Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As we speak, over 280,000 homes throughout the country are without electricity. Many thousands of people are living in fear. I compliment the members of the emergency services and local authority, ESB and the staff of other organisations who are working to assist people. I particularly wish to compliment the voluntary bodies which have provided assistance in recent weeks. I commend those in the Civil Defence - for which I, as Minister of State at the Department of Defence, have responsibility - on the work they have done.

I live in a county, Wexford, that has been severely affected by the bad weather experienced in recent weeks. The county's coastline measures over 200 km, some 110 km of which is in the form of beaches, and it has been completely battered during the past six to eight weeks. I am glad that some of the Members opposite decided not to blame the Government for the bad weather and placed that fact on the record of the House. We tend to get the blame for everything else. The Government is going to be obliged to provide funding in order to ensure that flood defences will be put in place along our coastline. I am conscious of the fact that Wexford is only one county and when one considers what has happened in other places such as Cork, Kerry, Clare and Galway, one realises that the people in one's constituency could be much worse off.

On the Monday before last when they were opening up for the day, business owners in New Ross suddenly found their premises inundated by up to 1 m of water in the space of 30 minutes to an hour. I refer here to businesses such as Sidney Car Sales, Sid's Diner and Hennessy's garage, which are located along the quay side out towards Marshmeadows. I was informed by those who witnessed what happened that it was similar to the impact of a tsunami. Millions of euro worth of damage was done in under an hour. I was delighted when the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, visited New Ross on Saturday morning last in order to see the damage that had been done.

Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan referred to the fact that businesses cannot obtain flood insurance. What has happened in recent months is going to have a severe impact on a huge number of businesses, particularly as they will not be able to obtain such insurance. Even though I sit at the Cabinet table, I appeal to the Government and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, to give consideration to this extremely serious issue. I request that the Minister raise it with the insurance industry because this is not simply a commercial matter for businesses. We should consider what happens in the UK, the US and elsewhere if businesses are unable to obtain flood insurance. I am sure Ireland is not the only country in the world where businesses are unable to take out this type of insurance. I am of the view that businesses must be catered for in this regard. A huge numbers of businesses in New Ross have been informed by their insurance companies that they will be unable to avail of flood insurance going forward.

Deputy Browne, who is sitting opposite, lives in Enniscorthy, which was very lucky on this occasion that it did not experience the type of severe flooding which occurred elsewhere. I hope the money that has been ring-fenced by the OPW for the flood relief programme in Enniscorthy will be used to ensure that the relevant plans, which are at a very advanced stage, will be proceeded with and that construction work will commence at some point. Millions of euro are due to be invested on the flood relief scheme for the town. I spoke to many people who own businesses along the banks of the River Slaney - such as the Riverside Park Hotel - and in Enniscorthy town and they informed me that they are depending on the proposed flood relief scheme proceeding. I would like the scheme to be given the go-ahead.

As already stated, I live in a coastal county. There are many fishing villages there - including Kilmore and Kilmore Quay - and the fishermen who live in them have almost been put out of business because the bad weather is preventing them from doing what they do best. I refer in particular to those who own small vessels and to fishing families. These people have had not had any income coming in since early December. A huge number of those to whom I refer are lobster fishermen. In conjunction with Deputy Harrington, who lives in west Cork, I raised this issue with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, and he looked favourably upon the request we made of him. Thousands of euro worth of damage has been done to lobster pots in Wexford and west Cork. The fishing families to which I refer cannot invest in their businesses because of a lack of income in the past two to three months. I hope the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine will put in place some form of a scheme of compensation for lobster fishermen.

On Monday last, Wexford County Council gave permission for the reconstruction of an embankment in New Ross close to some of the business premises to which I referred earlier that were flooded. This was a major job because the embankment runs almost all the way into New Ross town. Those who were carrying out the work were visited by representatives from either the National Parks and Wildlife Service or some environmental organisation who tried to prevent them from proceeding. This is a very serious matter and either we try to prevent business premises from being flooded or we try to protect the birds and the bees. There is a need for people to get real, particularly in the aftermath of what has happened in recent weeks. Millions of euro worth of damage was done along a mile or two of land in New Ross and local people tried to rebuild the embankment by the river. As stated, representatives from some organisation tried to stop them from completing their work. People must understand that work of this nature must be done and that there will be further investment in the area of New Ross to which I refer. Environmental organisations must get real and allow those engaged in the construction of temporary flood defences to do their work.

I understand that we have not seen the end of the bad weather and that more is expected. I visited Tacumshin Lake near Kilmore on Monday last.

Thousands of euro was expended on building a sluice gate to drain parts of the lake. This is to prevent other land adjoining the lake from flooding. The sluice has been completely blocked up by a sand bank which was washed in. Officials from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht visited the site on Tuesday morning. It will not cost significant money but it will cost in time for diggers to move the sand. Over 800 acres of land can be drained once the sluice is unblocked and allowed to do its work.

I hope the OPW and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, will be in a position to compensate the real victims in Cork, Kerry and Galway. My heart goes out to these families whose homes have been destroyed. Climate change is a huge issue which has to be taken seriously.

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