Truth", produced by the unsuccessful former American presidential candidate. The inconvenient truth has come true.

Sea levels are rising. The polar ice cap is melting and we must come up with measures to deal with that. Some of the solutions might not be very popular, in particular in areas that are subject to permanent flooding. We must progress the climate change Bill. We must ensure that we reduce carbon emissions, which might mean people will have to consider using public transport instead of driving around in their cars. It might also mean lifestyle changes. Nevertheless, the problem is a global one and that must recognised. When disasters such as flooding events happen – they are happening more frequently and recurring more frequently also – it reminds us of the urgency with which we must address the issue. We must enact the climate change Bill and put measures in place to address such issues in the future.

I will follow on from what Deputy Kenny said about climate change. When flooding incidents happen we are happy to talk to about climate change but as the news agenda moves on it is forgotten about until the next big flood and then it becomes topical again. If we continue as we are, in ten, 15, 20 or 100 years time we will regret not having done anything about it. Needless to say, Ireland on its own cannot solve the problem as it is a global issue but we must keep the matter on the world stage and under discussion. Talk is cheap. Something must be done. Action is required.

Many Members who discussed the recent flooding have been parochial and I will do likewise. Part of the constituency I represent is in south Galway which suffers terribly from flooding. In 1995 the area was destroyed and when I got elected as a councillor in 2009 the same flooding occurred. A number of weeks ago the area was flooded again. People in the area are concerned because in 2009 in particular we were told that it was a one in 100 year event. My three years in politics seems to have taken forever so far with all that has happened but it has not been 100 years since the previous flooding event. Unfortunately, it will happen again.

Some works have been carried out in south Galway. In fairness to the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, and the OPW, minor works have been carried out where it was possible to do so. I fully understand the cost benefit analysis that is required to be carried out prior to the allocation of funding on the basis that houses or life must be under threat. Much of the problem in south Galway relates to agricultural land. Hundreds of acres are completely destroyed for the year ahead. The land is still under water as we speak. Last weekend when five houses in Ardrahan got flooded the news found its way into the media. We need long-term solutions.

Needless to say, in recent years there have been many reports and many calls for action. The one thing we continue to get wrong is that we do not listen to the people on the ground who live in the areas prone to flooding. Any number of experts will give us reasons for doing things in certain ways. It is easy to come from Dublin or wherever else, deliver the news and drive back home on the same day. The experts do not have to live with the situation. Farmers and local business people see the problems on a daily basis and if their advice were taken on board it could lead to their alleviation.

Outside the village of Ballindereen a small bridge is holding up hundreds of acres of what is now, in effect, a lake. The local people have been told the bridge cannot be moved for environmental reasons. That goes back to who is the lead agency. I accept the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, has said the OPW is but, unfortunately, by the time it makes a decision it can be stopped through the planning process or by other agencies. Let us be honest; at the end of the day nothing gets done. The news agenda will move on until we come back to the flooding issue again. I understand that money is tight but surely when the local people can show one an area as bad as that which I have outlined and a solution that requires minimal input then the work should be done. Other issues arise also in south Galway. Work must be done taking those issues into account.

In 2009 a man by the name of Tom Flatley had a house in Ardrahan flooded before he moved to the area. His plan was to build a house beside it, which he did. He was completely new to the area and both houses were flooded. The previous Government announced a compensation scheme at the time but he cannot get a cent from it due to the ridiculously strict specifications and restrictions on it. The scheme has done him no good. He has two massive mortgages and no way to address the problem. Those who have managed to achieve either relocation or funding have had to go to great lengths to prove their entitlement to compensation. I have no doubt the money is available. We must make it easier for people who need access to the scheme to do so quickly. There is no point in announcing the availability of a fund to find that only a certain percentage of it was drawn down. If people could access the money properly and efficiently they would do it. Why would they not if their house or land was destroyed? I spoke to Mr. Flatley today who informed me that he has still not received anything from the Department. He got planning permission for a house on a flood plain and the county council never told him that it was a flood plain. The arms of the State let that gentleman down and one could ask what he got in return. He got two massive mortgages, no help from the State and no chance of getting out of the situation either. The banks must step in to help him. It is simply not fair.

I have no doubt the money is available to help people and it must be made available in a manner that is easy to access and draw down. People’s lives and livelihood have been destroyed in recent weeks and it is important for the Government to step up and make it easy for them to access assistance. Deputy McLoughlin’s timing is good.

He is just in time.

I wish to share time with Deputy Eoghan Murphy and Deputy Frank Feighan.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on flooding and by extension the impact the recent storms have had on my constituency. I acknowledge the wonderful work done by the emergency services throughout the country.

It is estimated that this island has in excess of 3,100 km of shoreline, which when judged by the size of our land mass, is very long. County Sligo has a very exposed coastline stretching from Enniscrone in the south east to Mullaghmore in the north. I estimate the distance to amount to an exposure of 150 km to the wild Atlantic. It is estimated that the recent storm was the worst to hit Sligo since 1986. As in many other counties, the storm has resulted in damage to roads, beaches, bridges, pathways and piers.

The recent storm known as Storm Brigid hit west Sligo very severely. It was described recently as the worst damage to hit the Aughris Peninsula in living memory. The combination of low pressure, high tides, south-westerly winds and the storm surge has caused the maximum damage. The damage not only impacted on the people who in many cases lost access to their homes, but also their livelihood, as many of the coastal agricultural lands have been destroyed by stones and salt water.

