Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

County Galway tonight resembles a big, wet sock. It is dripping all over the place and we have 100 roads blocked across the county. This has never happened before. The one thing that is vital, be it €10 million, €20 million or €30 million, the people who need it most must get that help quickly. I agree with Deputy Ulick Burke that the Red Cross did an outstanding job ten years ago and I see no reason not to pull it into the equation.

I cannot understand where the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was. We saw the Taoiseach, we saw the Minister of State, Deputy Martin Mansergh, and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, but there was no sign of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. As far as the farming community is concerned, it is time to stop farm inspections so these people can get out to evaluate how bad the fodder situation so those who need to get fodder to keep their cattle going can apply to some scheme or other.

For those people in Ballinasloe who have never seen anything like the flooding tonight, the Government must ensure that those householders without insurance are given immediate access to whatever fund is set up.

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