Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Frankly, there was no point to that debate on 23 January because no answers were given and there has been no follow-up. I got more answers in the ante-room from the officials than I got from the Minister of State. I do not blame him for that but, as it is not his portfolio, why was he here? He came in here to read a statement. That is the first point.

The Taoiseach is intimating that we will apply under the EU Solidarity Fund. If the Taoiseach is aware of the conditions attaching to the fund, however, he will realise the application will not be successful because the level of damage is not sufficient for the country to apply for it. In addition, on the day the Government announced the emergency fund of €45 million, 20 January, I asked the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, whether that was separate to the normal annual funding of the OPW for coastal erosion and flooding measures. I got the answer from the official that, no, it is not separate and that the annual OPW budget for this is being put into that €45 million emergency fund, so any work that was going to happen during the course of the year is in that fund already. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, then announced on Monday an additional €10 million fund to assist people who have been flooded over the weekend in Limerick, Cork and the north west. We all know that is not sufficient. Is the €10 million he is referring to part of the €45 million or is it a separate fund under the Department of Social Protection?

To have all of these questions remaining unanswered tells me the Government in this instance does not know what is going on and does not know where it is going to apply for funding or who is responsible for it. Unfortunately, we are going to have other weather events over the next few days and the situation is going to get worse. To seek the answers that I asked-----