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

I move:

“That Dáil Éireann:

notes:

— the unprecedented scale and intensity of flooding in 2015;

— the fact that some 500 homes and 400 businesses were flooded over the winter months, with an estimated €100 million in damages over a series of storms;

— the escalating extreme weather events globally and in Ireland, with data from reinsurance group Munich RE showing a near nine-fold rise since 1980 in losses to the insurance industry arising from weather-related catastrophes, after adjusting for inflation;

— the Met Éireann projections for the Irish climate that winters are expected to become wetter, with increases of up to 14 per cent in precipitation under the high emission scenarios by mid-century; and

— that these trends and projections point towards a heightened likelihood of major flood events into the future;

further notes:

— the ongoing implementation of the Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management programme;

— the planned €430 million six year programme of capital investment on flood defence measures as part of the Government’s overall Capital Investment Plan 2016 – 2021; and

— the series of specific actions outlined by the Government on 5 and 26 January 2016, to address and alleviate flooding concerns, namely:— the establishment of a Shannon Flood Risk State Agency Co-ordination Working Group;

— the once off temporary scheme, in December 2015, administered by the Irish Red Cross for businesses which was extended to include community, voluntary and sporting organisations and remained open for people to apply for assistance until 21 February 2016;

— targeted support for farmers affected by the flooding;

— the Office of Public Works (OPW) overseeing two pilot ‘individual home protection schemes’;

— the meeting between the Taoiseach and relevant Ministers with insurance industry representatives on 12 January 2016; and

— the establishment of a National Flood Forecasting and Warning Service;condemns the:

— ongoing underspend in flood defence schemes as part of capital expenditure plans;

— failure to fully implement the flood alleviation announcements of January 2016;

— continued delays and denials of insurance for home owners and businesses across the country; and

— administrative and structural issues hindering the effective management of water levels along the River Shannon; and calls on the Government to:

— ensure there are no statutory impediments to regulating the water levels on the River Shannon and the implementation of dredging where required;

— establish a single River Shannon agency on a statutory basis;

— ensure households and businesses are given adequate flood insurance, in particular those in areas where the OPW has invested in standard 1 in 100 year flood defence structures; and

— address capital underspend in the roll out of investment in flood defences.”

We are all here because this time last year and throughout much of 2016 in many parts of the country, particularly in the midlands and west, people suffered in a way I have never seen before. We all know flooding has affected thousands of people across the country, and last winter’s storms have left some communities absolutely devastated. Lessons must be learned from these catastrophic flooding events, which may increase in frequency and strength as our climate continues to change. Unless we start implementing a co-ordinated flood prevention and insurance strategy, homes and businesses in Cork, Kerry, Dublin and across the country, not just along the Shannon, will be forced to suffer for years.

Despite numerous announcements from the Government, action on flooding has been less forthcoming. Some €480 million has been earmarked for flood defence schemes between now and 2021. That is good news but this money must be fully used and all planning obstacles and delays must be addressed without delay. The Government has not fully implemented its specific pledges, made in January 2016 in such areas as pilot home protection projects and a national flood forecasting and warning service, following serious flooding across the country. The Minister told me that it will take five years to put the national flood forecasting and warning service in place.

My colleagues and I have put forward a suite of measures to alleviate flooding over the past year and this is the only way to proceed. It includes an electricity supply (amendment) Bill, an insurance Bill which has been brought forward already by Deputy McGrath, and the Shannon River Agency Bill which will come forward shortly. These measures must be taken to ensure this matter is dealt with without delay. This is a completely different situation and the goalposts have changed, even from 15, 20 or 25 years ago when we did not have such flooding, the flash flooding we have seen or the deprivation caused throughout the region.

I welcome the announcement by the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Seán Canney, that a new dredging scheme will be implemented but this must be backed up with action, and fast. I acknowledge that the Minister is sincere and is doing his best in this issue but saying it is being implemented and doing it are two different things. The River Shannon has been neglected for too long and needs extensive work to ensure the free flow of water. This is not rocket science and if the river is not cleaned and the channels not maintained the water will just expand. More and more farmers and others will lose their land to water and more flooding will occur before the promised flood defences are completed.

We have the CFRAM report but floods and rain do not wait for anybody. The report expects people to wait and there will be a list of who gets priority. However, nobody can wait for this to be dealt with. We must put people first and the people who have endured so much trauma and devastation over the past year must never again go through what they have had to go through. We need the cleaning of rivers and drains and a drainage system for farmers. We need to be proactive and many farmers would be very good at cleaning major drains on their land. The drains are all blocked but there is no system or grant aid for them at all.

The electricity supply Bill 2016, which we will move shortly, will allow the control of the levels in Lough Derg, Lough Allen and Lough Ree, which is crucial. We are dealing with an amendment Act of 1934 which gave total power to the ESB to support the level of water on those loughs. Time and time again pleas were made to the ESB to let the water downstream. That has to be monitored and done in a certain way but we must take power away from the agency and the Bill will do that.

I have witnessed the most heartbreaking cases of families left virtually homeless because of flooding. The stories come from people I know in Longford, Galway and Clare. One of my constituents left her home with her child on 18 December 2015 as the water continued to rise around her. She did not get back into her home until May of this year. The trauma of having to leave all behind you, including presents under the Christmas tree, was bad enough but along with paying a mortgage on her home that she had to get a boat out of, she did not get one penny from the Government to help with the cost of renting a house for six months. That is disgraceful and must never happen again. Like so many others she will be left paying for the flooding for many years to come. Nothing has been done to date to help with the turloughs that have flooded main roads for months on end in Galway, Roscommon, parts of Longford and in Clare. Putting in place plans for a survey that will last years will not bring any relief to people in the short term. The farmers that I have walked lands with, and in some cases across whose lands I have sailed in a boat, have also been left out in the cold when it comes to being able to draw down their grants. In one case a farmer was penalised by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for the fact that his stone walls had not been maintained and he is losing some of his payments. However, his stone walls were under water for six months and were flattened when the waters receded.

There are a lot of simple things that can be done to alleviate the financial burden on the farmers and families that are still affected by flooding one year on from storm Desmond. I do not doubt the sincerity of the Minister and know that he has engaged with lots of people but we must put legislation in place to deal with this. We must never allow any of our people to be dictated to by any agency. We have to work together but we must never again allow people to suffer in the way they have suffered.

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