Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Darragh O'Brien's proposed amendment to the Order of Business with regard to flooding. I agree with Senator Gilroy about the tragedies we have seen throughout Cork and Limerick, with businesses and people put out of their homes. This is replicated nationwide. As I said a couple of weeks ago regarding the other storm, we must not lose sight of the fact that there are cases throughout the western seaboard. To give an example, in Bundoran and south Donegal, rock armour was thrown around as if by a juggler in a circus ring. It was phenomenal. It was thrown into car parks. The many surf schools that operate all year round cannot get to where they carry out their business, so there is an employment issue too. In Strandhill and Rosses Point in Sligo two golf courses are at risk because of substantial erosion that has been exacerbated as a result of the recent storms. According to the front page of The Sligo Champion today, in west Sligo the McDermott family are completely cut off from their house because of the amount of rock and debris thrown up by the ocean. This is replicated on the coastline all along the western seaboard. Obviously, there are very serious concerns in Cork and Limerick about businesses and people out of their homes, but the north west is also affected.

The bottom line is that the minor works scheme, even if it is €250 million over the term of this Government, is not sufficient to deal adequately with this issue. We must get more funds. Whether they must be diverted from other areas, and I know they are scarce at this time, or we get them from Europe, they must be secured and these coastal communities must be dealt with. Clearly, the type of rock armour used in this country is not sufficient for the modern weather challenges with which we are presented. We have seen that with the flood supports in Limerick and Cork against the Shannon and the Lee and with the coastal supports against the Atlantic Ocean inflicting the full brunt of its power on Donegal, Sligo, Mayo and other communities.

Today is World Cancer Day. As we speak, the European Cancer Concord is launching a cancer bill of rights. It will be introduced and launched by Professor Patrick Johnston, a cancer specialist at Queen's University. Three people die from this disease every minute. There were 14 million new cases globally last year and 24 years hence there will be one fatality every ten seconds. We are losing the battle with cancer. This would be an appropriate time to review our national cancer control programme, which has celebrated some successes but which remains flawed in tackling this battle, particularly for the people who happen to live north of a line from Dublin to Galway.