Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What has all of this week's sabre-rattling, shouting, roaring and megaphone diplomacy been about? A system is necessary to give assurances to businesses and families that they will get the insurance cover they need without the shadow of financial catastrophe hanging over them. When one meets the owners of businesses that have flooded two or three times, one hears that they can take the first time but the second time puts the viability of their businesses at stake. They feel that they cannot get up again. It is a very serious issue. As we saw earlier, legislation has been published to deal with some of these issues.

A long-term response is needed to deal with flooding in the era of climate change. As an island on the fringes of Europe that is surrounded by the turbulent Atlantic, Ireland is at the front line of the repercussions of climate change. We need to adapt and reform our institutions and agencies to fast-track the construction of flood defences. We need to cut through bureaucratic silos and protect communities. The emptiness of the Government's response to recent events was summed up when it announced its solution to the problem of Shannon flooding. It is proposing to revive a talking shop that it scrapped in 1994 when it was last in power. The Taoiseach was a member of the Government that scrapped the last Shannon forum. The lack of urgency in putting in place a long-term solution is all too evident in the Government's failure to update the national emergency plans.

As I criticise elements of the response, I want to make it clear that I do not believe the individual agencies are responsible. There is a more systemic problem that can be traced directly to the Government's neglect and inaction in failing to update its emergency response policies or invest in basic preparations. It is in this context that the Government has failed yet again to pay attention to an area unless or until it becomes engulfed in a crisis. Despite the imperative to update policies, the core national framework for emergency management today is unchanged from 2007. Ministers have been happy to change nothing in this regard. Bizarrely, they did not even change the relevant documents to reflect the fact that certain bodies have been abolished since 2007. For example, the major emergency management framework that is available on a dedicated Government website shows that Limerick City Council is supposed to be a major responder to emergencies, even though the council was abolished a year and a half ago.

The catchment flood risk assessment and management initiative has been under way since 2009. It was committed to and initiated by the previous Government. Martin Mansergh did some significant work in that regard. It is mandated by the EU floods directive. I think Ministers have been desperately hiding behind it as evidence of their action. I think it is absurd for Ministers to claim this activity as evidence of their interest in this matter. It does nothing to cover up the wider truth that the whole issue has been unfortunately neglected. There has been no investment in major information campaigns. No structures have been revised and no extra staff have been allocated. We can talk about investing in public services, but what I came across as I went around the country was a reflection of the degree to which council staff levels have been pared back. I am told that four of the six staff in Portumna will retire next year. If more floods occur next year, there will be just two staff members to man the defences and put up sandbags in Portumna.

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