Sligo is a county very dependent on tourism. I am pleased to report to the House that 2013 was an excellent year for the sector, especially tourism facilities located at coastal resorts such as Strandhill, Rosses Point and Mullaghmore. In 2011, major damage was done to the sand dunes at Strandhill below the promenade and in front of the famous golf club. Funding of €300,000 was provided by the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, through the OPW to Sligo County Council with works completed recently. The Minister of State recently visited the location of the works and it is clear it has protected the coastline from further damage despite recent storms.

On his visit to Sligo the Minister of State also viewed the damage done to the famous Rosses Point beach which in turn impacted on County Sligo Golf Club. Since the visit of the Minister of State, even further damage has taken place. The beach, which is popular during the summer months, is now not accessible and there is deep concern that it will impact on the 2014 tourist season in this part of County Sligo.

The Minister and his officials are currently considering a cost submission from Sligo County Council on proposals to develop coastal defences at Rosses Point and ensure the beach is accessible for users next summer. I hope some assistance can be provided. The devastation wreaked by flooding is the stuff of nightmare for citizens that wake up and find themselves immersed in water, sometimes storm water coming from sewer drains. I know that will be a priority for the Government.

We must address the impact of coastal erosion. Will the Minister of State, when considering aid, ensure adequate money is allocated to the victims of coastal erosion, particularly in Rathlee, Enniscrone, Rosses Point, Mullaghmore and Strandhill and other villages dependent on tourism? I am conscious there is huge pressure on Exchequer finances and the budget is limited, but we cannot allow the progress made by the Government and the tourism industry over the past three years in boosting visitor numbers and increasing revenue to be halted because we did not respond to the damage done to our coastal infrastructure and tourist amenities.

I thank sincerely the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, for his support for County Sligo to date. I urge him and his fellow Ministers of State and Ministers to examine every angle possible in a bid to support our communities battered by the wild Atlantic over the past two months. I hope with the allocation of money very shortly through the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government additional works can be carried out by local authorities as a matter of urgency. I welcome the money allocated last week by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, for a number of areas in Mullaghmore and Enniscrone. It is vital the money is administered very quickly so the works can be carried out.

I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, on all of the work he has done in this area since 2011. In October 2011 Dublin city was hit very badly by flooding and the Minister of State responded immediately. We debated in the Dáil the next day as a Topical Issue what had happened the previous evening and what needed to be done. Deputy Kevin Humphreys and I, from Dublin Bay South, organised meetings with residents and we were able to go to the OPW with the Minister of State. It was fantastic to get this type of engagement so soon after the event and assure people the Minister of State and the Department were moving to put in place those defences which were required at the time. We had long-standing plans for flood defences, for the Dodder in particular, but they had not been moving as quickly as they should have been. They have since been expedited and very good work has been done and continues to be done.

The context for this debate is very serious flooding elsewhere in the country and along coastal areas, which we have all seen. People have lost their lives and much damage has been done to property. In addressing flooding nationally I hope the resources in terms of people and money which have already been earmarked for Dublin will be maintained and the commitments made will be honoured. If we were to have another event as we did in 2011 the impact would be huge, as it was in the constituency at the time.

Many Deputies have raised the insurance issue. The Ministers of State, Deputies O'Dowd and Hayes, are very aware of it. It is a frightening thought that people might be in a house which has been flooded and cannot get insurance again to protect it. Neither can they sell their house to move, because who would buy a house which is at risk of flooding for which one cannot get insurance? They are trapped and it is very frightening prospect. It is a bit of a disgrace the insurance industry has not moved to ensure that data sharing arrangement and the memorandum of understanding have been completed. This should have happened by now because this process has been ongoing for long enough. They need to hurry up and get their documentation and agreement in place so the plan for the OPW insurance agency can come into effect and benefit those seeking insurance.

I do not want to step into a climate change debate, but we are not sure of future weather patterns or what they might mean for the country. It seems clear going on recent history the prudent thing to do would be to build proper national strategic defences for the country. We must take out the local from this. It will not please all local residents in all areas, including my own, but we need to examine a proper national strategic flood defence system to protect the Liffey and Dublin Bay in particular. They will not be aesthetically pleasing but in countries such as the Netherlands they have done a very good job. The River Thames flood defence system has a retractable barrier and is very effective. We should examine measures such as these. If we are serious about it we need to examine a 20 year plan for some of these projects because they might take this long, and the funding required to put them in place.

If one considers pluvial flooding with regard to rainwater there is a capacity issue with the drainage and sewer system in Dublin. For years Dublin City Council has been working on a plan to upgrade the Pembroke-Rathmines drainage scheme and increase capacity so we do not have spot flooding after heavy rainfall, particularly what was experienced on the nights in October 2011. It is an additional contributory factor to flooding. This responsibility has moved to Irish Water and it is important it does not delay for a second in getting the scheme up and running for the residents in the constituency.

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, on the work he has done over the past three years. I remember when the Shannon flooded four years ago it was very stressful for all of the residents and landowners affected. None of the agencies, such as local authorities, regional authorities, the ESB or Bord na Móna, co-operated or even spoke to each other. We still have flooding inland, but the Shannon did not cause the same damage or stress it did four years ago.

It is very regrettable to see what has happened along coastal areas. Sometimes the Government cannot protect against the forces of nature and the sea. The Government will come up with a compensation scheme and will examine ways to try to alleviate the serious waves which cause the issues. It is very stressful and harrowing to see the scenes along the coast from Clare to Galway and down to Cork. Working with local authorities and communities we will provide funding and the necessary resources to protect areas. We will ensure people will not be forgotten by the Government or local authorities.

