Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious that we are speaking about a situation which continues to evolve. At present, people are experiencing the ravages of the storms which continue to hit our country. There has been a whole-of-Government response to this matter from the outset. The very first person to come to Limerick in order to see what was happening there was Mr. Sean Hogan, who is present in the Chamber and who is chairman of the national emergency co-ordination unit. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, his Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, also visited Limerick. The people of the city took heart from this timely response and from the visit from the President in recent days. The courage and solidarity shown by individuals and communities cannot be overemphasised. I witnessed a real coming together of people and all involved are to be hugely commended.

I take this opportunity to comment on the co-ordinated response of the emergency services, the local authority, HSE staff, community welfare officers from the Department of Social Protection, the Irish Red Cross and others to the current crisis. Many different individuals have come together in order to respond to what is happening. I saw one community welfare officer and a social worker from the local council walking around together and knocking on people's doors. I met a public health nurse who literally arrived on scene, introduced herself and asked what she could do to help. Local health services, should they be required, have been put at the disposal of the local community welfare office. The co-ordinated response is ongoing.

I wish to emphasise that immediate assistance is available. Deputy Martin stated that it is taking a long time for help to be forthcoming but community welfare officers are responding immediately and they have already paid out money. In addition, supplies that are urgently required have already been provided. Steps will be taken to ensure that people can replace floor coverings etc., which have been destroyed. Contrary to what some have stated, there is assistance available for those who do not have insurance and who are working. An average family comprising one or two parents and two children can earn up to €70,000 a year and still qualify for support from community welfare officers. We must get the message out that there is help available. In the community in which I live, an information office has been opened at the offices of Limerick Regeneration in the King's Island community centre. In addition, those who are not in receipt of social welfare payments or dependent on the State will have access to the Red Cross fund. One of the most important things we can do at this point is to provide people with information on what is available.

As the Minister of State with particular responsibility for housing and planning, I wish to state that I have ongoing contact with the relevant individuals in respect of regeneration in the Limerick area in particular. In that context, my officials will be meeting representatives from Limerick Regeneration tomorrow. The threat of flooding in the King's Island area of the city was a key factor when the regeneration implementation plan was being designed. Contact with the relevant people is ongoing in terms of whether we need to address the current difficulties in the context of the planning of regeneration. Some significant changes have come about in the area of planning. For example, flood plains are now mapped and development in such areas is forbidden. In addition, local authorities are taking a much more sustainable approach to planning. This is supported at national level by means of a range of policy directives. In circumstances where local plans diverge from the best planning advice available, I have clearly stated my intention to exercise my powers to intervene. In the past two years I have used those powers on four occasions. In the previous decade they were only invoked eight times.

We have major challenges to overcome as a result of the decades of under-investment in flood prevention. The Minister of State with responsibility in the area, Deputy Brian Hayes, has been doing a huge amount of work in that regard. We have also changed planning practices in order to ensure that additional threats will not be created in the future. We have a major job to do in the context of protecting those communities that are vulnerable to flooding. This is an ongoing problem which the Government is addressing.

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