John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

With regard to water infrastructure, I spoke directly to the managers in Cork on Friday evening and Saturday morning on the issue of the plant on Lee Road. I confirm that any damage that must be repaired will be dealt with and we will work with the local authorities in that regard. The Deputy's suggestion to have two sources of supply is constructive. However, these issues must be addressed in the context of the forthcoming adaptation plan we hope to publish in 2010.

Both I and the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, must consider the question of the ESB and flood risk from dams. This is something we will have to consider in the assessment. The Deputy was out of the Chamber earlier when I complimented him on how he put on record the situation with regard to the ESB-Inniscarra station. In any assessment we do, we will have to look at the situation there and find out how we can avoid any further situations such as we have currently. Sometimes, no matter how well we plan and try to prepare for all contingencies, events such as we have had and the kind of rainfall we experienced make this difficult.

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