Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I know the part of the city the Deputy represents very well and he correctly outlined the extensive flooding that has occurred there over many years. In the first instance it is the responsibility of Dublin City Council to make applications to the OPW in respect of works it believes must be done. I will convey immediately to Dublin City Council the Deputy's comments about the scale of works that he believes need to be done because it is clear this is an annual problem.

We will look sympathetically on any application but I make the point to all Deputies that where an application comes in to the OPW, it is assessed on one simple criterion, namely, the impact of building a wall or doing some drainage works. If we believe that value comes from the expenditure of money on that we will make that decision. This scheme is open on a 24 hours, seven days basis throughout the year. Local authorities can apply to our Department for funds to deal with alleviative flood risk measures such as those I mentioned earlier.

I cannot answer the Deputy's question on sandbags not being made available. That is a matter for Dublin City Council in the first instance. If it knew such an event was forecast and its likely effect it should reply explaining the reason sandbags were not provided. That was unacceptable.

On the question of social welfare relief, the Minister may respond to that but in the first instance funding is provided through the social welfare system. The Government will look sympathetically on the need for additional funds to be provided but that must come from the agencies responsible for this area locally, namely, Dublin City Council. We will look upon that request sympathetically.

As to the future, already significant sums of money have been put into flood defences in the past eight years. We are working on the basis of the CFRAM studies, one of which is in the eastern area, but regarding Dublin city and particularly the low lying areas of Dublin city, significant funds have been put in already. More must be put in but as the local authorities produce schemes we will have them assessed and ensure those funds are made available where they can make a difference in these events. These are very significant events some of which occur once every 50 or 100 years. The total amount of rainfall last night was extraordinary but we will continue to respond as the applications arise.

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