I am delighted to be able to contribute to this debate and thank Deputy Terence Flanagan and the Acting Chairman, Deputy Mathews, for allowing me speaking time. I did not receive time from the Technical Group although I am a member. I am being denied my rights and it is no harm to put this on the record of the House. Free speech how are you.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, and thank him for his forbearance and patience. I thank the emergency services throughout the country, in particular south Tipperary and west Waterford. I thank the ESB, telecom workers, the Garda, the fire service, the Civil Defence and the Red Cross and all those who are good neighbours. There was a sense of meitheal and camaraderie. When people were down and in trouble neighbours and family came to the fore as did community-led groups such as Muintir na Tíre. They ensured those without power, particularly elderly people, were not isolated or cut off. I saw people in boats helping those were flooded. I even saw people using the much spoken about jarveys. Everybody helped which is good.

I thank the previous Government, the former Minister of State, Martin Mansergh, and all involved in putting up the flood defences in Clonmel. They worked very well in the main. Three houses in the south-east end of a town in County Waterford were flooded but there is a Garda investigation as to whether someone was cracked, mad, bad, or malicious enough to jam open a valve with a bar. This is what I have been told by the OPW. The corporation in Clonmel, in particular Ger Walsh and Jonathan Cooney, did a good job with their staff.

However, the loss of the Army was lamented. The Army always was available and was factored into placing the mountable barriers on top of the defence walls. The Army always had been counted on in this regard and I thank its members for their activities in the past and the present. Luckily enough, however, the corporation staff had time to do it and could do it but the Army was not on hand. Overall, it worked well but I note all the money that was spent is putting pressure back out on places such as Convent Bridge, Kilmacomma, Knocklofty, my home village of Newcastle and Ardfinnan.

I wish to repeat here in the Chamber a point I have been making for years and that no one can deny, which is the rivers and the water courses must be cleaned. People refuse to look at that option and while I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, is considering flood defences in many areas, cleaning the rivers is half the work. As for the environmentalists, one could be blue in the face from listening to them. What environments were out in the floods because everything has been washed away? The beds of the rivers must be cleaned as was done in olden times. Old people were prudent, did not build on many flood plains and kept clean the water courses. Maintenance also must take place because it is extremely important.

I also call on the Minister of State, the Government and its strategic infrastructure committee, if that is what it calls itself, to step up and call in the insurance companies. Incidentally, that committee should be on standby to meet at all times and should not wait to be called or put together or assembled. It should tell the insurance companies to cop themselves on because at present, I am dealing with areas in Clonmel that were flooded in past times and in which house owners cannot get insurance. In locations where such a flood defence exists that now has been tried and tested, the insurance company should be forced to declare that area to be insurable again. It is not all about profit and the greed of the insurance directors but they must insure the people. People are in a perilous situations in their homes if they are unable to get insurance. The worry in this regard is serious enough because some of these people had been flooded several times. However, this was not the case this time, thank God, and the insurance companies must step up to the plate.

I also call on the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, as well as the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Tom Hayes, to come to South Tipperary to visit. A lot of people visited Clonmel last week to look at successful schemes but it would fit them better to examine the damage that was done to the horticulture sector, which is of major importance in South Tipperary, and its glasshouses and polytunnels. Similarly, I refer to the damage to shrubbery, as together with horticulture, forestry nurseries are a major activity in South Tipperary. They are massive industries that employ up to 1,000 people there but are devastated and need assistance. I visited one farmer who had invested more than €50,000 in an entire acre of polytunnels. He had hoped to put plants into them at the end of February or in early March but they all were blown down. Such farmers must receive recognition and assistance and this matter must be examined and considered. I call on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to visit this area to see for himself; it is not just what I am saying.

In this context, selling Coillte will no longer be so desirable because its plantations have been flattened. A great deal of damage has been done in what was a most dangerous wind. The manner in which it simply devastated plantations was amazing and when it could not knock them down, it broke them half-ways. The work of many small farmers, who had been encouraged by afforestation schemes, both private and public or semi-public with Coillte over the years, has also been devastated. Their plantations literally have been demolished and they must receive some assistance because some of them have been in receipt of premium payments or grant aid for years. Moreover, it is a very difficult to harvest the timber in that situation, because the machinery available is only able to cut down and knock down the trees when they are standing upright. However, when the trees are leaning or have been flattened, it is a matter of going back to the man with the chainsaw. That is how it is and it will be extremely labour-intensive and very serious.

I also wish to sympathise with the family of the good man who lost his life in west County Cork while repairing a pole. While I do not know what happened, the state of Eircom poles and lines in the countryside is a disgrace. I do not refer to the ESB but to Eircom, which has all but abandoned them and has put in very little maintenance. I salute its workers, of whom so few remain that they are obliged to travel half the length of the country. One of my neighbours travels throughout the entire south east as an Eircom employee. It no longer engages in maintenance and in consequence, poles are covered with ivy or are leaning on top of roads and many of them definitely are rotten. They are dangerous to approach or to put a ladder against on a good day, never mind in that kind of wind. I must also mention a good county council worker in County Tipperary who was injured while out clearing a tree in Kilshane, outside Bansha. I wish him well and a speedy recovery because it is very dangerous work when the trees are knocked down, as they spring in a different way. While they have been felled, they also are under pressure and when one starts to cut them, they can hop or snap and it is very dangerous work. Thankfully there were not many more such incidents. I also thank all the good neighbours came out and helped.

