Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps Deputy Martin might like to say that at the weekend.

There is €430 million earmarked for flood defences, including in Deputy Martin's native city, by 2021. There is a €60 million plan to protect the Deputy and his people from tidal surges down there in that historic city. That will be the biggest single flood protection scheme in the history of the State.

As a country, we have to prepare ourselves for extreme weather and become more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Good progress has been made by the OPW on the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme. This includes 300 locations where flood defence measures are required. The programme is central to the assessment of flood risk, the planning of flood risk management and the subsequent implementation of flood mitigation measures. Following extensive public consultation, it will be finalised later in the year. The Shannon is central to this. Some 2,075 km of river have been modelled and 10,000 flood maps have been prepared by the OPW. Next week the River Shannon co-ordination group will meet again and terms of reference will be given to it. This group will draw on the full technical expertise of the OPW and co-ordinate the work of relevant bodies, from local level right through to Departments and other State agencies.

Work on the CFRAM programme will contribute to the new flood forecasting and warning service announced by the Government on 5 January. This involves really detailed capacity for longer-range, more accurate information for communities and agencies alike.

We must also ensure that the planning system gives sufficient consideration to flood risk. The OPW's CFRAM maps will be central to informing people of the risks of development on flood plains. It means more evidence and greater common sense must be applied to planning applications in the future.

The State's investment in new flood defences and its reform of planning will deliver benefits to local communities that have traditionally been affected by flooding. Yesterday, the Tánaiste and I, along with other Ministers, met the CEOs of the insurance sector to communicate the benefits of the new flood defence schemes. The meeting was constructive. We agreed that they should provide additional data on what they insure and reflect on the capacity of demountable defences to protect communities in urban areas, such as towns, where flood protection defences have been put in place. A broader review by the Department of Finance of options for insurance of properties in flood areas will take account of the outcome of the current phase of engagement with the sector, and will be published later in the year.

On Saturday last, I spent eight hours in south Galway. Clearly, the solutions are multifaceted. Some areas require channels for taking surface water from turlough to turlough. Others require engineering works to raise roads and to put protection ditches around businesses. One cannot have a situation in which farmers are distraught, in some cases, because their dairies are flooded and cattle are out in the field again. Others have had to move their cows, many of which are now in calving season, which puts a great deal of pressure on them. Clearly, in the small towns and villages I visited, people are distraught.

Obviously, we need a strong and growing economy in order to have the resources to invest in these matters. I would like to think that the Dáil, in a non-political sense, can set out its view of how we can deal with this over the longer term. I refer to the debate here on 30 June 1948. Only for it is so serious, one could say that it was a remark made by the late Deputy T. F. O'Higgins, who represented Laoighis-Offaly with great distinction, that brought a bit of levity to that debate. The late Deputy described how the river in Offaly had changed course and was now flowing down the road between Kinnitty and Kilcormac. He said that the young children were fishing on the public road and the only action taken at the time was "the erection of a notice by the county council saying 'Danger! Water ahead'." We like to be different here, working with both communities and agencies to provide protection for people, for their homes, for their businesses and for their agricultural investments. It may mean some voluntary relocation in a small number of cases and it may mean a scheme to shift some agricultural sheds and dairies in areas that are prone to flooding in the future. It is a serious debate and I look forward to the constructive suggestions of the Deputies. The Ministers will outline details of the response from the Government in their areas of responsibility.

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