Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Farming is a business to many people. Will the farmers who have suffered savage losses in recent days be accommodated? Many people are going to have to relocate. Do we have confidence that we will have homes for them to relocate to, given the serious housing shortage at present? Can we guarantee the families who have to relocate that they are going to have a home for Christmas? Friday two weeks from now will be Christmas Day. Some people are going to have to move out over Christmas. Can we guarantee the position for them?

I was meeting people quietly last night. People were asking questions about supports. As far as they were aware, no community welfare officer was going from house to house yesterday. Perhaps it started today, but I am unsure. Anyway, we need to ensure that applications are taken now and processed without delay.

There is a necessity for new schemes. We are waiting on a report that is going to confirm what we already know, in other words, where there are serious difficulties with flooding. We need to ensure that action is taken now for the sake of the people who have gone through this terrible ordeal in 2009 and who are going through a terrible ordeal now. It seems the corncrake is dictating what is happening at a time when houses are being flooded. We need to prioritise and ensure that we do not have a situation where €14.5 million allocated for flood relief measures remains unspent at a time when houses are going underwater.

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