In a recurrence of events in 2009, a situation also has arisen in Cloughleigh, Golden, where three houses are severely flooded at present and will remain so. Although I am unsure, the problem appears to emanate from a quarry source but again, the Department of Social Protection, the council and everyone else has been helping out. Big pumps have been put into action to pump out the water but the houses are surrounded by water and obviously the sanitation is not working. Moreover, the people are unable to enter or leave their houses. This is the position this evening and has been so for two weeks. It will be necessary to relocate these people or they must receive assistance of some kind from the office of the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes to pump out that water or, if possible, to get a flow with the fall of ground. While I believe it could be done by such a method, if possible, it is an engineering science that must be examined and explored because one cannot allow such a situation to continue. The flood will remain until the water table level recedes and even with good or dry weather, it could take a month. This is the traditional time for water tables to rise and all the waters filled in rapidly because there had been dry weather before Christmas.

I do not know how it ever happened that calendar months were allowed as a basis for farmers to spread slurry. Their tanks are full at present but when people had dry weather, given the exceptional weather up to December, they were not allowed to spread it. In some cases tanks are overflowing, which means it is ending up in watercourses and rivers anyway. This baloney that one can only spread slurry in certain calendar months is a folly. It should all be related to climate and dry weather. The farmers themselves know the best time to spread slurry, because they will not spread it when it will run off the land because it then is no use to the land and will damage fisheries and everything else. Consequently, this nonsense must be re-examined and reconsidered.

In addition, the height restrictions on lorries and trailers must be re-examined as soon as possible. We are now entering a period of scarcity, encompassing March and perhaps April although it is to be hoped there will be a good spring. A fodder crisis could be looming again. In the west and other parts of the country, farmers will be obliged to pay twice the price for fodder because they will not be allowed to bring the third bale. This is a nonsense and while health and safety must be respected, this restriction arises simply because when the tunnels were being built, someone somewhere was too lazy, inept or lethargic to ensure their height was the same as standard European heights. Simply because of their problem, they now wish to legislate for the rest of the country. There are only three tunnels of which I am aware, namely, the tunnel in Dublin, the new one in Limerick and the tunnel in Cork. However, in the west in particular, loads must be permitted to be at such a height that will make it possible to bring in the fodder at a reasonable cost. It is dear enough as matters stand and goodness knows what will be the cost of the hauliers. While there is talk of this restriction being examined and lifted, I note that while one is told every hour of every day by several Departments that one must be in tune with Europe, here is a case in which Ireland is out of kilter with Europe. The height restrictions here are lower then apply elsewhere in Europe and this is a matter that should be addressed immediately.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. The contribution by the previous speaker, Deputy Mattie McGrath, sums up how varied and different are the problems with respect to flooding throughout our island. Cork first received its charter 830 years ago and while there is some discussion about flooding and flood plains, had the present day planners been around 800-plus years ago, perhaps Cork would not have developed as an urban area but then again, neither would have the communities that ended up as the Netherlands. I very much welcome the recent announcement in Cork by the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, that finally, a solution to Cork's flooding problems will be financed by the Government and that Cork city, the second most densely populated part of the Republic of Ireland, will be given the necessary protection.

There are three ways in which Cork city floods. First, there is what is termed as fluvial flooding, which is a build-up of water running off the land and then coming down through Inniscarra Dam and down into the low-lying city. A couple of weeks ago, people experienced tidal flooding, which also is affected by winds that can push a high tide back up into the city centre. Third, there is the flooding that can affect everywhere by virtue of extremely heavy rainfall and that may come down through places such as Glanmire and Blackpool.

Given that Cork has flooded so many times we have, perhaps, a higher degree of knowledge there about how to respond to flooding. We do not use our agencies enough. Every time we have a serious flood there is an announcement of a fund which is distributed on a means basis through the community welfare officers. I was Lord Mayor of Cork when we had a very significant flood event and we established a committee involving the local authorities, the Red Cross and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. We do not use this local knowledge sufficiently.

Our initial response to flooding in Ireland can be very good. Our emergency services can work, we can bring out the Army etc. and clean up very quickly, but businesses and communities can be left with situations that are extremely difficult and laborious. We should examine a way whereby we fund directly into the local authorities, perhaps to give rates holidays to affected businesses and to go door to door to try to establish which families are experiencing immediate hardship. When there is a significant flood event the community welfare officers should be brought out of their offices and into the local community halls to meet people in order that assistance can be given directly and quickly in the areas where the damage has happened.

We have a long way to go on insurance, particularly in urban areas. People who repeatedly reinvest in their businesses after flood events need to know there is some way to get a community-rated insurance. There are many businesses in the country that cannot get insurance which, pending significant work that is being done by the Government, would be happy to pay into some sort of fund from which they could draw down in the event of another flood. I accept that the Exchequer cannot underwrite potential flood loss through lack of insurance in every part of the country. However, where there is an acknowledgement that there is a significant problem and a commitment to remove the flood risk - as we have in the Blackpool area of Cork and the city centre - in that interim period of possibly a number of years, even if work commended in the next year and a half, businesses will be in a vacuum and that needs to be considered.

