Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, but we all saw the pictures of Clontarf a few weeks ago. That is the reality we face. We need buy-in from the community on this. These are difficult measures that we sometimes have to go through and support. Barriers are often ugly. They can be made look aesthetic and beautiful but a great deal of maturity is needed in this debate because this issue is not going away.

I echo what colleagues said about emergency services, especially the council staff, the Garda and those involved in the emergency services who did a terrific job despite the scale of this storm some weeks ago. My Department has responsibility for flood relief. We have written to every local authority asking for applications. I repeat what I said last week, as those applications come in from those counties worst affected we will make sure that they are prioritised and turned around in a matter of weeks so that we can get money quickly to those local authorities to resolve those issues. The priorities have to be repairing the existing flood relief schemes, where they are under our control, and making sure that we patch up those problems, particularly in light of the fact that at the end of this month we will see more significant waves.

The Government has worked in a co-ordinated way under the leadership of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in this area because this was a weather event. I attended the emergency planning meeting last week and was most impressed to see all of the players around the table working out a solution and trying to get funding in place to those communities worst affected. There is an initial assessment of approximately €65 million from the western counties which are worst affected. We have asked that each county furnish a more detailed breakdown within a month. As those applications come in to each Department, be it Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Environment, Community and Local Government, Transport, Tourism and Sport or the Office of Public Works, we will make sure we get those moneys out to the communities who need them. We will have to return to the question of whether more funding will be needed as we ensure that repair work continues. I am confident that there is strong support in Government to make sure that we reach out to and help those communities that have been so devastated as a consequence of the storms in the past few weeks.

Lessons need to be learned. This is a natural occurrence and, as colleagues said, this problem is not going away. However, the truth is that some pretty horrendous planning and development decisions have been taken by local authorities up and down this country, which is a reality we have to confront. We also have to weigh up whether we can repair areas of the country even though, within a year or two, the infrastructure might be knocked out again. Is that cost-beneficial?

We have to take a much more holistic view, particularly on the question of coastal erosion. Coastal erosion is a natural occurrence and we have to make sure in our planning and development that we do not make decisions which create difficulties for those families and businesses. Seeing some of the decisions that have been taken, with houses put on the side of cliffs and the like, it is clear one is inviting difficulty and trouble. That is the reality. I hope lessons are learned from this in terms of a much more holistic view being taken when it comes to proper planning and development.

As I have said, we have to ensure we can turn around these applications and show cause to the local authorities, which are the first line of defence in any emergency like this. I know the Cabinet discussed this issue this week and that, in all of the schemes, be it in transport, the environment or otherwise, we will make sure we can turn around these applications and deliver the funds to these communities.

I have visited many parts of the country and have met communities which have been affected by flooding in the past. I know huge psychological damage is done to people as a result of these events. We have to make sure people are given the support they need so their communities can get up on their feet again. Enormous goodwill has been created in many parts of the country as a result of these events. People are working together as communities and showing great spirit in demonstrating to the wider community that they are going to fight this thing, but they need the support of their local and national government in doing that. In anything we in the OPW can do by way of using our resources to help repair the damage that is done to flood defences, be assured we will do it. We have priority for issues like arterial drainage, which comes under our responsibility, and we will be drawing up a list, which I will publish, of the works done in the last two weeks among the 400 OPW staff who work in this area, whom I thank them for their support.

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