Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I could probably speak about the damage that has been done in County Kerry for two hours, but I will try to say as much as I can in two minutes, which is a very short allocation. I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, and the staff in his office on their assistance and work over the past two weeks. I thank the OPW staff who have done a great deal of work on the ground. They were already in place at the main arterial drainage system in County Kerry. There was a serious breach of the bank at Ardcanaght. I understand that the banks at Laghtacallow and Keel and also across the water at Garraun and Reen will also be fixed shortly. I thank the staff of the OPW for that. I commend Kerry County Council as well on their work on this. Significant damage has also been done at Cromane Lower and at Kells. The devastation at Rossbeigh has been widely publicised. Almost €400,000 will be required to fix the promenade in Waterville and stop the tide from coming in on the N70, which is the main Ring of Kerry road. The deposition levels on the floor of the River Laune in Killorglin are causing businesses and residences near the bridge in the town to flood.

An overall approach to how we will deal with flooding in the future is needed. Kerry County Council recently invested a number of million euro in coastal protection works at Inch to prevent the main R561 road to Dingle from falling into the sea. It is seriously out of pocket because it has not been compensated for this by central government. Proactive councils need to be rewarded rather than punished for carrying out such works. There has to be a bit of thinking outside the box as well. Certain houses that have been flooded recently were built very close to the sea in the last few years. We need to think ahead and look to the future. Funding has to be put in place. Emergency works have to be done immediately. A sufficient fund should be made available in the long term to fix the problems that will arise again in the future at places all over County Kerry, such as Rossbeigh and Cromane.

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