Cork has done exceptionally well because of our talented work pool and the quality of our third-level institutions. However, there are parts of the city, particularly around University College Cork, UCC and coming in along the Western Road where one cannot get planning permission. While I understand why flood plains in rural areas cannot get planning, as I said at the beginning, it is totally unacceptable that there are areas of a great city such as Cork which cannot get planning, especially bearing in mind that the commitment has been made to remove the problem.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the flooding difficulties experienced over recent months. Initially I refer especially to the situation in County Limerick. On 16 January we discussed that here. The particular problem has manifested itself in several areas in County Limerick including in the basin of the Maigue and Deel rivers, which have been flooding along both basins. The particular problem which has caused many difficulties is what happened along the Shannon Estuary. In Foynes there was a very serious situation where the flood defence wall, built only nine years ago, was unable to protect Foynes in January when the flooding took place. An old earthen bank which was removed some years ago would have done so.

Nobody - I include the chairman of the Shannon Foynes Port Company, CIE and the Office of Public Works, OPW, which I would see as the people and bodies responsible for the area - anticipated what happened. It is important that these organisations, including Limerick County Council, get together to ensure the situation is responded to. I commend the Shannon Foynes Port Company, which has already invested €60,000 in trying to protect the situation. However there is concern that on 3 March high tides are again expected and people in Foynes are concerned that a similar occurrence would take place.

On the night in question, water came gushing through a breach in Foynes shortly before 7.30 p.m. It flooded almost 40 bars, shops and homes turning the main street into a temporary river and even flooding the community centre and car park, which is somewhat higher than the Main Street. The affected buildings were clustered in the centre of the town and serious damage was done. There was risk to life and some elderly people had to be rescued. A serious situation could have arisen regarding loss of life because of the flooding that took place. Like other speakers, I pay tribute to the fire services, the Garda Síochána and the staff of Limerick County Council who responded on the night. Those volunteers and the community who responded to the situation are to be commended and congratulated.

There is urgent need for remedial repairs to Foynes as quickly as possible. I asked the Minister to activate this and allocate emergency funding to ensure that a similar situation does not arise. Regarding Ballysteen, the River Shannon breached its banks in two places and a sizeable area of land was seriously flooded and was under water for a considerable period of time. Last Wednesday there was a very serious storm, one of the worst in living memory, and flooding took place again in that area. An investment between €20,000 and €30,000 would probably do the repairs to prevent future flooding. It is not very expensive and should be examined in detail to see if it would work. There was also serious flooding in Adare and other areas. Historically there was very serious flooding in Adare but the River Maigue was drained some decades ago, which has corrected that. However on this occasion flooding occurred again. Something must be done about insurance. I appreciate my time has expired.

I welcome the opportunity to speak. We could nearly speak about the weather here every week in the last number of weeks because things have been so bad. I pay tribute to the local authority staff and Eircom workers and I offer my condolences to the family of the deceased Eircom subcontractor who lost his life at the weekend. As we have all said, it is was a miracle that more people were not either seriously injured or worse last Wednesday with what happened. I draw the Minister's attention in particular to the need for protocols for the Department of Education and Skills especially.

I understand that 12 hours before what was essentially a hurricane hit the south west, somebody would have known. The Department of Education and Skills should have taken it upon themselves to ensure that schools were closed last Wednesday, especially in the worst affected areas, almost on a line from Galway to Waterford and every place south west of it. At the height of the storm parents panicked, and in some cases schools contacted parents. In the eye of the storm children were walking across schoolyards with slates, tiles and so on being blown off the roofs and in some cases gates were blown towards people. A dangerous situation was made much worse. It is time protocols were in place where, in the event of red weather warnings, as there was last week, when a hurricane hit Ireland, we should take the precautionary principle of not having children in unnecessary danger. Adults can look after themselves.

On the issue of the damage caused to Limerick, on the last occasion I mentioned Foynes and Ballysteen. A matter I have a huge issue with - I raised it on the Topical Issue debate last week - is that we will never get to a situation in which the Office of Public Works, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government or any local authority is adequately able to deal with the drainage issue. Now is a good time for local authorities, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Office of Public Works to come together under the new rural development programme and incentivise landowners with proper technical advice to carry out drainage. I said on Thursday last that if there were a proposal now to drain the Moy and Boyne rivers - both of which projects were very successful under the arterial drainage programme - habitats, birds, fish, larvae and everything else would be put ahead of the individual towns and villages along those routes to prevent the drainage works from being carried out. We must ask ourselves which habitat we value most - the human one or the animal one. I witnessed this in Athea in County Limerick when it flooded in 2008. Gravel had almost to be put back into the river because the National Parks and Wildlife Service did not like the fact that Limerick County Council was taking it upon itself to relieve an eye of a bridge. We cannot continue to have that type of situation. Neither am I suggesting that somebody should be allowed put a digger in a river and take out gravel willy nilly. We need to change the present model. The Office of Public Works is not taking on any new channels because it does not have the resources, but it will never have the resources, no matter how good the economy. Therefore, we need to examine the issue seriously. Our weather has changed; of that there is no doubt. One issue that is indisputable is that our channels and water courses are in a diabolical condition all over the country. Local authorities do not have the wherewithal to deal with them and landowners are afraid to deal with them. Somebody needs to put an overall package in place.

Everybody refers to the fact that the Shannon river from Cavan to Limerick has a multiplicity of agencies and everybody has a say. There is a River Shannon in every parish and townland in these counties and a multiplicity of agencies are conflicting with each other, with the result that nobody will take responsibility for what is a simple issue at the end of the day - that is, to allow water out. If water cannot be allowed out, inevitably it will back up and end up in somebody's house. The reason we have the present conditions is that we have a fluvial problem: rainfall is getting heavier and we are getting more of it. If we cannot channel that water out to sea, given all the blockages, is it any wonder the land is flooded? The multiplicity of agencies from Cavan to the Shannon estuary at Ballylongford and Ballybunion is replicated all over the country.

