Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is a state of emergency and must be declared as such. The Minister of State, Deputy Hayes will be in Cork and Kerry today and tomorrow. He will be visiting my home town of Youghal tomorrow morning and I intend to meet him there. Youghal has been flooded three times already this year. While we welcome his visit, we need more than just photo opportunities and words of comfort. We need to hear about the Government's action plan and we need to see the immediate benefits of that plan.

Does the Tánaiste accept that the Government's response to what is now an emergency has been at best lethargic, if not completely hands-off? It has taken the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, weeks to make a statement before the House and the lack of coherent leadership from him and other senior Ministers has been nothing short of appalling.

Have community welfare officers been instructed to give immediate financial aid to families whose belongings have been destroyed?

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