Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

I do not believe this is only about money. We must acknowledge that the local authority in Dublin city is no longer the correct responsible authority to deal with emergency responses in this city. Deputy Costello has already alluded to the lack of response from the local council last night. I can only outline my own experience. I tried to telephone officials at 9 p.m. last night but the emergency response number for the city council was down. When I managed to get somebody on their private mobile phone, they were not even aware that the number was down. I went onto the website but there was no indication that the number was down, nor was there any indication of the road closures or transport disruptions that had been occurring in the city for approximately four hours.

When I went to Gordon Street with Councillor Kieran Binchy, I found Deputy Humphreys there helping residents to sandbag their homes. I did not see any council officials. I learned that the flooding of those homes could have been averted had the council acted more quickly, but at that stage it had not acted at all. I commend Deputy Humphreys for what he did. The people there owe him a debt of gratitude for the effort he put in. It was something to see.

I then went to Newbridge Avenue to see the flood defence walls along the Dodder. The floodgates were still open, although it was between 9.30 p.m. and 10 p.m. The residents and fire crews were trying to close them and when they did, they found they could not lock them because they did not have the correct keys. When the council officials arrived, they did not have them either. We can spend all the money in the world, and we have spent €3 million on the flood defence wall on this stretch of the Dodder, but that type of incompetence renders flood defences meaningless and useless. The local authority must hold up its hands and explain why those gates were not closed. People telephoned Dublin City Council in the afternoon to recommend that they be closed as a precautionary measure, but that did not happen.

Businesses in this city pay rates; in Dublin, 25% of the businesses nationally pay 50% of the total amount of rates to local authorities. Is the local authority the correct authority to protect their properties and businesses in this regard? Can we turn to home owners and ask them to pay rates to a council that cannot protect their properties? I realise the Minister cannot answer these questions directly but it is incredibly important that the local authority does. I believe its representatives should appear before an Oireachtas committee and answer these questions. If they have explanations, they should give them and if they do not, they should put their hands up. I recommend that the Minister consider a proper emergency response plan for this city, one that does not fall to the responsibility of the local authority in the city.

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