Through the rural development programme recently announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the existing agri-environment schemes, there is an opportunity to incentivise landowners, with supervision, technical support from Inland Fisheries Ireland, and the support of local authorities, in an organised way. This has been done previously through the rural environment protection scheme and the agri-environment options scheme and would allow a much more concerted effort on a national basis to address a fundamental issue, namely, the condition of our drainage.

I compliment the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Deputy Brian Hayes, on the work he has done, and his colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. There is much more we can learn from this and I would welcome any suggestion that is brought forward in that manner.

I reiterate much of what my colleague, Deputy O'Donovan, has said. He is right in saying there is a stream in virtually every townland, whether urban or rural. Many urban streams are underground and have been piped for many years, and people do not know where they are. The proliferation of agencies involved in dealing with drainage issues must be resolved. We need an agency with overall responsibility for drainage if we are to tackle the issue of flooding across the country, whether the flooding of homes, businesses or land. Flooding causes devastation, particularly for people in their domestic home environment, and it leaves a dreadful mark, but also in businesses through the damage it wreaks. The Government should consider having one lead agency which would be responsible for flooding. In my area, Kilkenny, there are issues of flooding which are often passed between the local authority, the Office of Public Works and the harbour boards in New Ross and Waterford on particular issues as they arise. Arising from what we have seen of the weather in recent weeks, if the Government can act to ensure that somebody has overall responsibility that would certainly be progress.

I pay tribute to those on the front line, whether in local authorities or in the ESB. In the past week in the Minister's area and mine, Trojan work has been undertaken by the ESB, in particular, to have people reconnected. It is taking much longer to do this in some areas than in others, but the level of damage wreaked this day week was immense. For part of the evening most of the roads out of Kilkenny City were blocked with fallen trees. Individual landowners, local authority staff and private citizens put their shoulders to the wheel to ensure those arteries were opened up. I pay tribute to them for that work.

The issue of dredging will have to be grasped. It is very seldom that anything slightly resembling dredging happens, and if something happens, questions are raised by certain arms of the State. To echo the sentiments of Deputy O'Donovan, the human habitat is the one that needs to be protected first and foremost, and particularly people's residences. We cannot dodge the question of dredging of main arterial routes, but for all substantial waterways a policy needs to be undertaken in that regard. With regard to the suggestion the Deputy has made for the rural development scheme, it should include initiatives for landowners to carry out works on waterways that pass through their landholdings. There have been significant changes in recent years in terms of the types of agriculture engaged in. In certain parts of the country, much of the flooding, at least anecdotally, is attributed to large areas now under afforestation which were not in the past, with big open drains that quickly lead large quantities of water into bottleneck situations in towns and villages across the country, with the result that rivers cannot cope with the water coming more quickly than in the past. The rural development scheme would be a useful vehicle for landowners to engage in drainage works on their own land.

On the issue of insurance, the Minister was in New Ross recently, which, although it is in my neighbouring constituency, is my local town. Dreadful damage was done to a swimming pool, recently developed, which lost its roof last Wednesday. It had been open only a couple of months. Serious damage was caused on the quayside in that town. Many people who have businesses and homes in that area and in parts of Kilkenny, including Thomastown and Graiguenamanagh, cannot get insurance for their properties. Action has to be taken to help those people.

This is a very important debate and I thank the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, for facilitating it. It has particular resonance for me as a Deputy for Limerick City, which had the worst floods ever recorded there. People are still recovering from them. Many areas are affected, including St. Mary’s Park, Lee Estate, Assumpta Park, Thomond Gate and O’Dwyer’s Villas, Athlunkard Street, the Mill Road, Corbally Road and portions of Sir Harry’s Mall. People are trying to get back to normality.

The services' reaction time was critical. I thank the Minister for facilitating and arranging for Sean Hogan, who heads up our National Emergency Coordination Centre, to come down the day after the floods occurred in Limerick to see the damage at first hand and to report to the Minister. This had a significant impact on the people in the area and on the overall national response. He saw the difficulties people were experiencing. The reaction times for the local authority, the HSE, the gardaí, the Department of Social Protection and the Defence Forces were extremely important. More recently, the phenomenal work of the ESB must be commended. I reserve my greatest admiration for the people living in these areas and their community spirit. They were out helping neighbours, sons and daughters, friends. I was humbled to be in their presence and to see the work they did.

We are now moving to restoration. There are concerns about a high tide at the end of this month. It is important that everything is put in place. Security sandbanks have been built up around King's Island, which is extremely important. We must be ever-vigilant. Insurance is the big issue now. We must ensure that people without insurance are given the facilities to make their houses habitable. A Red Cross fund has been established through the Department of Social Protection for humanitarian aid. I welcome that, and people should contact the Department to follow it up.

Many people will not be able to get insurance, even if they had it before. We have to consider putting in place schemes interacting with the insurance industry through the Office of Public Works, OPW, as part of a wider scheme, to ensure that if the proper measures are put in place people can get insurance. The way organisations came together to help people, including local community centres such as King’s Island, and Linda Ledger and her team in St. Munchin’s community centre in Kileely, showed that the Limerick spirit is alive and well. People need assistance. The key features of that are the provision of funding to ensure people can get back into their homes, and ensuring they can get insurance in the future, which we need to do nationally. This involves ensuring that people’s homes are safe. What has been put in place around King’s Island is a temporary measure. It will be examined. We need to bring regeneration funding through various routes to ensure that we put in place flood defences and preventive measures for the future so that people feel safe in their homes, whether they live in St. Mary’s Park, Assumpta Park, Lee Estate, Athlunkard Street, Mill Road, Corbally Road or any other affected area.

