Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The year 2013 will be fondly remembered in County Clare following the historic All-Ireland success of our hurlers. Last year also brought a summer of brilliant sunshine, with many tourists holidaying on the Banner County's north and west coasts. While 2014 may also prove to be a successful year for our hurlers, it will definitely be remembered for the trail of havoc and destruction caused by Storms Christine and Brigid and the current Storm Darwin. Extremely high tides, combined with gale force winds and torrential rain, have caused mayhem to homes, villages, businesses and communities on the north and west coasts of County Clare. Significant urgent works are required to rebuild flood defences and to incorporate new flood protections, including the construction of sea walls to protect homes that have been left vulnerable, such as at Cloughaninchy in Quilty.

Vast stretches of costal roads have been broken up, damaged, undermined and, in some cases, swept away. A prime example of a most vulnerable road in the wake of the storms is the R478 regional road through Liscannor, which provides access to the Cliffs of Moher where 950,000 people visited last year. Its foundation has been severely undermined by the sea and there is a justifiable fear in Liscannor that it could collapse. Immediate action is required to safeguard the public from the road's dangers. The public road at Kilbaha has been closed in recent days, which is a major inconvenience for residents. It must be re-opened without delay. It forms part of the Wild Atlantic Way and must be brought up to standard at the earliest opportunity.

The damage has to be seen to be believed. A number of weeks ago, the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, visited County Clare to view the devastation at first hand. He spent the entire day getting properly briefed by the Clare senior engineer, Mr. Tom Tiernan, the Kilrush area engineer, Mr. Cyril Feeney, and the north Clare area engineer, Mr. Steve Lahiff. The Minister of State saw damaged piers, footpaths, walls, bridges, railings, lighting and promenades that were all in need of repair and investment. This work is required in areas such as New Quay, Doolin, Liscannor, Lahinch, Quilty, Doonbeg, Carrigaholt, Kilbaha, Ross Bay and into the Shannon Estuary at Kildysart, Ballynacally and Clarecastle along with an inland community at Dooras in O'Callaghan's Mills, east Clare.

I compliment the Clare county manager, Mr. Tom Coughlan, Clare's senior engineer, Mr. Tiernan, local area engineers and the outdoor staff of Clare County Council on their work. The emergency services, including the Coast Guard and fire services, were on hand throughout the storms and in their aftermath and deserve particular credit. Similar credit is due to ordinary concerned people who helped their communities and their neighbours by turning out in great numbers and getting involved in the clean­up operation.

The initial storm damage report as presented by Clare County Council documents the scale of the devastation and puts a total cost of €23.7 million on the works. A subsequent report following Storm Brigid has brought that total to €38.6 million. As we speak, considerable storm damage is being inflicted in County Clare, with Shannon Airport closed, reports of a truck having overturned coming off the Ennis bypass, damage to the roof of Coláiste Mhuire in Ennis, fallen trees and telephone poles and widescale ESB outages.

I welcome the provision of the €70 million announced yesterday by the Government to deal with the damage that took place in the first set of storms. It is clear following the February storm, Storm Brigid, and the current Storm Darwin that additional funding is required. Clare County Council has sought an extra €13 million for essential works. I ask that further funding be made available in response to the damage caused by subsequent storms.

My first concern in this debate is for people who have been displaced from their homes in, for example, Cloughaninchy in Quilty, for homes that have been exposed to sea water for the first time in living memory, for example, in Liscannor and Doonbeg, and for people who have been cut off from their communities, for example, in Kilbaha, Carrigaholt and Dooras. These communities are living in fear of the next high tide and the next storm. As anyone can understand, people are justifiably worried for their children and for the homes in which they have invested so much.

County Clare is dependent on tourism and it is important that work on repairing the unprecedented damage to Lahinch, New Quay, Liscannor and the Loop Head Peninsula can begin in time for the forthcoming summer season. The farming community has also suffered greatly, with hundreds of acres of land flooded in Ballynacally, Kildysart, Kilbaha, Carrigaholt and Doonbeg. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, visited County Clare last Friday to see the damage. It is important that special dispensation from inspections for single farm payments and agri-environment options scheme, AEOS, payments be given to farmers in affected areas. Large tracts of land are now under water along the Fergus Estuary at Ballynacally and Kildysart, where banks have been breached and breached again following temporary works completed by the farming community. There is a requirement to protect these lands, as they support the livelihoods of those who farm them.

The second phase of the flood relief scheme in Ennis is nearing completion and, to date, has withstood rising waters, proving that investment in flood defence works. I want to raise the need to progress to construction this year the St. Flannan's and Ballybeg flood relief scheme in Ennis. It is at an advanced stage of planning, having received planning permission from An Board Pleanála and with a cost-benefit analysis recently submitted by Clare County Council to the OPW. As we speak, temporary pumps are keeping water away from homes in the Ballybeg and Kildysart Road areas of Ennis and Clarecastle. This is unsustainable. It is important that this scheme be given final approval and that it move to construction in the coming months.

In addition to Exchequer funding and given the sheer scale of the devastation along the western seaboard, it is clear that an application will have to be made for aid from the EU through the scheme for extraordinary regional disasters. While the threshold for access to the main EU Solidarity Fund may be high with prospects of little return, it is important that we draft a regional application for the western seaboard. Discussions should commence immediately with the EU with a view to drawing up such an application.

Significant costs are associated with delivering a comprehensive schedule of works to deal with the damage caused by these natural disasters, to rebuild flood defences and to incorporate new ones in order to protect homes, businesses and land, together with rebuilding roads and public infrastructure. It is important that this work commence at the earliest opportunity so that people can get on with their lives and County Clare can bounce back from these devastating storms.

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