Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is well aware of this issue and I appreciate his response. A flood forum has been established, residents are in need of cover and insurance companies are not engaging, and meanwhile a recommendation has been made that a hydraulic analysis be undertaken on the river in question, but it is not going ahead. We cannot have a solution for the insurance companies until a hydraulic analysis is undertaken that could identify a long-term solution. We are in a classic catch-22 situation. Insurance companies are not engaging because they have a certain understanding of the risk. We would have a better understanding of the risk if the city council agreed to spend the €50,000 that was unanimously agreed to by every councillor in Dublin City Council, yet the city council is not willing to spend the money. Where do we go from here? The residents will stay in limbo and we cannot go anywhere with this. What are the long-term ramifications of this, not only for the particular street concerned, which obviously is of importance to me in my constituency, but across the city and country? When we establish a flood forum that identifies certain solutions, what power does it have and what changes can it make? If it just descends into being effectively a talking shop that gives information, people will quickly lose interest in it. They will lose faith in it and will stop engaging with it and they may take some other route which could be much more expensive for the local authority and for the OPW in the long term.

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