John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I will cut to the chase. I echo the sense of admiration and team work of the emergency services. I acknowledge the fact that the Ministers and the Taoiseach have visited the affected areas. I was concerned when the Taoiseach remarked earlier on inquires made in Europe. The Minister of State, Deputy Martin Mansergh, has indicated an application has been made to Europe. I spoke with Mr. Jim Higgins, MEP, this evening and I understand he, Ms Marian Harkan, MEP, and Pat The Cope Gallagher, MEP, met with EU Commissioner with responsibility for regional development in Strasbourg. I call on the Minister to confirm this is taking place now or will take place later, to confirm whether senior officials will come here to see the areas affected and if they are willing to work with the Government to alleviate the problems.

In the mid-1990s there was help from Europe on a localised scale for Gort. A European solution is very important in this case. I concur with the remarks of Deputy Neville. We have said this must never happen again but there have been floods in my constituency, including south Mayo, Crossmolina, Mulrany and Westport, as recently as this summer. The people there still await measures for flood protection and await hope of compensation or for studies to be done on what needs to be done. We must not make these mistakes again. I call on the Minister to confirm in his concluding remarks whether Europe will help. We voted "Yes" for the Lisbon treaty, we need help from Europe now and we need a signal from the Government that we will get the required help.

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