Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

According to President-elect Donald Trump of the USA, global warming is a hoax. According to the experts, hard data shows that global change presents the gravest threat to the future of humanity. On this island where we live, sea levels in the Irish Sea are rising by 3 cm per decade. While that may not sound like an awful lot, it means we will see a 0.5 m rise in the next 50 years. As many of our major cities and towns are along the coast, the environmental, economic and human cost associated with rising sea levels and climatic change presents huge and life-changing challenges. We saw it along the Shannon catchment area with the impact on families. One thing that struck me in speaking to many of those families was the degree of local knowledge, craft and eolas about the river and its environs. In my own constituency, in particular in parts of Dundalk, we also suffered serious flooding. I spoke to some of the affected families recently and they are dreading the winter. They are living in a state of stress and anxiety. There are no provisions that I can establish to deal with flooding issues on the Ardee Road at Mounthamilton and Bellurgan, which is just outside the town. While the CFRAM plans when enacted will, of course, alleviate some of these difficulties, that is years down the line. I am asking what plans the Government has to deal with this winter. I walked the Flurry River with local people who say it needs to be desilted and that the sluice gates need to be fixed. The local authority says it does not have the money for any of that. Will the Taoiseach outline the Government's preventative plans for potential flooding risks this winter? Has additional funding been allocated to local authorities?

Can the Taoiseach speak to the recent EPA report on urban wastewater treatment which reveals that ten out of our 171 large urban areas do not meet EU requirements to provide secondary treatment to reduce the risk of pollution?

It also states untreated wastewater from 43 areas is routinely discharged into rivers, estuaries and coastal waters. It found that 45 wastewater works were linked with river pollution. Given the graveness of the issue, will the Taoiseach indicate the specific steps the Government plans to take?

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