Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for giving me an opportunity to come to the House to discuss the severe flooding which occurred in the Gweedore Gaeltacht area in County Donegal on 23 June 2009. It is ironic that this flooding took place at a time when most of the rest of the country was basking in sunshine. The Donegal fire service has described the weather as freakish. My colleague, Deputy Martin Mansergh, Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, is very much aware of the hardship and loss suffered as a result of flooding and is pleased, through me, to have the opportunity to place on the record of the House his personal sympathy and concern and that of the Government for the victims of the flooding.

The Minister of State has visited the scenes of flooding in many parts of the country where severe flooding has occurred and has first-hand knowledge of the hardship and worry that flooding causes. The Minister of State and the Office of Public Works are acutely aware of the impacts of flooding and are committed to doing all they can to alleviate them both 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 the Gweedore area.

The OPW engineering staff met on site with engineering staff from Donegal County Council on 24 June 2009. A combination of spring tides together with prolonged torrential rain on 23 June contributed to flooding in lower level lands. The heavy rain commenced at approximately 3 p.m. and continued unabated for a period of about four hours. Eight county road bridges were damaged - mainly parapet, soffit and scouring damage - and four private bridges were also damaged. Two of these private bridges serve blocks of six or nine houses approximately. Parts of county roads were washed away or suffered surface damage along the course of the channel. Among the buildings flooded were a craft shop, a flower shop and the old church at Derrybeg, which now houses the Gweedore library. A number of private properties were also flooded and more details in regard to the precise number affected are awaited. These are preliminary findings and the process of gathering further information is ongoing. It is hoped that a preliminary report will be available shortly and an early meeting will be set up between Donegal County Council and OPW officials to assess what can be done to prevent any recurrence.

The Minister of State is conscious that in addition to the trauma caused by the flooding, people also suffered financial loss arising from the damage to their property. The Department of Social and Family Affairs has responsibility for providing humanitarian assistance where it is considered appropriate and is providing help through the community welfare officer network to victims of the recent flooding. Where people are suffering hardship they should contact the local community welfare officer for assistance and each case will be dealt with confidentially and on its merits. Recent humanitarian assistance schemes have not extended to cover business or agriculture.

The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered by the community welfare officers, is designed to provide immediate and flexible assistance for those in need who do not qualify for payment under other State schemes. Under the legislation governing the scheme, the HSE may make a single payment to meet an exceptional need to people on social welfare or health service executive payments. This is a once-off payment to meet an unforeseen or special need that cannot be met from a person's basic income.

Assistance in the form of an urgent needs payment can be also made to persons who would not normally be entitled to supplementary welfare allowance, to assist, for example, in cases of flood damage with immediate needs such as food, clothing, fuel, household goods and perhaps shelter. Assistance can be provided to people affected in cash or in kind.

There is no automatic entitlement to these payments. Each application is determined on the particular circumstances of the case. In assessing income, consideration is given as to whether a person is in receipt of a social welfare or HSE payment or to the gross household income with allowance made as appropriate under normal supplementary welfare allowance means assessments. This Department's role in response to the flooding primarily involves supporting the community welfare service in the provision of exceptional needs and urgent needs funding in the short term and other supports, where applicable, to cater for the long-term effects of the flooding. Any support given relates to damage to a person's home or loss of essential items. It does not extend to business or commercial losses. Local community welfare officers are available to provide assistance on an individual basis where that is warranted. Any person who is experiencing hardship should contact his or her local community welfare office.

The two community welfare officers in the area are aware of the situation in Gweedore as they both live locally. However, they have not as yet been asked to provide assistance to any individuals affected by the flooding. My understanding, from discussing the situation with the community welfare staff in the area, is that the damage incurred is mainly structural to businesses, and structural damage to a number of roads and bridges has also occurred. A number of water facilities may also have been damaged. The community welfare officers have also stated that a number of representatives from Donegal County Council have been examining the situation and are due to visit Gweedore again this evening to assess the damage and report back to their parent Department.

I can assure the House that the Office of Public Works will continue to work in partnership with Donegal County Council to try to alleviate the risk of future flooding in Gweedore and the surrounding areas. I will conclude by again expressing my sympathy to the victims of the flooding in Gweedore and the surrounding areas and assuring them of the Government's support for the work that is already under way to provide reassurance to them in regard to risk in the future.

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