Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I join other Members in showing solidarity with the people throughout the country who have been affected by the flooding. Deputy O'Brien spoke about the people in Cork city, who have been affected by this on a number of occasions, and Deputy Kitt referred to the people in south Galway. I pay tribute to the efforts of the emergency services, the people in the local authorities, the staff of eircom and the ESB who restored power and communications, the Army, whose personnel helped people who had to leave their homes, the Civil Defence and all the volunteers. I also welcome the Government's timetable for dealing with this.

We should also remember our neighbours in the UK who have probably been worse affected than us. Amazingly, along the Thames valley and the south of England, people are still out of their homes in the towns and villages. We should also note the political row that developed in the UK between Ministers in the government who were dealing with the flooding. The UK Environment Agency received much of the blame. The agency had reduced its staff to low levels over a number of years. There is a warning in that for other countries, that if one reduces the manning levels in the emergency services and there is a catastrophe, storm or serious flooding but one does not have the resources to deal with it, people will be out of their homes and their homes will be under water for long periods of time.

The Clontarf seafront promenade, along the area between Alfie Byrne Road and the Wooden Bridge, is in the Dublin Bay North constituency. It has been subject to flooding in recent years but, thankfully, on this occasion there was no flooding, even though the high tide on 3 January was the highest for 100 years. I pay tribute to the city engineer in Dublin City Council, Michael Phillips, and his staff. They devised a one tonne sandbag and built a wall with them along the seafront. It prevented the seafront from being flooded, which was amazing. Previously, the council was using the smaller sandbags, which had a tendency to disappear very quickly, but it is very hard to take a one tonne sandbag and walk away with it.

Nevertheless, there is a need for a permanent flood defence scheme in Clontarf. The previous scheme proposed the construction of an embankment, which did not meet with local approval. People like to have their view and to enjoy the amenities. A working group has been set up by the city council, local residents, businesses and local councillors to examine how to devise a permanent flood defence system to prevent flooding. In the meantime, however, Dublin City Council has safeguarded the area.

We must recognise that climate change is happening, although some people are in denial. I recall the film, "An Inconvenient Truth", produced by the unsuccessful former American presidential candidate. The inconvenient truth has come true.

Sea levels are rising. The polar ice cap is melting and we must come up with measures to deal with that. Some of the solutions might not be very popular, in particular in areas that are subject to permanent flooding. We must progress the climate change Bill. We must ensure that we reduce carbon emissions, which might mean people will have to consider using public transport instead of driving around in their cars. It might also mean lifestyle changes. Nevertheless, the problem is a global one and that must recognised. When disasters such as flooding events happen – they are happening more frequently and recurring more frequently also – it reminds us of the urgency with which we must address the issue. We must enact the climate change Bill and put measures in place to address such issues in the future.

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