Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My first duty is to congratulate Deputy Seán Canney, an east Galway man, on his promotion to Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works. There is no doubt that he will have one of the most difficult jobs in the coming year and he will share the portfolio with the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran who, no more than the Minister of State, knows quite a lot about the impact of the floods.

Flooding is still a major issue throughout the western region, particularly in counties Roscommon and Galway. Many homes, businesses and individuals are still bearing the brunt of the devastating consequences of widespread flooding.

The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, acknowledged on local radio recently that we have major difficulties. The floods have disappeared to some degree in certain areas, but many parts of County Roscommon in particular are still badly affected by flooding such as Castleplunkett in west Roscommon, Knockcroghery just outside Roscommon town and Dysart in south Roscommon.

I have spoken to individuals in Roscommon County Council who informed me that the estimate to repair the damage caused by the floods of 2015 and 2016 is €11 million. That is the amount required to repair the damage caused to roads, buildings and land. The allocation received from the Department to date is €4.9 million. The council faces a shortfall of more than €6 million. Roscommon County Council could apply for funding through the non-coastal mitigation measures available from the Office of Public Works of which the Minister of State is aware. However, the funding is based on a cost-benefit system, which means areas with a greater population density are favoured as they can be proven to be better value for money. For example, an application to address flooding issues in an estate of 16 or 20 houses would be favoured above an individual house in a rural area. Given that Roscommon is a sparsely populated county with significant distances between houses, it would be difficult to get the Office of Public Works to favour what we need in Roscommon. That is our biggest problem. If the situation is not rectified, it will have a detrimental effect on the constituency as many areas are sparsely populated and many homes and businesses which were devastated by recent floods are still suffering the consequences and trying to get back on their feet. Now we have the added issue of not being able to get insurance cover, which is another matter that must be faced by the Government.

A total of 133 different areas throughout County Roscommon were affected by the floods. Many home owners and business owners are becoming increasingly frustrated as they become the forgotten story in this land. There are stories behind the headlines whereby farmers face a bleak winter as they cannot cut silage or hay because some of their land is still flooded. The grass on the land would not be fit for use as fodder because, as the Minister of State is aware, all of the nutrients have been taken out of the ground by the flood water. For several months people have had to make long round trips to bring their children to school. Six months on, one house still requires to have water pumped out. The situation in another two or three houses has just been sorted out in recent weeks. I have invited the Minister of State to come to County Roscommon and I know he will do so. We will plan the visit and do it right. It is important that the Minister of State visits County Roscommon.

The allocated funding does not address flooding in and around turloughs, which is a major issue in the constituency, in particular in areas such as Lough Funshinagh outside Knockcroghery where 250 acres of land is still covered by water. The Minister of State will see that when he visits the county. The water level has only dropped by 16 in. A 92 year old man told me he has never seen such a problem in his lifetime. He cannot understand what has gone wrong. As the Minister of State is aware, agriculture is the backbone of the county. The economy of the county is important to us. In the context of the 250 acre area that is flooded, a number of farmers are affected as the land is divided into smallholdings. I urge the Minister of State to do all in his power to introduce a scheme straight away that would give sufficient money to Roscommon County Council to carry out at the very least fire brigade action as the county is in a desperate state.

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