I share the praise for people in the emergency services who in a time of need and at some risk to themselves went out and played a very important part in assisting people in distress whose homes had been breached by floods and where power had gone. I speak particularly of the local authorities, the fire services, Civil Defence, the Army, the Garda and the volunteers. Some volunteers even travelled to Limerick to help out because they were very moved to see all the worldly possessions of some poor individuals whose houses were flooded ruined. That is a very depressing prospect for any of us to think about.

I visited areas in my own county, Mayo, where houses and land were flooded and land was destroyed along the coast. I speak for the people who were affected and have contacted me about their plight. There is limited funding for dealing with such events. We are witnessing unprecedented weather in our lifetimes when we see the scale of the devastation and how the weather has wrought havoc on both sides of the Atlantic, including in the United Kingdom and on the mainland of Europe, in the form of last summer's flooding. It is important that, as storm damage is appraised, all affected homes and properties throughout the country are brought into the equation. The Minister has charged the local authorities and is working with the Department of Social Protection to assess this damage.

Solutions, flood defences and mitigation works should not focus solely on the big population centres such as Limerick and Cork. I asked my colleague Deputy O’Donnell to stay here because I was going to mention this. Funding is limited but we need to have a fair scheme of prioritisation. It cannot just be based on population, which favours large centres of population on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis showing that the money spent would benefit more people. Some areas are experiencing flooding for the first time, or maybe for the first time in recorded history. In my home town of Ballina, there are houses that have been flooded several times. They are not housing estates built recently on flood plains but they have a history of being flooded and have never received flood defences. The priority for funding should be where lives and homes are at risk, but it should not be based solely on a cost-benefit analysis, which would favour the urban centres. Instead, priority should be given to housing areas which have been flooded regularly rather than those that have been flooded for the first time. That would provide a better return on investment. Resources are limited but there must be fairness for all those around the country who are affected. Many of the houses that have been flooded repeatedly cannot be insured.

The flooding of farmland presents an opportunity for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, to consider the replacement scheme he is crafting for the rural environment protection scheme, REPS, and the green, low-carbon agri-environment scheme he is putting together. Farmers have a can-do attitude and I am sure they would be willing to participate in remedial work on their lands, which would reduce the risk of flooding in the future. This could be sponsored as environmental work. There are problems with special areas of conservation in my area, in which there is a great deal of land.

There are issues also with the National Parks and Wildlife Service. There must be streamlining of consent because in some instances drains and other flood prevention works cannot be carried out in a speedy fashion. I ask that the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Deenihan, facilitate a meeting with the Irish Farmers Association and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to tease out these issues.

I compliment the cross-departmental response. It was not easy because people were frustrated and distressed, yet it all came together. A response was required from the Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Environment, Community and Local Government, the Office of Public Works and the Department of Social Protection. I accept there is not nearly enough money available but I look forward to the continuation of the debate about how we can fairly spend the moneys that are available.

I thank Members for their contributions to the debate on the series of storms that have hit the country since mid-December and their impact on people, infrastructure and property. I join Members of the House in sympathising with the colleagues, friends, relatives and loved ones of Michael O'Riordan, who was tragically killed on Saturday last while working to restore services in west Cork.

This debate has been extended beyond the initial time allocated in last Wednesday's sitting of the House and is a clear indication of the scale and the extent of damage caused and the seriousness with which Members are taking the matter. On Wednesday last, at the time this House was discussing the impact of previous weather events, all present in the Chamber were conscious of damage being caused as hurricane-strength gales tracked eastwards across counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny and Carlow. The storm on 12 February had been forecasted by Met Éireann as a red-level storm in southern counties under its new colour-coded warning system. Orange warnings applied to other parts of the country, and these were upgraded as the actual impact of the storm became apparent in the south. The storm caused huge damage. Roofs were torn from buildings; schools and workplaces were forced to close; hundreds of trees were toppled; there were electricity outages to more than 260,000 customers; and water treatment and communications infrastructure were affected. In my own county of Kilkenny, the impact was such that for a short period a major emergency was declared.

When it was deemed safe to do so, the emergency services went into response mode and the clean-up began. ESB Networks made safe fallen wires and began the arduous task of restoring electricity supplies. Local authority staff started clearing trees that had fallen on roads, making them open again to traffic and emergency services. Once again, I join with all Deputies in expressing gratitude to the staff of the local authorities and the emergency services for the effectiveness of the front-line response, not only to the storm of 12 February but also to the previous severe weather events that hit the country. The principal response agencies worked effectively together to assist people and communities. I wish to thank all those who participated in the emergency response at local level, including members of the Defence Forces who were active on the ground in parts of the country. Having multiple agencies working effectively together with common objectives was the goal of both the local and national co­ordination efforts. At national level, my Department is designated as lead Department for the response to severe weather events. A national co-ordination group on severe weather, chaired by my Department, worked throughout the storm events, bringing together all relevant Departments and agencies to ensure a whole-of-Government response and to support the local-level response.

The time set aside in the Dáil schedule for these statements on severe weather and flooding has afforded Members a valuable opportunity to reflect on the extent and scale of the damage caused to the livelihoods and property of people who live and work in the communities affected. I join other Members of the House to commend the resilience of the households, businesses and communities affected by electricity outages and flooding. There are many examples of individuals and organisations who rallied locally and came to the assistance of neighbours.

