Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank both Deputies for raising this matter and I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the subject of the flooding in Limerick city. As the House will be aware, I visited Limerick city yesterday to see the situation for myself and to meet with people whose homes had been flooded, and it was heartbreaking to see the devastation that was caused. The Minister, Deputy Noonan, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, and I, who were joined on that occasion by Deputy O'Donnell, assured the flood victims that support will be made available to them. I very much welcome the announcement earlier by the Taoiseach that an additional amount of €15 million in humanitarian aid is being made available by the Government to assist those affected. This will go some way towards dealing with the immediate financial needs of the people whose homes have been damaged.

I want to pay tribute to the tremendous efforts of the emergency response team, as both my colleagues have done, who put themselves in the front line in sometimes very dangerous conditions and whose dedication and skill helped to mitigate the very worst effects of the flooding event that occurred on Saturday morning. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking them personally for their work since this cycle of storms and flooding started. In addition, I would like to say that the community spirit, which came to the fore in Limerick city at the weekend, was heartening, with neighbours helping each other to deal with a situation that was very difficult. One of my abiding memories will be meeting a group of young men and women, a Civil Defence team, all under 18 years of age, who had been out over the weekend helping their fellow citizens. It was a fantastic sight to see the work of those young people.

The flooding levels reached in Limerick city at the weekend were the highest since the Office of Public Works, OPW, hydrometric section began recording data in the 1950s. Substantial flooding occurred at King's Island and at St. Mary's Park.

With the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputies Noonan and O'Sullivan, I visited the local co­ordination centre yesterday to assess the current situation and to offer appropriate help and assistance to the affected areas. It was agreed that works will commence straight away on the installation of a temporary barrier to adequately protect the island area from future flooding. I spoke this afternoon with the county manager and we have agreed that Limerick County Council will immediately begin putting in place this temporary measure, assisted and funded by the OPW. We want to see the work start immediately and both the manager and I agree that it will be started as soon as possible, funded by and with assistance from the OPW.

It was agreed also that the regeneration project for this area will proceed and that a permanent solution for flood protection of the island will be incorporated into the overall regeneration of the island. Limerick City and County Council will take the lead role and will be advised and funded by the OPW in regard to the flood relief elements of the works.

Some works have already been carried out to enhance flood defences in Limerick city. They date back to recent years and I will not go into them at this stage as I do not want to waste time.

The House will be aware that the interim report of the severe weather group was presented to Government on 13 January, which provided a preliminary estimate of the financial impact of the storm. A second report comprising updated and more detailed costings from affected local authorities on the storm damage and recent floods is being prepared, and the Government will respond accordingly when it examines that report. The Deputies should be aware that we have asked all the local authorities to submit reports by today. A memorandum will go to Government next week, 11 February, and as we have information from Limerick, Limerick's situation will be included in terms of the longer-term structural cost to homes, which I will deal with in a moment.

Obviously, what is needed in Limerick city, as in other parts of the Shannon, is to proceed with the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme and that plan is already under way. We have established the Shannon CFRAM study. Jacobs have been the consultants. They were appointed in January 2011.

Much has been done and much progress has been made in tackling flooding problems throughout the country. In the past ten years we have spent approximately €370 million but it is fair to say much more needs to be done. Can I have some indulgence, Sir, in answering the questions the Deputies asked because I think it only fair?

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