Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have been working very closely with Councillor Jane Horgan Jones of Dublin City Council and Councillor Judy Dunne on Fingal County Council and with Brian McDonagh on this issue. I join Deputy Kevin Humphreys in thanking the council workers, as I know the Minister of State will too, who did excellent work on the ground over the Christmas period.

The 2005 Royal Haskoning report which covered the entire northside strip of north County Dublin, going up to Clontarf, has not been fully implemented. I would like a report on its implementation. Not all of its recommendations are necessarily desirable, much of the work must be done in consultation with relevant stakeholders but it needs to be worked upon. If it had been implemented some of the damage caused would not have happened.

The main artery between Baldoyle and Portmarnock has been very badly affected and people have been flooded out of their homes, particularly the O’Rourke family there. The local authority there does not view this as a main artery but there has been huge development there since 2005 and there is a lot more development planned. I would like the Minister of State and his Department to assess that with the local authority if he could.

I echo Deputy Kevin Humphreys’ comments about the insurance companies. We have discussed flood insurance many times and its effect on the householder and the collapse in value of the property. It is of key importance that the Minister of State engage with the Irish Insurance Federation as improvements are made and investment comes on line, to keep it informed of improvements day by day and so that its members reflect them in their dealings with individual householders. This will not go away. It will recur year after year because of climate change. We have to work together to find a long-term solution to it.

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