Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The past few days have been somewhat traumatic in my part of the world. We have seen nearly 50 mm of rainfall. The storm which has hit the south-west coast is absolutely frightening. Looking at social media this morning, it strikes me that the floods in some parts of Cork and Kerry are something we have not seen since 2009. It seems that 50 mm of rain will fall in a 26-hour or 27-hour period. We are seeing flooding of roads which have not flooded since 2009. It is appropriate that we should be looking at some kind of funding package being put together for the local authorities in Cork city and county, both of which seem to be greatly affected by this flood. There will be a major requirement for central funding to be set aside for this issue.

The other issue I would like to raise - I am aware that I am breaching the protocols here - is school transportation. I am not going to speak as I usually do about how children have been left all over west Cork. An issue with regard to vaping on school buses has emerged in the past few days.