Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

All Deputies want to thank the emergency services for the Trojan work carried out last night by Dublin City Council, the Defence Forces in Wicklow today, Civil Defence and the Garda Síochána in particular, despite the fact that we all have criticisms.

Will the Minister of State convene the national emergency team to examine specifically the national emergency plans to see what went wrong yesterday because if nothing else, we need to learn? Is it appropriate that it is the local authority that declares an emergency of that scale? The local authority has failed on a number of occasions in Dublin, but not only in Dublin where the local authority has not acted as quickly as we would like and as we presume it is able.

It is a sad day for the HSE and the Filipino community who have lost a worker and the Garda who has lost a colleague, Garda Ciaran Jones. It is also a sad day for many other households and businesses, many of which are in my area and in areas affected by rivers which are culverted and some of which are open but which have not flooded for many decades. While I hope it a once in a lifetime event, I ask the Minister of State to liaise with the local authorities specifically to carry out a survey of culverted rivers in the city to ascertain if they contain material which is causing blockages. Much dumping has taken place in recent years on some of those rivers. If they were clear perhaps that would lessen the problem for some people.

Given what Deputy Timmins and others have said, a survey of the bridges and riverbanks should be carried out. There is a need to ensure they are safe to cross. We recall the problem when the railway track fell in at Portmarnock and it was only spotted by the scouts. We do not want that to happen. Surveys must be undertaken immediately.

Does the Minister of State agree that the problem is exacerbated by the constrained budget, in particular of Dublin City Council? I have been informed that in recent times the clearing of gullies has been reduced at this time of year from once a week to once a month which means that much of the drainage in Dublin was blocked and caused the road flooding which made them impassable. The other factor relating to costs and the constrained budget of Dublin City Council is the fact that we are operating in the city with a reduced number of staff in the fire brigade. Its numbers are reduced by 60 to 70 people because of a recruitment ban. If the positions had been filled then up to 70 extra people would have been available to help with the situation or answer the telephones yesterday.

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