The statements of Cabinet colleagues and Deputies have also provided a valuable insight into the effects of the severe weather on specific sectors. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine outlined in his statement last Wednesday the damage suffered by coastal communities and the damage done to piers, harbours, and slipways - infrastructure on which both island communities and the Irish fishing fleet are hugely dependent. Many Deputies in the course of their contributions highlighted the particular problems being encountered by the farming community. We have also heard reports about the damage caused to our transport network, to amenities and to tourist infrastructure. The immediate aim of the Government is to get households and communities functioning again as quickly as possible. Very good progress has been made by the ESB since last Wednesday, and it has now restored supply to almost 258,000 customers, leaving approximately 2,000 without supply.

Last week the Government considered a report on the impact of the severe weather that hit Ireland from mid-December 2013 to 6 January 2014 and agreed a number of measures, including €70 million to repair the damage caused by the series of storms. This funding is for clean-up, repair and restoration works in regard to essential social and public infrastructure. The moneys will be used by local authorities in the areas worst affected by the storms to undertake programmes of work aimed at restoring roads, coastal protection and other infrastructure and amenities. The Government has asked that works that are significant for economic activity be prioritised, and these should be completed before the summer tourist season where feasible.

This funding clearly demonstrates the Government's commitment to respond to the needs of communities devastated by the storms. It is based on the requests from local authorities, and while I do not underestimate the scale and complexity of the task ahead, it will facilitate local authorities in commencing a programme of prioritised works to assist communities in the areas worst affected. My Department has been working with the other relevant funding Departments and agencies to ensure that the funds for the required works are channelled to local authorities as quickly as possible.

I wish to pay tribute to my Cabinet colleague, the Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, and the staff of the Department of Social Protection on the dedicated and systematic way they have approached the task of meeting the immediate needs of people who have been affected by flooding resulting from the weather conditions and very high tides. The Government has made €25 million available through that Department's urgent and exceptional needs and humanitarian assistance schemes. This has provided emergency payments for essentials including food, clothing and replacement of white goods, and will fund repairs of flood damage to households. Where required, local authorities have made alternative accommodation available for those who have had to leave their homes in the aftermath of flooding.

Deputies have suggested that the Government should have applied for European Union aid. My Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform met with the European Commission to deal with the possibility of EU funding under the solidarity and regional support schemes. The purpose of the EU Solidarity Fund is to allow member states to request financial aid in the event of major natural disasters. However, there is a damage threshold per member state, which is set at 0.6% of gross national income. The estimated cost of the damage caused by the storms between 13 December 2013 and 6 January 2014 is €69.5 million, which is well below the non-negotiable GNI threshold for the Solidarity Fund of 0.6%, or €770 million in the case of Ireland. It should also be noted that assistance from the fund is limited to financing emergency operations undertaken by public authorities alleviating non-insurable damages.

The possibility of a regional application has also been considered. This is also subject to a series of impact criteria, including one which states that 50% of the population of a region must be affected, which again the situation under consideration does not appear to meet. The Government has correctly concluded, therefore, that there is no application for European funding to be made at this time.

Local authorities have estimated that over €53 million would be required for strengthening coastal protection and coastal flood defences in order to mitigate further damage in the event of storms and tidal surges. This requires more detailed examination and will be considered by the Office of Public Works in the context of coastal protection and CFRAM studies. The OPW will report further to the Government on proposed coastal protection works.

A recurring theme during the course of the debate has been the effectiveness of the flood defence measures provided in many towns, particularly in Clonmel, Fermoy and Mallow. There have been calls to extend these as speedily as possible to other places where a clear need has been identified. As the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, pointed out in his contribution to this debate, a very significant capital works investment programme will see up to €225 million being spent on flood relief measures over a five-year period from 2012 to 2016, at the end of which a new plan will be set out. However, it is important to put the scale of the task into perspective. It is estimated that the 300 locations identified as vulnerable in a flood mapping exercise undertaken by the OPW will cost somewhere between €1.6 billion and €2 billion to protect. This will be a capital expenditure issue for Government for many years to come. The scale and costs of these types of flood defence works mean that the benefits will be realised over the medium and longer term. In the shorter term, however, the provision of appropriate flood defence measures for specific small areas and properties continues to be managed by OPW in conjunction with the relevant local authorities under their small schemes programme.

The issue of non-availability of flood insurance has been raised during this debate. The Department of Finance monitors non-availability of flood insurance cover and is currently undertaking a review of the availability of insurance arising from this debate. When the review is complete, it will be examined by the Minister for Finance who will report to Government on the measures, if any, that are appropriate to improve the availability of flood insurance cover.

The Government has provided very significant additional support to deal with the huge damage and loss caused by the storms. We are standing shoulder to shoulder with communities that have been affected and are making humanitarian assistance available to individuals and households. I will be reporting again to the Government on 4 March next on the damage caused and the estimated repair costs arising from the most recent round of severe weather. My Department is currently gathering the necessary information from local authorities in this regard. I want to assure this House that the Government will do everything it can to ensure that our communities recover as quickly as possible from these severe weather events, and we will continue to examine how best to mitigate the effects of future weather events.

I thank all those in the various Departments, agencies and local authorities which were involved in delivering front-line services over the last eight weeks for the great work they have done to ensure people were safe, communities received assistance and individuals received respite, financially or otherwise, to tide them over these unusual weather events.

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