Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was reading recently about the Night of the Big Wind - Oíche na Gaoithe Móire - which occurred on 6 January 1839. The storm was so ferocious and the damage so severe that time was measured by reference to it for generations afterwards. People referred to events as having happened before or after the Night of the Big Wind. In more contemporary times, the people of Kerry remember the big wind of St. Stephen's night 1951. I come from a place called Barrow, where two people were drowned on St. Stephen's night 1951. That was the Night of the Big Wind where I come from. I suggest that the start of 2014 will be another landmark in the measurement of time, in so far as it will be referred to as the Night of the Big Wind as well.

County Kerry, like the rest of the western seaboard, took a battering during the recent storms. The damage was particularly severe in the south and south west of the county. Perhaps we should ask whether this should have been declared a national disaster. The weather might not have seen as severe in Dublin, but that does not mean it was not a disaster for people in the west. Kerry County Council has estimated that €20 million will be needed to deal with the damage done to its area during the storms. That is a conservative estimate. The effect of these storms on people living in rural coastal communities is enormous. The livelihoods of farmers and fishing families have been put in jeopardy. Never before in my lifetime did I see Fenit Island flooded. It is like a sea within a sea.

As Deputy Ó Cuív mentioned, many farmers have lost livestock, fodder, fencing and equipment. Acres of land are now covered in water. Many areas are under stones and debris. The reclamation of this land before the stones and debris get embedded in the soil should be a priority. Two actions must be taken immediately. First, farmers must be given financial aid to help put the damage right. Second, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine must issue a statement regarding land that is now covered in sand, stones and debris - and, in some cases, salt water - so that departmental inspectors do not deem it to be ineligible for single farm payments or Pillar 2 funding.

Many homes were flooded. This is becoming a standard phenomenon each winter. We all watch the news and see people sloshing around in their homes and business premises. This happened in counties Kildare and Carlow in the not too distant past. There have been similar incidents in the Shannon basin. Anyone who has suffered flooding can testify that when the television cameras are gone, a long and painful mopping-up operation must be undertaken. Some people have to deal with insurance companies that have not distinguished themselves in their care of their clients. In particular, they have not sanctioned urgent and prompt pay-outs to allow people to put their homes and businesses, which are of great importance at this time, back together after the destruction has happened.

Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to provide adequate housing for people. They must be resourced to help those who have lost or had severe damage done to their homes. An emergency scheme like the former scheme of housing aid for older people and people with disabilities must be made available. Community welfare officers must be given the flexibility to assist people who have lost furniture and household items due to flooding. On the issue of local authority responsibility, it is worth noting the estimate that the infrastructural repairs that are needed immediately in County Kerry will cost approximately €3.5 million. There are serious health and safety issues not just in Kerry, but all along the west coast. There are roads in danger of sliding into the sea or subsiding dangerously. I think every Deputy in County Kerry will have visited places that have been badly damaged in recent weeks.

I call on the Minister of State to reinstate and provide adequate funding under the former local improvement scheme to enable local roads to be repaired. Something like that needs to be done swiftly. Before the recent storms and flooding, hundreds of local roads used to access rural villages and farmlands were in urgent need of repair. These roads must now be made a priority. All the signs suggest that our weather is changing and becoming more severe, in terms of storms. All the predictions indicate that this will continue. In addition to dealing with the recent damage, we have to look forward and make provision for the likelihood of further severe weather, perhaps in the near future. It is vitally important that we prevent such severe damage from recurring. At the end of this month and into the first week of February, we might see the biggest tide ever recorded. Four tides well in excess of 5 m are expected this year. That will create a significant problem if similar storm-force weather is experienced during that period.

Initial estimates put the cost of protecting the coastline in County Kerry at €16 million. If Deputies will excuse the pun, this a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of properly defending a coastline that has very vulnerable spots. No responsible administration would leave such areas unprotected against similar weather. The worst effects of the storm weather were felt around Beal and Ballybunion in north Kerry and near Waterville in south Kerry. I think everybody has seen the television footage of Derrynane, where an entire caravan park was washed away. It is reckoned that over 1 million tonnes of sand have been washed away at Rossbeigh. It is estimated that €8 million worth of damage was done at Lahinch in County Clare, the pictures of which everybody has seen. A great deal of damage was done to the north and to the south of the main car park at Banna beach. Some 20 ft. of sand dunes are gone. The signs that hold up the life belts were directly in front of the sand dunes, but the sand dunes are 20 ft. behind them now. That is another example of the substantial damage caused by this event. Ballyheigue pier, which was built with great community support and in respect of which great work was done by Kerry County Council, with the collective efforts of everybody, took an awful battering,

with some rocks weighing 3 tonnes or 4 tonnes being washed up on the pier and into where the boats are usually tied up.

This kind of event has an effect on a whole community. The communal trauma was palpable down around those areas in the days following the storm. It is a devastating experience to feel so helpless in the face of such power and to watch the very soil of one's native land disappear under the weight of water which pounded the shoreline, not to mention places like Cromane, where houses were also flooded.

We cannot prevent the force of nature, but we can try to protect our coastal and island communities. The extreme winds combined with record high tides and huge swells did damage, some minor and some disastrous, to sea walls, roads, seaside car parks and playgrounds and of course the sand dunes adjacent to beaches used by people, including visitors to the area, during the summer months.

As shown on television news coverage, the sea and cliff rescue boathouse in Ballybunion was badly damaged by the force of waves, which took the shutter doors off the front of the building. Recognising the importance of the facility for the safety of those using the locality, local people have already begun to raise funds to help repair it. Great credit is due to the people of the area as they try to put it back in operation again. Meanwhile, there are parts of the coastline around Ballybunion which are in danger of falling into the sea. The local people and the workers of Kerry County Council deserve huge credit for the work they have done in trying to carry out repairs and to deal with the huge amount of debris they have cleared.

We cannot leave ourselves exposed to the whim of Mother Nature, or the will of God, whatever one's belief on this. As Deputy Stanley has pointed out, something permanent will have to be done as we deal with the prospect of rising seas and more storms ahead. Climate change experts have said for years that Ireland will be subject to this kind of battering again in the future.

What is the Government's long-term strategy to deal with rising seas and severe weather such as heavy snow, torrential rain and high winds? Have we applied for emergency EU funding to deal with this episode and to get help to deal with coastal erosion in the future? Is there a long-term strategy to deal with erosion and put in place erosion-preventing measures? These are relevant questions which need answers.

The people who know the sea, the people who live beside it and watch it every day, the people who go out onto the ocean and know its mood, are saying we need to take heed and we need to listen to them. This week members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine visited Inisheer. We saw at first hand the damage that was done in Salthill and out on the island. It was very interesting to listen to the fishermen describe three waves that came one after the other. Those waves were approximately 30 m high and 1 mile wide. Luckily those waves missed the island, but it just goes to show the power of the sea. Anybody, who has seen what the sea has done as a result of this storm, will be in no doubt as to what it can do.

Many small fishermen - representing 80% of them - are barely surviving. Some of them have lost hundreds of lobster pots because of the storm. They need help and support. I urge the Minister of State to try to relieve pressures on these fishing people.

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