Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Martin for his comments. This is an ongoing situation and it is not the first time it has happened. On behalf of everybody in the House, I empathise with those whose homes and businesses have been devastated by the impact of serious flooding and those involved in agriculture whose lands have been flooded, causing difficulties for the movement and feeding of stock and so on. We should also express our sympathy to the family of the late Ivan Vaughan, who was caught in the flood waters in Caledon, County Tyrone.

Most areas are on high alert. The River Shannon is slow moving and it takes a number of days for the situation to evolve. Ballina was on high alert because people feared that high tide and surging waters would result in the river walls being breached, although that did not happen. Rainfall for November was more than 50% above average and the Office of Public Works reported that many rivers were at bank level before the rainfall started on Friday. November was a wet month in many areas and the ground was exceptionally saturated. One fifth of the country drains through the River Shannon. It is expected that the lower estuary will be in spate and flood later this week. Further episodes of rain and wind are forecast and there may well be further instances and episodes of flooding. Experience indicates that the waters will not recede for days, weeks and, in some cases, months. Local authorities and supporting agencies remain on high alert in terms of response, and the national co-ordination committee meets again today to discuss threat assessments at national level.

In the past 20 years, Governments invested €410 million in flood relief schemes. In comparison, more than €430 million will be spent on managing flood risk in the coming six years as part of the capital programme that has been set out. This will fund schemes that are either under construction or at design stage, with flood relief works to be carried out in various locations. Flood relief schemes in Mallow, Fermoy, Clonmel and other areas have been successful, although weather may dictate heavier rainfall at different times in these towns.

I met the chairman of the national co-ordination group yesterday to receive a report and discussed the matter with the Minister for Defence, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris. The Government also considered the matter at today's Cabinet meeting and a number of actions were taken immediately. The Department of Social Protection has in place a humanitarian fund of €10 million for homes that have been affected by flooding. This funding was sanctioned by the Government in 2012 but was not drawn down. It is available for emergency assistance and will be deployed. Community welfare officers are calling to homes in towns that were flooded, including Crossmolina and Bandon. Staff from the Department of Social Protection are on the ground in the affected areas and a three-stage process is in place for immediate relief. The first stage involves determining whether a house is habitable, the second involves providing cash to meet basic requirements, and the third is a longer-term assessment of the house once the flood waters have been pumped out or removed.

This morning, the Government allocated €5 million to be distributed as emergency assistance to small businesses that have suffered flood damage and which, through no fault of their own, were unable to take out flood insurance. I expect that assessments will take place in the coming days with a view to making arrangements to provide whatever assistance can be given in the immediate future.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has introduced a number of measures to deal with the movement of animals from flooded land, to sensitively take into account flood damage when carrying out farm inspections, and in respect of making arrangements for the transportation of slurry from flooded slurry tanks. The Government will receive a full report this week and again at its meeting next week on the damage and scale of what has taken place, including in respect of roads, bridges and other structures that have not yet been assessed, in the same way as when major storms hit just a few years ago.

I again empathise with people facing difficulties only a few weeks before Christmas. The immediate response is as I have outlined for Deputy Martin.

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