Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputies for giving me an opportunity to come into the House to discuss the severe flooding in Newcastle West and Athea. While many locations have been affected by serious flood events in recent weeks, it was particularly severe in Newcastle West. Having seen at first hand the devastation caused in the town on the night of 31 July and 1 August and having spoken to people affected by the flooding there and in other parts of the country, I am very aware of the hardship and loss they have suffered. I am glad to have the opportunity to place on the record of the House my personal sympathy and concern as well as that of the Government for the victims of the flooding. I certainly am thankful there was no loss of life because in Newcastle West in particular, there was some danger of this.

It is only by seeing the situation at first hand, as I did when I visited Newcastle West and a number of other locations that also experienced severe flooding, that it is possible to get a full sense of the hardship and worry flooding causes. The Office of Public Works and I are acutely aware of the impact of flooding and we are committed to doing all we can to alleviate it through the provision of defences to best practice standards to reduce existing flood risk and by taking steps to prevent the creation of future risk. This is not the time to go into detail on those matters as time is limited and the topic under discussion is the flooding in Newcastle West and the surrounding area, as well as in Athea.

This summer has seen unprecedented levels of rainfall occur in many places. It has been estimated that the rainfall that fell on Newcastle West would be expected to occur once in 650 years, although I should qualify that by stating that experts caution that the degree of confidence that one can have in such an extreme statistic is very limited. The chairman of South Tipperary County Council, who was brought up in Newcastle West as a boy, told me there was a flood, albeit not as serious as the most recent event, back in 1947.

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