Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, who, as we know, is out of the country.

I wish to be associated with the comments of Deputy Cowen on how we should empathise with all those who have been seriously affected by the recent flooding and past flooding. We have seen footage of flooding that has affected homes, businesses and farms. I can only imagine how stressful it is for all those concerned. I agree with the Deputy on the various State agencies, local authorities, voluntary groups and the emergency response unit, which have responded, as always, in a very positive way to assist those in most need.

On Thursday, 3 December, a high wind and rainfall weather system was flagged by Met Éireann. This is the first time a red level warning, which is for rainfall in excess of 70 mm in a 24-hour period, has been issued since Met Éireann put the Meteoalarm warning system in place.

My Department has been assigned the lead departmental role for responding to a number of emergency scenarios, including severe weather and flooding. As a result of the Met Éireann warning, my Department asked the Office of Emergency Planning to convene a national co-ordination group. Since it was convened, last Thursday, the group, led by my Department, has been meeting routinely in the National Emergency Co-ordination Centre to assess the threat level based on the weather forecasts in addition to information on river levels and flood forecasts as part of a co-ordinated national response. On 4 December and 5 December, local authorities convened their severe weather assessment teams. These teams anticipated problem areas, based on Met Éireann's weather forecasts and OPW flood warnings received, and activated their crisis management and local co-ordination arrangements and responses. Protocols for inter-agency collaboration with An Garda Síochána and the HSE were also activated to co-ordinate the response. No major emergency was declared but severe weather emergency protocols are part of the major emergency plans in place in all the principal response agencies.

The entire outdoor staff of local authorities in the worst affected areas worked since Friday, with area engineers directing operations and fire services responding to life-threatening situations and incidents where pumping was appropriate. Local authorities have also mobilised their Civil Defence services. In Donegal alone, 97 volunteers were involved in supporting the local response. Other voluntary organisations, such as the Red Cross, Mountain Rescue and the Coast Guard unit, have also been mobilised to provide assistance at local level, as required. In addition, the Defence Forces were active at the request of the local authorities, and they have assisted communities from Cork to Donegal. They are currently heavily involved in assisting communities in Athlone and Clare.

Local authorities are continuing to monitor circumstances in areas regarded to be most at risk based on both forecasts and OPW warnings. Local authority crisis management teams will continue to manage and direct the overall response at local level and liaise with the national level bodies. The work of local authority area engineers and outdoor staff has continued where flooding threats remain.

My Department wrote to local authorities on 9 December asking them to compile an initial estimate of the damage caused to public infrastructure in their administrative areas as a result of the severe flooding. The information received from local authorities will form part of the report that the Minister will use to update the Cabinet on Tuesday.

With regard to communications between local authorities and residents in affected areas, there has been direct contact in many cases between local authority staff and residents in areas considered to be at risk of flooding. I note that the first priority of the local and national responding agencies is public safety, and local authorities have been using a number of methods to get public safety messages out to people in their areas. In addition to utilising social media, a number of local authorities have been issuing SMS texts directly to people in their functional area.

Local authorities are using the OPW's guidance messages on planning for responding to and recovering from flood events. They will continue to link and work with residents to protect their homes and will offer any assistance they can to residents who are making efforts to put mitigation measures in place. Local authorities also support the evacuation of residents where inundation cannot be avoided.

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