Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Harris, is well aware of the impact of recent floods in County Clare on the lives and livelihoods of many people. Their lives have been seriously disrupted through the flooding of their homes, the battle to keep water out of their homes, the total submergence of farmlands and the impact on livestock. All this ultimately impacts on the profitability of those farms. Business premises have been flooded and roads have been rendered impassable. These roads have been inundated with water and this has impacted on the ability of some to get to work and their children to school.

I am sure the Minister of State is familiar with a number of the sites which have been flooded. Around Scarriff Harbour, the MacNamaras have been flooded. In O'Callaghansmills, a number of families have been cut off. This is happening on an annual basis. The Clonlara-Springfield area has been impacted by the increased flooding of the River Shannon and the levels maintained by the ESB have been of the greatest concern in the county. This has impacted on the lives of many people. In Mullagh, a bridge was swept away, cutting off four or five families. In and around Ennis, the Tullow Road area is under pressure as is Kildysart Cross. The Minister of State will have seen the iconic pictures of St. Flannan's College, which has been flooded again. The Rowan Tree café, notwithstanding the flood defences in place, has again suffered some flooding. Ballyvaughan and Kilkee and other places to a lesser extent have also suffered. Roads and lands have been impacted and lives and livelihoods are affected.

I am sure the Minister of State is aware, if he has spoken to his predecessors, that it is customary for the Minister to visit the sites, review the damage, offer some complimentary words, talk to people and listen. The Minister of State is always welcome in County Clare but I appeal to him on this occasion to hold off on his visit. He should leave it a while - until he has concrete solutions in place - because this is not the first time for those who have been impacted on this occasion. In some cases, it is not the second, third or fourth time. It has happened on numerous occasions.

Their patience is running out. A delegation of politicians in suits walking through what ultimately will be a flooded area in a week or so would only add to their dismay. They want solutions. The Minister of State's time would be better spent sitting with officials and engineers to identify solutions and how they would be paid for.

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