John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on the floods, storms and surging tides that have caused havoc across the country in recent weeks. Massive damage has been done to homes, commercial property and infrastructure. We are all aware of home owners, business people and farmers who are counting the costs of the recent storms and high tides. As a representative of Wexford, which has 90 miles of coastline and has experienced substantial flooding problems over the years, it is only natural that I would say a few words on this issue.

I join the previous speaker in thanking all the gardaí, ESB workers, firemen, Civil Defence members and others who have worked long hours in recent weeks, often through the night, to try to protect people's homes and properties and ensure the damage inflicted was kept to a minimum. I come from Enniscorthy, which has had regular flooding for many years, so I am aware of the damage flooding can inflict and the trauma it can cause for families and households. Three or four years ago, some €40 million was ring-fenced for flood defence works in Enniscorthy. It has not yet been spent because of difficulties with politicians and councillors who did not like the types of walls and flood defences that were proposed by the OPW. I suggest it is time they spent the €40 million and got on with the work. I ask the Minister to confirm that the funds in question are still ring-fenced for the Enniscorthy flood relief scheme. While the town avoided the flowing of water over the edges of the river in recent weeks, it came very close on many occasions. People were living in fear and in dread. It is not right that the money has been provided but not spent. I emphasise that this is not the fault of the Government or the Minister. The reason the money has not been spent to date lies at local level.

The Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, spoke about New Ross with particular reference to the Marshmeadows area of the town. The Minister, Deputy Hogan, breezed into the town last Saturday morning with an entourage of Ministers, councillors and local election candidates. He must have ran out of diesel because he did not travel any further than New Ross. He did not pay a visit to the rest of County Wexford. There have been major problems in Courtown, Cahore, Kilmore Quay and other parts of the county. While I welcome the Minister's visit to New Ross, I suggest that his failure to visit people in other parts of County Wexford who are also suffering as a result of this serious situation was a slight on the rest of the county. Approximately 500 people are employed by the 16 companies that operate in the Marshmeadows area of New Ross, which has flooded on many occasions. I hope some of the moneys that have been announced by the Minister today will be used to protect businesses and jobs in New Ross. It is obvious that a flood protection barrier needs to be installed at the fringes of New Ross beyond the Marshmeadows business area to protect that area in future. It has flooded on a regular basis in recent times. I cannot understand why a ship was allowed up the harbour into New Ross at the height of the flooding problems that were being endured by business people in the Marshmeadows area. I do not know what the harbourmaster was doing, but the decision to allow the ship to travel up the river caused a tsunami of water to be released into an area that was already flooded. In future, arrangements should be made to ensure ships are held outside the harbour until the floods have subsided. The decision to allow this ship to travel through New Ross certainly added to the problems that were being encountered in the Marshmeadows area of New Ross.

Last week, I raised on Topical Issues the problems being faced by fishermen. The fishermen in Courtown are unable to get in or out of the harbour at present because of silting and the damage to the local pier. The fishermen in Kilmore Quay have not fished for weeks because of the damage to their equipment. Those with smaller boats are particularly affected. I welcome the Minister's announcement today that he intends to make some moneys available to the pot fishermen, as this is an important industry in Kilmore Quay and throughout the south east. These fishermen have told me they have no money at all. While I welcome the 40% allocation for replacement gear that has been announced by the Minister, I am concerned that it is inadequate in the case of fishermen who have not fished since before Christmas and are currently seeking social welfare and other payments to keep going. They are certainly not going to be in a position to come up with the 60% funding that will be required for the replacement of pots. I think the Minister should look at this again. He has come part of the way, but he needs to go further to ensure these people are able to replace the pots that were lost, repair the damage that was done to small boats and replace the other equipment that was lost from their boats during the recent storms. I ask the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to give serious consideration to increasing the allocation that has been made available.

I have seen a Wexford County Council report which estimates that the cost of repairing harbours and piers and doing coastal protection works will be €7 million. That estimate was drawn up before today's storm and a further storm is promised for tomorrow. Given that this figure relates to just one county, it is clear that a great sum will be sought from all local authorities to deal with this issue. I question again the Government's failure to make the case for funding at EU level.

In 2009 the Government was allocated approximately €13 million to address the problems of flooding. Surely now given that the damage is now on a larger scale, we should be able to seek funding from the European Union Solidarity Fund as that is why it was set up. As a member of the European Union it is appropriate that we would seek such funding. I recently read that the fund had contributed to 56 disasters covering a range of different events, including storm damage, since it was established in 2002. This is an ideal opportunity for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, who has travelled the country, to go to Brussels and ensure we get funding from Europe to top up the funding the Government is making available.

Coastal protection is an area that seems to have been forgotten in recent years. There always used to be an allocation of money for coastal protection with large rocks installed to protect the beach line. However, this has not happened in recent years. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle had an uncle based for many years in Castletown just south of Arklow. From there right down to Bannow Bay, County Wexford has a coastline of 70 to 90 miles where huge tracts of lands have been washed into the sea in recent weeks. I know EU officials will argue that it is cheaper to let it fall into the sea than to protect it. However, Castletown, Courtown, Morriscastle, Curracloe and Rosslare are all tourism areas with hoteliers and businesspeople who depend on tourism for a living. It is very important that these areas be protected. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, should seek funding from the EU for coastal protection to protect areas of high importance for tourism.

While we welcome the money that the Government has allocated, I do not believe it is enough to meet the needs and the demands of local authorities this week and next week. If we could get money from Europe to top it up, it would then go some way towards meeting the needs.

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